A True "Rags to Riches" Story

By Manny Fernandez

Judge Not Lest You Be Judged

John Paul DeJoria: From Homeless to Billionaire

Twenty years after being homeless, John Paul DeJoria 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 and helping people individually and creating profit -- all with a genuine smile on his face.

He grew up in downtown L.A. and didn't know times were tough because everybody was going through the same thing. At one point his mother said: "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."

The businessness that made him rich were John Paul Mitchell Systems (shampoo and conditioner) and Patron, an ultra-premium, high-quality tequila.

His philosophy includes:

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.

He considers the American Dream as powerful, and believes it is important that people don't forget about it. When he listens to news reports, he wonders why people are being told that we are in the worst economy and society we've seen since the Great Depression.

In 1980, when he started his company, everything was worse than it is today: Inflation was 12.5%, interest rates were 18% or more, unemployment was 10.5%, U.S. hostages were still held in Iran, and you had to wait in line around the block to get gasoline. He said, "People need to realize that regardless of the economy, if you believe in yourself, your service and your product -- and tell enough people about it -- it will get picked up."

He was homeless on two occasions: When he started John Paul Mitchell systems in 1980, he lived in his car for the first two weeks. He knew things were difficult, but believed that what he had was unique and different. He talks about today:

"A lot of people say 10% to 15% of the economy is off, but what about the 80% to 85% that isn't?"

He closed his interview with: "Success unshared is failure."

We agree and we all have many opportunities to make a difference in many ways, sometimes just starting with a smile.