Number one of the two-part question is, Why did you take this job? And the second part of that question is, why was I the one that you chose to partner with?

Well, first, I mean, why did I take the job? You know, I mean, I said no in the beginning.

I said I know former leaders here.

I know that people have been involved.

I knew – I mean, there's no bad news – it's only bad news coming – You really don't, I mean, others have had ideas of grandeur of changing it and haven't been successful.

And so that's why I thought I don't want to be a part of that, right? You know, I could watch the Facebook as well and know whoever's on there is just going to be bitter and upset.

And you've got a workforce that's hurt, that's damaged.

When you look back on this period of time with this Bureau, years from now, What do you hope they will say about a formerly incarcerated individual being the deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons? And what do you hope, in your mind, that you've accomplished in the amount of time that we're here, which is going by really quickly? Just share that with me.

Mm-hmm.

That apprenticeship leading into becoming a journeyman lineman allowed me to put a little bit of money in the bank and take a look, kinda step back from my business and, and say, "I wanna start this Montana knife company" that I'd been dreaming of doing.

But the apprenticeship and the-- and becoming a journeyman gave me the, basically a little bit of money to be able to survive and then build this on the side.

And the thing about what we're doing is-We're showing that you don't have to be somebody special with a business degree to grow what we've grown.

If you've gone through an apprenticeship and you're, you know, a journeyman or a foreman on a crew figuring out how to put a pipeline over a mountain, or build a power line over a mountain, or plumb a giant apartment complex, you are problem-solving every day.

You're managing people, you're leading, you're following plans, you're working, you know, you're dealing with finances.

You're doing everything that you do to build a business, you're doing in your day job.

Right.

But talk to me about growing up with your uncle.

Um, you know, he...

It was almost like having an NBA dad.

So I'm a kid of the...

Um, I was born in the '80s, so that's when, uh, guys used to just have kids and just go on with their life.

And then the, the, the mother and her family raised the kids.

So that was Stephen A., my mother raising me, so...

But you, you were kinda dis- dismissive of Bam's 83 points, I felt like.

And once you use good stuff, you can't go back, so.

Yeah, and that, that's the t- thing that kind of boggled my mind for a long time before I started this and I felt there was an opportunity is, you know, I saw people spending thousands of dollars on multiple different layers of clothing, right? Your base layers and your mid layers and all your technical stuff and your backpacks and, like you say, putting together really high-end precision rifles and, you know, doing all of the research and data into their bullets and the, you know, e- everything that has to do with that.

And they, they, they really, they really spend a ton of time, and their gear all the way through, and then they would grab, like, a $29 knife off the end of the end cap and just throw it in-

Yeah.

And, uh, and so if you're looking for an absolute pry bar, I mean, we make knives that are heavier.

But I'm also making knives for the guy that's gonna be packing this on his pack for eight to 10 days.

He's counting ounces.

Um, and he understands that maybe I'm gonna use this knife in the way that it should be used, but I'm not gonna just take the tip and try to pry elk ivories out with it at the end.

But even more importantly, Smith says he read God's word and found redemption in Christ.

My conversion experience happened while I was in prison, uh, when I surrendered my life to the Lord.

And it was those lessons and those principles that I've learned throughout Scripture, through my relationship with God, and frankly, through the many volunteers coming in to help support and teach that, is what helped me transition through prison a better person.... someone who had a moral compass, somebody who looked to the word of God and, and to God for what that standard should be in my life.

That's why Smith says the work of reintegrating prisoners into society shouldn't begin when they leave prison.

If somebody's gonna see society again one day, and in our system it's about 97% that will, then we need to begin them on programs day one.

It's my hope and goal, frankly, to help Congress and our general society see the importance of the role of corrections in our society.

It's not enough to just say, "Hey, we're locking 'em up."

I got a surprise for you, by the way, before all of this show is over, but go ahead.

Oh, you do? The in- the indecision shot clock.

If I ask you what you wanna eat, you got 24 seconds to figure it out.

You got two back and forths before the 24 seconds runs out.

You know, "Oh, I'm vegan this month." No, we don't have time for that.

Like, I'm, I'm really sick of it.

I, I'm going on a date tonight, like I told you, and it's outside.

I thought he would appreciate me showing that.

You were there for the whole damn near three-hour interview.

What were your thoughts of it, man? I feel like y'all wasted a little bit too much time on that WWE moment.

We know nothing was going to happen at the crypto arena.

But I wanted y'all to talk about it because I watch the show all the time.

They're good at, you know, arguing the talent versus greatness, because that's where I come in, because I don't value all of the rings and the all-NBA teams that y'all vote for and stuff like that.

I go for what I see.

So I wanted you to go on there, and I wanted all of y'all to put together a starting five of players, minus the accomplishments, just about how nice a player is.

I'm