 After a few odd jobs, Pappano was accepted at the National Journalism Center in Washington D.C. in 1992, then began his career as a direct mail copywriter for Eberle Associates the following year.Pappano worked for a number of clients including Chinese human rights activist Harry Wu, head of the Laogai Research Foundation.Before ending his career at Eberle in 2000, Pappano wrote copy for the largest prison ministry in the world – Prison Fellowship.