FROM RAGS TO RICHES: AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

If you don’t know his name, John Paul Dejoria (of the hair care line John Paul Mitchell and the CEO of Patron Spirits) then you are definitely familiar with some of his businesses. But are you familiar with his unlikely, and incredible, story that beat the odds?

John Paul DeJoria, From Homeless To Billionaire

An Interview with John Paul DeJoria, owner of Patrón Spirits and cofounder and CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems

John Paul DeJoria is one of the great stories of achieving the American Dream. Twenty years after being homeless, he was able to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Along the way he built two iconic companies — John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón Spirits. Today, DeJoria has a personal net worth of over $4 billion, but perhaps his most significant contribution is his business philosophy, which is at the intersection of helping the world, helping people individually and creating profit — all with a genuine smile on his face. He’s definitely having fun. I recently sat down with DeJoria.

What was your childhood like?

We grew up in downtown LA, in the Echo Park area. We didn’t know that we were really going through tough times because everybody was going through the same thing. I remember once in junior high school, on a Friday, my mom came home from work and said to my brother and I, “You know, between us, we have only 27 cents, but we have food in the refrigerator, we have our little garden out back, and we’re happy, so we are rich.”

Talk about the initial visions behind Patrón Spirits and John Paul Mitchell Systems?

With John Paul Mitchell Systems, we wanted to sell only to hairdressers, but we wanted something different. We came up with a shampoo that required only one wash to save time and money, and a conditioner that you left in. This acted as a sculpting lotion for the hairdresser, protected against the heat of a blow dryer, and helped neutralize chemicals on hairdressers’ hands. We knew we wouldn’t do what other companies did; many said they would only be in the professional hairdressing industry, but went full retail when they got big. In fact, today, 31 years later, if you ever see a Paul Mitchell product in the drug store or supermarket, it’s counterfeit or black market. We stayed true to our word.

As for Patrón, we wanted to produce the smoothest tequila people had ever tried; tequila that didn’t get you really sick the next day; something you could sip. That was our vision: to have something that could one day be an ultimate premium tequila. People would treat themselves by having Patrón. Once people in every segment of society are turned on to Patrón, they become hooked, because Patrón is not only an ultra-premium, high-quality tequila, but also it’s one that’s made with a lot of love.

Very different business models. Are there similarities?

If you are involved with Patrón Spirits or Paul Mitchell Salon hair care products, you’ve got to love the product, you’ve got to love your customer, and you’ve got to love the planet: It’s our culture. We hire people with that attitude, because if you don’t love what you do, within three months, you could leave us. At John Paul Mitchell Systems — the older of the two [companies] — we’re 31 years old, and our turnover has been less than 30 people in 31 years!

By loving yourself, you’re going to be a happy person.  A lot of people don’t like themselves for whatever reason. Being able to communicate with a loved one that you haven’t talked to in a while because of some communication break makes their life and your life in a much better place.  Now you’re getting along, and people are in more harmony.

So the love helps us a lot because, no matter what you do — whether it’s shipping, manufacturing of products, or putting ingredients in — you always make sure you do it the best because you love who your customer is and what you stand for.