John Paul DeJoria grew up poor in L.A.’s Echo Park neighborhood. He once had to sleep in his car and he collected Coke bottles to recycle to help make ends meet. He was fired from a few jobs and had to endure hardship before he and hair care icon Paul Mitchell came up with an idea for a line of hair care products. With a $700 investment and a lot of passion to boot, John Paul would go door to door to hair salons to try to sell Paul Mitchell products. Now, DeJoria is worth a cool $3 billion. He also co-founded the Patron Tequila company. DeJoria always gives back and does his best to help share his success with those less fortunate. He was once one of those less fortunate so he knows all too well about the struggle.
John Paul DeJoria exemplifies what it means to make a difference in the lives of others. His motto is, “Success unshared is failure.”
The Paul Mitchell hairspray that I have smells wonderful. Almost like watermelon. It smells a lot sweeter today knowing the wonderful things that DeJoria does to help people. He shares his good fortune with others. A documentary film was recently released chronicling his efforts to always give back. Check out these remarkable stories about the hair care and tequila businessman philanthropist:
