Felon-turned-business owner paying it forward by offering second chances to others
PHILADELPHIA - A former convict and drug dealer who pulled inspiration from his spotted past to create a business wants to impart knowledge and guidance to people who may have wandered down the same dark path.
"I always tell people I'm not a motivational speaker, I'm a motivational doer," said Derrick Copes, owner of Best Hands Mobile Detailing. "I can tell you one thing, I can show you differently. I can show you better than I can tell you."
Around twenty years ago, Copes was a far cry from owning a business where he's constantly entrusted with some of the most valuable cars that money can buy.
"I used to deal drugs used to be a drug dealer in Camden, you know, thinking that that was the only way that I could take care of myself," Copes said.
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Copes lawless lifestyle eventually caught up with him and he served prison time, but he turned incarceration into inspiration.
"Me getting caught was a blessing because, you know, it could have went the other way," Copes said. "I could have been murdered. I could have died in the streets, but I got caught. I went to jail, went to prison."
In the 20 years since imprisonment, Copes has been committed to showing anyone who will listen to a better way of life.
"I'm actively opening the doors because people have opened the doors for me," Copes said. "What I've come to realize is everybody deserves a second chance. Some deserved second, third, fourth, fifth chance."
Copes foundation the, Fith Second Chance, is all about empowering people to help Save Our Streets. He has employed some, helped others fund start-up car detailing businesses and united detailers who understand the challenges facing local communities.
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"It's really important because the youth, you know, they need people to mentor them," Kieme Purdy of Celebrity Style Detailing said.
"If you don't have somebody to guide you, you're just going to be wandering. And right now, that's why a lot of young kids are doing."
Copes and his students want to help people facing difficult life challenges move onto a more righteous path for their own sake and the safety of increasingly dangerous Philadelphia streets.
"If I give you a 15-minute conversation, I can put you in my car and take you to work right then and there, and groom you and teach you the skills, you know, not just profiting skill, money skills, but life skills," Copes said.
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