John Paul DeJoria On Going From Homeless To Billionaire, Mastering Rejection & The Rules For Lasting Success

**Lauryn Bosstick** (0:00)
Today, we're joined by an absolute legend, John Paul DeJoria, the founder behind two of the most iconic brands in the world, Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila. In addition to being one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time, he's also a philanthropist and one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs of our time. But long before building industry-defining companies, John Paul experienced poverty, foster care, and homelessness twice. His journey is a powerful reminder that where you start doesn't have to determine where you end up. He went from being homeless to becoming a self-made billionaire. What makes him so inspiring isn't just what he's built, it's the resilience, generosity, and optimism he's carried with him every step of the way. Today, we're talking about perseverance, purpose, leadership, giving back, and what it really takes to build a meaningful life and lasting legacy. This is not only a business playbook, it's a life playbook, it's about perseverance, it's about pulling yourself up when life gets tough, and much more. With that, John Paul DeJoria, welcome to The Bossticks.

**Michael Bosstick** (0:50)
Let's get the lay of the land with you. You mentioned off air that you were homeless.
In our research, we saw that you were homeless twice.

**John Paul DeJoria** (0:59)
That's correct. That's correct.

**Michael Bosstick** (1:00)
Talk to us about that.

**John Paul DeJoria** (1:02)
Oh, you betcha. Well, the first time I was homeless, I was in my early 20s and had a baby when my wife was 19 and I was 20 So anyways, after a couple of years, she was just too young and came home one day.
Big note there on the floor of the pile of clothes, my little two-and-a-half-year-old son sitting there and saying, I can't handle being a mom anymore. He'll be better off with you. Good luck, guys. By the way, there's no more money left. And she took our only car. Had I known about this, you know, I would have made some changes. However, she set this up three months in advance, wiped out our account, didn't pay any of the rent for three months, didn't pay the utility bills. So she kind of timed it where we were within days of getting everything shut out and being evicted. So there I was, you know, with the little kid and no money and no car. She took our only car.

**Lauryn Bosstick** (1:49)
Why do you think she did it that way? Was she angry with you or was she just an angry person? Because that sounds very, you know, vengeful in a lot of ways.

**John Paul DeJoria** (1:57)
She was a little bit of an angry person. Sometimes when you're that young getting married, you shouldn't even be allowed to get married that young. But it's just one of those things you had to do in those days. And she just was just frustrated with everything, you know, the responsibility of being a mom, tied up all the time. And, you know, who knows the other details, but it was many, many years before I saw her again.

**Lauryn Bosstick** (2:16)
And how did you personally manage that at the time? Like, where did your head immediately go when you read that note?

**John Paul DeJoria** (2:20)
Well, first thing was, oh my God, holy shit. I was like, whoa.
So immediately, I looked, well, I need money and I need a car. So that was my whole thing. I need a car and money. And happened to have a relative of hers, by the way, that had this old Cadillac, 1950 Cadillac, with a blown water pump. You know, I put water in it every four hours. But I called her up. She says, you could have the car just sitting here, as you know, for years doing nothing. So I had a car. Then we needed money. Well, I didn't have any money. Wouldn't get a paycheck for things I was doing for another week.
So what I did was, in my day, if you went and took a soda pop bottle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, dad's root beer, whatever, all grocery stores and all liquor stores had to buy it from you. Two cents for a little one, five cents for a big one. Put my kid in the car, went to vacant lots, and at night when the gas stations were closed, took their bottles, went, cashed them in, and that's how we survived. And that first time around, after a short period of time, buried your friend of mine who was all in the book of biker guy, heavy duty biker guy, found me and said, Johnny, you know, we went to school together. He said, I heard you were down and out. I have an extra room in my house. Why don't you move on in? His name was Lee Meyer. Move on in and some of our biker mamas will take care of your kids while you work and you're able to work. And that was really good.