John Paul DeJoria | Overcoming Homelessness, Building a Business, & Spreading Kindness
“I was homeless and sleeping in a car.”
22-year-old John Paul DeJoria was walking upstairs to his second-floor apartment when his wife came out of the door and asked for the car keys. After handing her the keys to their only car, John walked into the living room surprised to see his 2 year old son sitting on the floor next to a pile of clothes. There was a note that aid, “Can’t handle it anymore. Our son is better off with you. Good luck, I’m gone.”
Unbeknownst to John, for three months his wife had not paid any bills. She had been setting the money aside each month and planning to leave. He was going to be evicted the very next day.
In shambles, he immediately began searching for a car. He purchased an old 1951 Cadillac on loan that didn’t run. He figured out how to fix it, and it became his means of transportation and his home. He slept in the front seat and his son slept in the back.
Self-described as “too proud”, he refused to reveal his homelessness to friends and family, particularly his mother whom he says would’ve gladly offered him a place to stay if he’d asked.
He learned how to live off of less than $2.50 a day (circa 1980). By going to a place called the Freeway Café, he was able to get breakfast for $0.99 which included 1 egg, 1 sausage, 1 toast, and a coffee. For dinner, he went to a place called El Turito during happy hour. For $1.25 he could get a margarita, chicken wings, and chips and salsa.
“We need $500K to start this business.”
Eventually, DeJoria would go on to work in the hair care industry for companies such as Redken Laboratories in 1971, Fermodyl Hair Care after that, and then the Institute of Trichology. He was either fired or laid off from all of these companies.
Through his experience in the hair care industry, he became good friends with a very popular hairstylist Paul Mitchell. Mitchell had tried his hand at selling a line of hair care products to no avail. DeJoria approached Mitchell and suggested starting a company on the premise that they could create a better product by collaborating with an expert in formulation. DeJoria knew business, Mitchell knew hair.
DeJoria said “ We need $500K to start this business. You take 30% and I take 30%. We’ll take on anyone who offers the remaining 40%.” They were able to obtain the interest of a European investor who agreed to put up the money. DeJoria called up a manufacturer and discussed plans for 30K bottles to be produced. However, right before the money was supposed to hit the bank, he discovered that the investor had backed out, attributing it to the poor state of the economy.
“In 1980-81 inflation was 12.5%, unemployment was 10.5%, and if you could get approved for a loan, prime rate was 17.5% interest. People were lining up around the block to get gas.” said DeJoria.
Despite this bump in the road, DeJoria and Mitchell decided they were going to make the business happen regardless of the situation. With $700, they decided to buy as much product as they could from the manufacturer and immediately started hustling to make sales.
They would go to salons and pitch their product to hairdressers, educating them on the value and use of their shampoo and leave in conditioner. Additionally, they would teach salons how to do better business, bringing in more clientele and increasing their profit.
After two years of hard work and being late on their bills, they finally started to get ahead. DeJoria said when they were able to pay their bills on time and have a little money in savings, they knew they had made it
In the years that followed, John Paul Mitchell systems would grow rapidly, eventually reaching over $1B in sales. Later on, DeJoria would also found Patrón tequila that was sold for $5.1B.
Lessons from John Paul DeJoria
“I wanted to be in the reorder business, not the selling business.”
“Your product or service has to be the very best. You don’t want to be in the selling business, you want to be in the reorder business. Most people put something together and say, “Can I sell it?” It should be all about wanting them to reorder it. The product has to be so good, and experts that use the product should know it’s really good.”
“Be prepared for a lot of rejection.”
“Be prepared for a lot of rejection, because you’re gonna get it. If you’re prepared for it, it’s not going to affect you.” Before working in hair care, DeJoria was once a commission-only door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. During an unpaid sales training they said, “A lot of you won’t make it. Those that will, will overcome rejection.” That’s one of the best lessons DeJoria said he learned about business. “You have to have the same enthusiasm on door 100 as you did on door 1. As you do this, you’ll learn how to do things better and say things differently. The enthusiasm I had for sales never left. That’s how I started Paul Mitchell the same way, going door-to-door to salons.”
Most encyclopedia salesmen lasted 3 days. DeJoria lasted 3.5 years.
“You can’t change yesterday’s newspaper.”
“Whenever you’re feeling discouraged or down and out, avoid thinking about how bad things are, but think “What’s next?” Don’t get stuck in the past because that’s how you stay there.”
“You can’t change yesterday’s newspaper. What slows most people down is they’re stuck in the past. “Thinking about what went wrong and who did you wrong can’t be what your focus. All your thinking power is behind you. You can’t change it. You have to think about what’s next. Forgive everyone who’s done you wrong, forget every jealousy, forget every regret. Stop carrying it around. When it comes to your mind, say, “Nope, that’s my past life. Let’s move on.”- John Paul DeJoria.
Quotes from John Paul DeJoria
“Success unshared is failure.”
“Successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don’t want to do.”
“We wouldn’t be who we are today if it wasn’t for the past.”
“Everyone should read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. If you need a helping hand dealing with people, read this book.”
“If I ever had a secret to a lot of my success of relationships with people is kindness. Kindness is wonderful. Speak to people with kindness. When you want to help someone out, do it with kindness.”
Media & Resources
https://www.peacelovehappinessfoundation.org/