JBU hosts Bullock for speaker series

John Brown University will host D.C.-based entrepreneur Marcus Bullock on Feb. 21 for the Soderquist College of Business speaker series “Working for the Common Good.”

Bullock is the CEO of Flikshop, a company that works hard to keep prisoners connected to their family members and other community resources through low-cost postcards.

Bullock has been featured in a TED Talk that has been viewed over 1.8 million times, and he was awarded Prison Fellowship’s Charles Colson Advocate of Hope Award in 2020.

When Bullock was 15 years old, he was arrested and sentenced to spend eight years in adult maximum security prisons. During his first two years, Bullock says he became very dark and depressed but was saved by the letters his mother wrote him for the remaining six years. Bullock’s mother and those letters became the inspiration for Flikshop.

“We’re excited to host Marcus on JBU’s campus to speak with our business and entrepreneurship students,” said Brad Gatlin, associate professor of business at JBU. “Marcus’ story of redemption and resilience is inspiring. His business Flikshop is an excellent model of how Christians can use business to honor God, serve others, and impact the world.”

Bullock’s keynote, “Faith and Resilience: What I learned While Growing a Startup After Prison,” starts at 7 p.m. in Simmons Great Hall and is free and open to the public.

Bullock will also speak at noon on Feb 21 during the Office of Diversity’s lunch series “Where I Come From,” where he will share his life story with JBU faculty, staff and students.

The “Working for the Common Good” speaker series started in 2017 to engage the broader JBU community on the idea of business as a means of honoring God, serving others and impacting the world. Previous speakers include executives and CEOs from different companies around the world.