Reformed inmate with life-coaching business giving back at upcoming event
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IDAHO FALLS
Life coach hosting free event benefitting local families
IDAHO FALLS – Sione Kaloa is a former inmate who served prison time for grand theft auto and drug crimes. Today, he’s a life coach and his company is hosting a pig roast and bones event at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Rigby this weekend.
It’s a free event for anyone who’d like to attend, and the purpose is to give back to the community. The three-day event begins at noon on Saturday. Workshops will be provided each day on a range of topics, including CPR, first aid and emergency prep, as well as classes on suicide prevention and improving communication between couples or families.
Those who attend can participate in a dominoes “bones” tournament to win a used vehicle for a needy family. Each team will represent one of several anonymous households, which have already been identified. The winner will determine which family is awarded a 2017 Chevy Traverse.
Dinner will be provided each day for those who attend. A special drink called Island Rush will be sold to raise funds for a local family who just lost a loved one to suicide.
Kaloa launched IKTF Life Coach LLC in May, shortly after he moved to the area. He and his wife, who is originally from Rexburg, moved to Idaho Falls in April.
The inspiration for the business stemmed from a counselor who helped Kaloa get through a difficult time in his childhood.
Koloa’s family hails from Tonga, and he was raised in northern Idaho. He tells EastIdahoNews.com he grew up in a household that was physically, mentally and emotionally abusive. As a result, he always felt worthless and stupid and didn’t do well academically.
Around age 12, Kaloa started ditching school, and a counselor helped him change his behavior.
“He invited me into his office and told me anytime I felt like ditching to come in here and hang out. He didn’t try to diagnose me or talk to me,” Kaloa says. “He went on vacation to Kaloa (a town in Hawaii from which Sione derived his last name) for two weeks and brought me back a T-shirt. That was the first time I felt like anybody cared (about me).”
He’s since lost touch with that counselor, but he’s never forgotten that simple act of kindness.
It was years later, after serving time in prison, that Kaloa had the desire to help others feel the way he felt that day, which led him to life coaching.
Kaloa’s life of crime
But there were many more rough days ahead, including an attempt at suicide. In high school, he turned to drugs and alcohol and was eventually expelled. He later got his GED, but his drug addiction spiraled out of control. He was in and out of jail for minor crimes as a young adult.
“Finally, I got frustrated with being locked up all the time, and I told a judge to just send me to prison. He did, but I was later released on parole,” Kaloa recalls.
In 2008, Kaloa met the woman who is now his wife in Las Vegas. They had a daughter together. Early on in his daughter’s life, Kaloa injured his back while cliff jumping with his in-laws. Doctors prescribed some pain medication, which led to more illegal drug usage.
“I fell in love with pain meds. That became my top drug,” he says. “I turned to opiates really fast.”
In time, his addiction caused him to neglect his family, and Kaloa lived on the street as a drug dealer. A high-speed chase involving Rexburg Police in 2011 led to another arrest.
In 2012, Kaloa was involved in another high-speed chase in Cassia County after stealing a farm truck. He later crashed and came to a halt on the edge of a cliff after flipping sideways.
Police caught him, and he was arrested on multiple charges, including grand theft. Kaloa ended up serving three and a half years in prison.
At this point, Kaloa felt his life was out of control and he wanted to change. A counselor started working with him, which helped prepare him to live in the real world again.
“Soon, I started making healthier choices,” says Kaloa. “I started believing in myself, I started applying myself, holding myself accountable. For so long, I had been taught to believe that I (was worthless). Gaining my sense of self-worth has been one of the greatest blessings.”
‘I give thanks to Heavenly Father’
Kaloa says it’s an honor for him to share these experiences as a life coach. While his services are available to everyone, Kaloa focuses primarily on those who have had similar struggles. His father-in-law and his daughter were two of his first clients.
“At the end of that conversation, they were crying. I was crying too because it felt so good to help these two (who have had a difficult relationship) feel heard,” says Kaloa.
In retrospect, Kaloa says he’s thankful for the experiences that have shaped who he is today and he invites the community to support his event in Rigby this weekend.
“I give thanks to Heavenly Father for … everything I have gone through and to be here today,” he says.
WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH KALOA IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
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