Jillian's First Love

I got my start in writing at age ten. When most kids my age were outside playing jacks, touch football, jump rope or hide-and-go seek, I was in the house writing short stories and reading books from various authors, including James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Toni Morrison, F Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Langston Hughes, and Alice Walker.

Jillian’s Words On Writing To Transform Lives

From the moment that I first dared to put words on a page, I sensed that storytelling would be my lifeline—my anchor, my catharsis, and my bridge to others. I felt that by becoming a writer, I could deepen my craft, sharpen my narrative voice, and elevate the transformative power of stories as both art and a beacon for change.


My life began in Philadelphia, raised by my African-American mother and my white stepfather—“Daddy” to me—who, as a member of the Philadelphia Italian Mafia, exposed me early to the complexity of human experience. At age ten, I witnessed a mob hit at the hands of my stepfather. 



At fourteen, after my stepfather’s death, my mother suffered abuse at the hands of her new husband. In a moment when I couldn’t take him beating on her anymore, I defended her using my martial arts skills. After I broke my stepfather’s nose, I was cast out by my mother at age fifteen. I found myself homeless in Orlando, Florida. In order to survive the streets, I became addicted to drugs, and trapped in a world of prostitution and despair. It didn’t take long before I got pregnant.

I made my way back to Philadelphia. At age sixteen, I gave birth to my son two months premature due to my drug use. His survival became my turning point. I went cold-turkey from drugs and alcohol. A year later, I resumed my studies at Overbook High School, and graduated with top honors when I was nineteen.

Years later, while raising my children, (I was a single parent to three kids), I studied communications and film at La Salle University in Philadelphia while I worked as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

My storytelling journey evolved first through writing articles as a journalist, and then through filmmaking. I interned on Spike Lee’s movie Malcolm X, then branched out as a writer, director, producer, fight choreographer, and actor—launching Jillian Bullock Enterprises, LLC some years later. I crafted award-winning films, such as A Sense of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives—a raw, unflinching drama about military sexual trauma and PTSD rooted in firsthand research and personal empathy—and additional films Touch With Your Eyes and A Cup Full of Crazy. Currently, I am in pre-production on the movie Rebirth, which I wrote and will direct and star as the lead female actor in the film that focuses on domestic violence. 


As an author, I published my memoir, Here I Stand, a testament to transformation—from victim to victor—detailing my life with my mother and Mafia stepfather, homelessness, addiction, teenage motherhood, and the power of resilience. I am currently writing my first novel, a psychological thriller entitled Shadows of Love, Betrayal & Murder. 


Any project, film or book I write amplifies a message of resilience, hope, forgiveness, and the human spirit’s capacity to transcend and transform. I weave stories that speak to marginalized voices, trauma, healing, and the journey toward self-actualization. 

From  Survivor To  Storyteller

My hope is that my journey and experiences continue to inspire others, and that my movies, projects, content, speeches, and books can spark empathy, action, and change, so that the narratives I craft may stand both as art and as an invitation: to stand, to rise, to overcome. And most importantly—to believe that one’s past doesn’t dictate what one’s future will be. 


Jillian