PARKER, Colo. — A Colorado man is quitting the corporate lifestyle to try something new: A coffee shop designed around creating change in his community.
Daniel Klehm enjoyed plenty of success in corporate restaurants, with senior leadership positions at Applebee’s, Illegal Pete’s and Cheba Hut.
It's a remarkable success story after Klehm says he survived a troubled youth, with arrests for grand theft auto, gun possession, and burglary.
“My first son, Damien, was born when I was in prison, and that was really the beginning of me turning my life around,” Klehm said. “I feel like that was a watershed moment for me to step back and take a look at my life.”
In April, Klehm decided to quit the corporate world to open Convict Coffee in Parker, with a focus on helping formerly incarcerated people succeed in society.
Klehm says Convict Coffee operates on an employee profit sharing model, where employees get bonuses based on how well the company does.
He’s also committed to not taking a large CEO salary, after seeing huge discrepancies at some of the companies he worked at between upper management and restaurant staff.
“We're fairly anti-corporate around here,” Klehm said. “We feel like corporations in general don't take as good care of their people as they should.”
Klehm says eventually the goal is to open two additional Convict Coffees and sell the franchises to former convicts at a low price.
“Ultimately to me, if I end up being very successful and doing well and my employees are struggling, I don't feel like that's a success,” he said.