Bullard found work for four years as a jazz drummer in a nightclub named "Zelli's", which was owned by Joe Zelli. Bullard worked with Robert Henri, a lawyer and friend, to secure a club license, which allowed Zelli's to stay open past midnight. This led to Zelli's becoming the most celebrated nightclub in Montmartre, as most other area cabarets still closed at midnight. Following his time at Zelli's, Bullard departed for Alexandria, Egypt where he performed with a jazz ensemble at Hotel Claridge and fought two prize fights. He also hired musicians for private parties with Paris' social elites, worked as a masseur, and an exercise trainer. Bullard later managed a nightclub "Le Grand Duc", where he hired the American poet, Langston Hughes. Around 1928, Bullard was able to buy "Le Grand Duc" from Ada "Bricktop" Smith. As a popular jazz venue, "Le Grand Duc" gained him many famous friends, including Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, and French flying ace Charles Nungesser. He eventually became the owner of another nightclub, "L'Escadrille". Bullard's Montmartre fame was such that Ernest Hemingway based a minor character on Bullard in "The Sun Also Rises."