John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell haircare and Patrón tequila, recounts episodes of homelessness and early financial precarity, including living in his car while trying to launch Paul Mitchell after an investor withdrew during the high-inflation, high-interest-rate period of 1980–81. He describes assembling a first production run on 30-day supplier credit, raising $700 for artwork, then door-to-door selling to salons and using early orders and a 5% prompt-payment discount to persuade a distributor to place a $2,000 order and pay immediately. DeJoria argues entrepreneurs should expect rejection, focus on “reorder” quality rather than constant selling, and avoid rumination about past setbacks.
He also offers contentious personal accounts from his pre-entrepreneur career, including claiming he was fired from Redken after objecting to animal testing and later dismissed from another company after managers criticised him for not attending synagogue or socialising with them. Separately, he makes major geopolitical claims, saying he travelled to Libya to persuade “Omar Gaddafi” to release Pan Am Flight 103 suspects for trial, and that he went to North Korea in the mid-to-late 1990s to encourage Kim Jong-il to enter four-way talks.
DeJoria discusses philanthropy, including backing housing and skills programmes for homeless people in Austin and describing water and education projects in Mali. The hosts also raise modern tools for entrepreneurs and discuss DeJoria’s view that wealth does not guarantee happiness if it displaces family life.
Paul Mitchell and Patrón co-founder John Paul DeJoria says he travelled to Libya and persuaded “Omar Gaddafi” to release two suspects linked to the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing so they could stand trial. He presents the episode as part of a wider pattern of private diplomacy he says he has undertaken alongside his business and philanthropy.
Read this moment →DeJoria claims he visited North Korea in the “late mid 90s” and urged Kim Jong-il and North Korean officials to enter “four-way talks” involving North Korea, the United States and China. He adds that he was invited to the country as a guest, framing the trip as an example of what private citizens can achieve if they have resources and confidence.
Read this moment →DeJoria says he was dismissed from a management role after executives complained he did not socialise with them on Sundays and did not attend synagogue because he was not Jewish. He presents the incident as one of three firings that, in hindsight, he says helped prepare him with industry knowledge to start Paul Mitchell.
Read this moment →DeJoria describes a dispute at Redken (which he identifies as a “hair care company”) after he says he challenged the firm’s use of animal testing, including what he describes as a room holding “little monkeys”. He says the owner told him the testing made the company look “scientific”, and he later lost his job after continuing to tell colleagues he believed it was wrong.
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