Arrested 18 Times Before I Finally Got Clean | Jess Bousa

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jess Bousa’s life is the ultimate redemption story. He grew up with a rough childhood — his dad went to prison, his mom walked out, and he barely finished high school. Jess battled homelessness, addiction, stealing, and drug dealing, getting arrested 18 times before one final arrest landed him in jail for four months and into a rehab program that completely changed his life. #RedemptionStory #LockedInPodcast #AddictionRecovery #PrisonStories #SecondChances #HomelessToHope #InspiringStories #truecrimepodcast Thank you to BLUECHEW for sponsoring this episode: Visit https://bluechew.com/ and use promo code LOCKEDIN at checkout to get your first month of BlueChew FREE & pay five bucks for shipping. Connect with Jess Bousa: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@themustangmarketer?_t=ZT-8zZNKn9w8Ba&_r=1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DVDg6maUg/?mibextid=wwXIfr Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessbousa?igsh=YmFrcDZ5OTZyamU%3D&utm_source=qr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessbousa?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Use code LOCKEDIN for 20% OFF Wooooo Energy Buy Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 Intro & Guest Overview 00:43 Podcast Habits & True Crime Chats 01:45 Growing Up: Family Chaos & Early Life 04:43 Father’s Past & Family Background 09:03 No Bullies, Just Mischief 11:38 BMX Dreams & Extreme Behavior 13:33 High School: Moving, Theft & Small-Time Hustles 16:56 Escalating Crime: Shoplifting & Selling Drugs 20:48 Addiction, Arrests & Chaotic Living 25:51 Rock Bottom: Addiction, Homelessness, and Repeated Arrests 32:09 Turning Point: Jail, Rehab & Starting Over 36:40 Recovery & Finding Purpose 40:01 From Rehab to College & New Ambitions 48:41 Building a New Life: Church, Community, and Service 54:39 Transition to Business & Marketing Career 01:04:04 The Value of Sharing Your Story 01:06:01 Key Takeaways & Inspiration 01:08:09 Wrapping Up & Farewell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Then I started to steal a lot.
0:02.3	So I had been arrested 18 times.
0:04.3	What happens next?
0:05.2	20 of us in the back room. Everyone's stripped naked. They're stripping our drugs away from us. Do you think you were an actual criminal at the time? Before I even knew it, I was addicted and not even known this was happening. Tell us about your experience in jail. Jess Boza was arrested 18 times. he grew up with a dad in prison, a mom who walked out,
0:22.4	battled homelessness,
0:23.8	addiction, and a life of stealing and drug dealing. But one final arrest, four months in jail,
0:29.5	and a rehab program completely turned his life around. Today, Jess is a successful business owner
0:35.7	and proof that you can rewrite your story no matter how far you've fallen.
0:43.1	Jess, welcome to Locked in.
0:44.8	Thanks for having me.
0:45.9	Super excited to be here.
0:46.9	Yeah, thanks so much for supporting the show and coming out here, reaching out and coming on the show to share your story.
0:51.3	Yeah, I appreciate that.
0:52.9	Top five podcasts I love to listen to. You actually helped me sleep your story. Yeah, I appreciate that. Top five podcasts I love, you know,
0:55.1	I love to listen to. You actually help me sleep at night. You really do. I need something on, and you could ask my wife, it's either, you know, Amazon, Netflix, or Ian Bix. I give people credit that can listen to a podcast while at the gym or going to sleep. I can't do it. It's just too distracting.
1:10.8	I have to shut off the TV or anything before I go to sleep.
1:14.5	Yeah, I'm like the opposite, though. I can't do it. It helps me just relax. Yeah, there's a lot of people like that, though, that are able, or that need the TV on or a podcast or anything. Yeah, we're that family over here. Yeah, to me, because when I find something interesting, then I just want to keep watching it, and I'll pause it and shut it off for the next day so I don't get interrupted in it. That's true, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I would listen to a podcast and then turning it back on the next day and just listen to it again. I like repetition. Do you do YouTube or Spotify or Apple? YouTube. Yeah, we follow you through YouTube a lot. Awesome. Yeah. Spotify has some great video now too. Like they're really trying to be like YouTube. They even have a comment section and everything. I'm always like responding to people in the comments. Yeah, I'll go my son uses Spotify. We'll check it out. Yeah. I'll definitely like, share a comment. It's not as
2:02.1	interactive as YouTube. People are so like, I get it. If you're on one platform, you're not going
2:07.4	to another. And, you know, like if you like it on YouTube, there's no way you're going to Spotify
2:12.8	or Apple to watch it or vice versa. You get stuck on one. But Apple's like in the Stone Age.
2:18.0	They have no video.
2:19.2	No video?
	...

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