AFTER TWO YEARS IN PRISON, ETHAN HALL EARNED RESPECT AND FREEDOM.

The dark will never last forever. Despite the hopelessness that surrounds you, the sunrise is always on the way.

Like many of us, Ethan Hall is all too familiar with the “wrong” path. 

Not everyone, however, is able to make it right. 

“I served two years in prison because I took a terrible path,” he said. “I was a fighter, drinker and substance abuser. All of those things make it easy for someone to lose sight of what is important in life, and that’s what happened to me.”

It may be another hour, or a day, or even a week; but it is on its way. Your story is not at its end. That emptiness, that doom that covers you like a suffocating blanket will soon recede like the tide of the sea.

“The lowest point for me was sitting in what’s called the ‘shoe,’” Ethan said. “This is disciplinary isolation. I was there because I severely injured two people because they wouldn't share their prison-made wine with me.”

For three months, Ethan was in segregation before he was finally allowed a phone call. 

“I called my four-year-old daughter and three-year-old son at the time,” he said. “The sound of their voices made me cry and actually feel again for the first time in a long time. I promised them right then when I got out, I would never leave them again until they didn't need me anymore. I haven't had a drink or fought since.”

And it is then when you will rise again. It is then when you will stand and start your next fight. So do not quit now. Do not lay down because of this night. Stay strong.

When he first got out of prison, life wasn’t easy for Ethan.

He was on the right path, sure, but that path was fraught with hurdles. 

“When I first got out of prison, I couldn't find a job,” he said. “I became depressed and suicidal. I always enjoyed lifting and I had a few training certs. I got online and found Brandon Allen. Through him I found APEMAN and I started watching APEMAN videos daily. When I ordered clothing from APEMAN for the first time, they sent an uplifting sticker with it. Without getting too crazy about detail, that became my mission. I decided to take all my anger out at the gym and all my love went toward my children.”

And when the re-creation of you is complete, your strength will be beyond what you have ever known and you will share your story to save another who faces the darkness. You will tell of your comeback. And you will inspire their saving with this same message to PERSEVERE.

Ethan now has full custody of his son and daughter, and he pays his grandmother's bills for her because she was there for him during the toughest of times. 

Ethan is now a strength coach, industrial plumber and STRONGMAN competitor. 

“I look at life through new eyes every day,” Ethan said. “Freedom and respect are earned, and I work my ass off day-in and day-out to earn both. The best advice I could give is to always remember what and who is important. It's easy to forget and get sidetracked. I know now that I’ll never give up.”