His mom saved his life by sending him mail in prison. Now he's paying it forward.
Marcus Bullock spent his most formative years in a prison.
He was 15 when he was convicted and served eight years — a shockingly common experience. Of the millions of people incarcerated in the United States, about 70,000 of them are juveniles.
Marcus, though, was determined to become more than just a statistic.
Bullock in 2015. Photo by J. Pratt Jr. via Marcus Bullock, used with permission.
Luckily, he had a family support system that kept in constant touch. He learned firsthand the value of knowing that people are there for you, even when you're in prison.
His mother, in particular, made it a point to send him a steady stream of letters and pictures while he was incarcerated. "She would just send me tons and tons of mail," Marcus explains. "So it created this sense of accountability."
Now Bullock is 35 and the founder and CEO of Flikshop; an app that helps prisoners keep in touch with their families.
Photo by J. Pratt Jr. via Marcus Bullock, used with permission.
After having a hard time finding a job after his release — a ubiquitous experience among former inmates — he started his own painting and construction business that quickly became successful.
His friends and cellmates back in prison wanted to know more about what he was up to and how he found success, but the only way to reach them was through traditional letters.
"My life was just moving too fast to sit down and write a letter when there’s such a thing as Facebook," Marcus says.
The problem is, there was no such thing as a convenient social media platform for prisoners. So, he left his construction business to build one.
Flikshop lets you take a picture on your phone, add text, and turn it into a 99-cent postcard for your friend or loved one in prison.
It's an innovation that has the potential to help millions of families stay in contact with their incarcerated loved ones. And while a postcard may seem like a small gesture, Marcus knows more than most how meaningful it can be.
"For all the things that kind of beat me down when I was [in prison], that mail-call lifted me back up," he says.
Marcus and his mother during his time in prison. Photo via Marcus Bullock, used with permission.
The app quickly found success and is helping families all over the U.S. find a sense of normalcy through communication.
"They want to keep in contact and send those in-the-moment Instagram selfies or say 'this is what we're eating for dinner' to their husbands, brothers, cousins, uncles, or children in these facilities," Marcus says.
For Marcus, Flikshop is more than just a communication tool; it's a way of fostering relationships with a population that is too often ignored and forgotten.
"You probably haven’t seen your first cousin in weeks," Marcus says. "But because you see them on Facebook, you feel close to them. The reality is — that cousin in prison? — You forgot he existed until someone brought him up in a conversation at Christmastime."
It's that difference, Marcus notes, that can lead to prisoners feeling like they're not even a part of their own family anymore once they come home.
Until now, communicating with an inmate involved making a special visitation trip or taking an expensive collect call. If you can't afford to do so on a regular basis, the disconnect grows fast.
Upon release, that distance from life outside, along with dim career prospects, contributes to the United State's high recidivism rate. Simply sending some photos, Marcus explains, is a huge step toward reversing the vicious cycle. "It will keep your engagement going which will help strengthen that relationship, which will inherently help lower incarceration. Thats what we want our technology to do."
Marcus has never lost sight of how important it was for him to stay in touch with his family.
Photo via Marcus Bullock, used with permission.
It's what helped him stay focused, uplifted, and motivated to make a better life for himself once he was released. More importantly though, it's what helped him remember that he was more than just a statistic. He's a human being with dreams, hopes, and a mother that loves him and believes in him.
"The entire time I was [in prison]," Marcus explains, "I was ready to come home and prove to my mom that the love she showed me during those pivotal times wasn’t in vain."
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."