11 inspiring people from 11 years of Escape: Coss Marte

When we first started Escape the City back in 2010, we had no idea how many incredibly inspiring people we'd meet along the way. We set out to help ambitious and talented people to do work that matters to them and the world, and through the years we've encountered thousands of people who demonstrate that it's possible to do something different with your career and make a difference in the process. While it was hard to choose just 11 stories, here we've outlined a few of the people who we come back to regularly when we're looking for a bit of inspiration ourselves.

We hope you enjoy reading their stories and that they can be an inspiration to you, too!

Coss Marte - The reinventor

About Coss:

Coss Marte grew up in Manhattan's Lower East Side. As a young boy, Marte, and his recently arrived Dominican Republic family struggled. His mom had arrived six months pregnant and found work at a factory. 

He was regularly exposed to drugs, violence and poverty. His role models quickly became drug dealers that introduced him to the lucrative business. He started selling marijuana as a pre-teen. He was naturally intelligent and intuitive, but he used those skills in a dangerous business. Continuing to profit, he later added cocaine and other drugs to his inventory, and by the age of 19, Marte was making “bank.” He says at times he brought in as much as $30,000 a day. At the age of 19, Marte was raking in over $2 million a year.

At age 23, Coss was caught in a drug sting and sentenced to seven years in prison for possession of a controlled substance and sale of controlled substances. (Later reduced to four years.). By this time, Marte was weighing in at 230 pounds. A prison doctor informed him he had to make a change, he had to lose weight. Prison doctors gave him a grim prognosis — he might not live to be released. Marte didn't want to die behind bars, so he started working out.

He created a series of workouts right in his tony 9 ft by 6 ft jail cell that helped him lose over 70 pounds in six months. His workouts involved simple movements and relied solely on body weight. The development of his rigorous workout routine and fitness regimen had only just begun, the seed of thought had been planted.

With new purpose, the invigorated inmate would return to his tiny cell and he would create an ingeniously simplistic yet effective workout. He began doing dips, using his bed. And he did the basics, jumping jacks, and pushups. Using the few items allowed to him, his persistence never faltered.

After an incident in which an officer believed Coss was charging at him (in actuality, Coss was bending over to pick up his glasses that had fallen), three years were tacked onto Coss' prison sentence.

After serving a decade in jail, Coss felt inspired to continue and capitalize on the fitness regimen he crafted in prison. Coss launched his business Coss Athletics, with the help of Defy Ventures. The nonprofit holds a business plan competition, much like Dragon’s Den, to help people with criminal backgrounds become successful, legal entrepreneurs. From there he developed an exercise programme based on his experience in prison, which he brands as a "prison-style bootcamp" which he calls “Conbody”.

It is as much a rigorous boot camp, as it is a social experiment. Coss hires people who were formerly incarcerated as his trainers. He has 25 employees who would, in many other cases, be in the street or back in prison as they struggle to find employment. He refuses to allow his people to get locked up again or submit to a broken system.

With over 20,000 clients, his fitness programme is a success. He continues to share his story in prisons inspiring others to break their cycle of crime and achieve success. 

What we love about Coss’ story:

Coss’ story demonstrates that grit, determination and some ingenuity are all you need to make things happen. He made the most of the circumstances he was given, utilised the skills he had learnt from an illegal industry and channelled them into a new, legal one which has set himself up well for success.

What inspires us about Coss is his dedication and commitment to helping to reduce reoffending, and his unashamedness about his own story. He’s said he has no regrets about his previous life as a drug kingpin. He says it was a journey he had to go through to become the legitimate businessman he is today. Living evidence that anyone can start again.