Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur with an extraordinary story. He’s the founder of Flikshop, what he calls the “coolest app in the app store.” Flikshop allows anyone, anywhere in the world, to take a picture and write a personal note that will be printed and delivered to any prison in the United States.

 

Marcus committed the crime of carjacking when he was 15 years old. He spent the next 8 years of his life in a maximum security prison with adults. Marcus says that getting a flik, or a picture, was like winning the lottery.

 

But Flikshop goes well beyond keeping spirits up. Marcus believes that prisoners who stay connected to friends and family assimilate more smoothly when they are released, making their chances of being arrested again less likely. And, with a prison population exceeding 2 million men and women, this app has the power to change the trajectory of millions of lives. 

 

While he was incarcerated, Marcus educated himself and planned for a productive future, thanks to the persistence of his mother, his extended family, and friends. After his release, he started a construction company, and then Flikshop, and most recently, he and his colleagues established the Flikshop School of Business to help give men and women who are incarcerated a blueprint for success and role models.  

 

In our discussion, Marcus explains what it was like to “grow up” in the prison system, his drive to further his education, his future plans for Flikshop, and, a story I love, how he met his wife!

 

 Listen to the podcast to hear Marcus discuss: 

• Living at an adult, maximum security prison facility from age 15 to 23.
• Being in denial for his first two years behind bars. 
• Educating himself in prison.
• Lifelong friendships established in jail.
• His mother's encouragement and her achievement of earning a PhD to become Dr. Bullock.
• How Flikshop grew out of Marcus' desire to share his construction company's success with his friends who were still incarcerated.
• Justice Policy Institute: using data to demonstrate why children are being locked inside prison with adults.
• 2.2 million women and men currently incarcerated in the U.S.
• Launching a mobile app.
• Flikshop School of Business that provides a path to success for inmates - introducing life skills, job readiness skills, and entrepreneurial skills.
• Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop
• Winning the Aspen Ideas Festival - barnstorm prison to spread the success stories of other former inmates -  "A speakers bureau for prisons."
• Three practices:
• • Spiritual prayer warrior
  • Making to-do lists
  • Using the calendar on his phone
• Bootstrapping the business and preparing to accept venture capital
• Best friend Dwayne's book of poetry. 
• Being inspired by his 5-year old son, Marcus, Jr.
• Meeting his wife, Andrea.

 

Contact Lisa: [email protected]