Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia

By: Brian J. Odelli

The road to success hasn’t been straight or smooth for 2010 Philly 100 winner Alphonso “Al” Bullock, President and Founder of Jada Creative.

Bullock, the only son of a world class carpenter father and part Cherokee Indian mother has had to learn some of life’s lessons the hard way.  Of his 6 siblings, only Al way born in Brooklyn, NY (maybe that’s where his fighting spirit comes from – I’m sure Philadelphian’s can relate).  At an early age Bullock’s mother passes away suddenly.  His father relocates the family to North Carolina where young Al finds himself out of place and often at odds with his strict father.  “As a kid, like most kids, I didn’t always agree with the way he handle things, but looking back on it today, I can understand.  As a father, I can see where he was coming from.  He was trying to play both Mom and Dad and fill the void left by losing our Mother.”

At the age of 16, Al Bullock negotiated a deal with a family friend, by which he would make his way back to New York.  This was the point in our interview when I made a mental note to myself, be careful negotiating with Al, he has a lot of practice.  After enrolling at Midwood high School, the self proclaimed “clumsy” Bullock found his first true love, the game of Basketball.  The love affair, like many of the things in Bullocks life, started out rocky before his strong willed determination put him on a trajectory with success.  “My first season, I didn’t see much playing time.  It was really my work ethic more than my talents that helped me make the team.  I outworked everyone else at tryouts and the coach saw something in me.  He would tell the team, if you all worked as hard as Bullock, we would win every game.”  When the coach called my name and put me in a game, I didn’t know what to do.  I just kept thinking; Please don’t throw me the ball.”  Just like a scene from a bad movie, the ball goes to Bullock, who proceeds to throw it straight through the bottom of the net.  “Man, you want to talk about embarrassed, everyone was laughing at me and I felt horrible.”  Redemption however was in the cards for Al.  The next time Al played in a game, he was double teamed in a corner by 2 defenders.  Not knowing what to do, he threw a “sky hook” the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  It went in to win the game.  “It was in that exact moment that I knew I could do anything.  I instantly went from zero to hero.

After a short stint in college, Al realized that higher education wasn’t in his DNA.  He took what little money he had at the time and went searching for a job.  After answering countless ads for employment in the New York Times, Bullock dialed a number and spoke to Mr. Simon Malkin, the owner of S. Malkin & Sons, a custom woodworking company.  Unfortunately for Al, Mr. Malkin hadn’t placed an ad in the newspaper and he wasn’t looking to hire anyone.  What happened next could be called luck; some might call it destiny, for Al Bullock it was simply life changing.  You see, while Mr. Malkin wasn’t looking to hire anyone, he simply couldn’t shake the young man from Brooklyn.  During their conversation, Al could hear and recognize the sound of machinery in the background.  After spending years with his father in his carpentry shop, Al just knew he needed to go check things out for himself.  He took the money in his pocket, bought a train token and went into Manhattan to meet Mr. Malkin.  After meeting, the “old man” realized the “young man” had some skills and knew his way around a machine shop.  Al spent the day helping the employees and at the end of the day, Mr. Malkin offered to pay Al $10 for his help.  Al declined, “I just appreciated the opportunity to see his workshop.”  But something strange happened that evening.  Al couldn’t get old Mr. Malkin and his workshop out of his mind.  The very next day, Al took the rest of his money, bought a train token and took two cups of coffee to the “old man” in Manhattan.  “I stood outside his door at 6:30 a.m. and when he showed up he said, “I had a funny feeling I would see you today.”   “Not only did Mr. Malkin offer me a job, he did something for me that I could never repay.  Within a week of working at S. Malkin & Son, the old man offered me the opportunity to buy the business. The only problem was that I didn’t have the money to buy it and neither did my family.  Mr. Malkin wouldn’t let that formality come between us.   He had his attorney structure a contract by which I would pay so much money every week for an entire year until the business was mine.”  That was the beginning of the journey that has led Al Bullock to where he is today, a husband to his wife Joyce, a father to Jada and Kayla and founder of a graphics design company which today employs 14 people and services customers around the country.

As we were wrapping up our meeting, Al’s phone rings and he excuses himself for a moment.  “I need to take this call.  I’ll only be a minute.”  As he is making arrangements to address a customers needs, Al says something that I realized encompasses Al Bullock well, “Whatever it takes to get the job done, let’s do it.”  As long as Al Bullock leads Jada Creative with that kind of mindset, the future is bright.