She could have been referring to both pre and post prison. Either way, we really know nothing of what Emma Swan was like before SB except that she didn’t get close to people and only went as far as one-night stands. What did she do when she wasn’t hunting down people that skipped out on bail? *shrug*
And just a side-note, I wonder if she worked for a company or for herself. If she worked for a company – OK. If she worked for herself, I wonder where she got money to pay people’s bail. More than likely she worked for someone else and was contracted out.