John Paul DeJoria. I’ve heard him called “The Paul Mitchell Guy” because in 1980 he co-founded the haircare line Paul Mitchell – with a hairdresser named Paul Mitchell and a $700 loan to get started. That was during a time he was living in his car, one of two times in his life the now billionaire was homeless. I’ve heard him called “The Patron Guy,” because in 1989 he co-founded The Patron Spirits company, which he sold to Bacardi in 2018 when the company was valued at over $5 billion dollars. I’ve heard him called “A Nice Guy,” because his reputation precedes him. But, until I moved to Austin, I didn’t know how much of his time and money the self-made billionaire gives away, and that doing so is probably his favorite job.
Intrigued by how much John Paul DeJoria and his equally amazing wife Eloise do to give back, specifically in Austin, we caught up with the couple at their Austin home, where you’ll find family portraits above the fireplace rather than Picassos, to learn more. When the Austin Life team pulled into the driveway we were greeted by two happy pups, Duke and Suzy, John Paul, in denim on demin, and Eloise, who apologized that she was a bit tired, but explained they had Duran Duran over for dinner the night before. “We talked about health, drinking a lot of water and sailing,” John Paul said.
Our shoot started in the driveway with each effortlessly posing with a vehicle from the open garage. Eloise was perfectly accessorized with a yellow Ferrari and looked like a scene out of an Aerosmith video. John Paul’s ride of choice is a motorcycle, and he has a few. He once even had one that could run on Patron tequila! Just like he seems more natural in a Canadian tuxedo than a formal suit, he seems at ease on two wheels. This year was the 19th year of his annual Peace, Love & Happiness charity motorcycle ride, a two-day ride that John Paul underwrites with his friend Gary Spellman. “We try to keep it down to 80 people or less and they all contribute a couple thousand dollars and all the money goes to Austin Children’s Shelter,” he says. 2022 will be their 20th anniversary.
2021 is the tenth anniversary of JPs’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation, which invests time, work and money into people, animals and the environment and helps over causes globally and locally. It started the same year John Paul signed The Giving Pledge, a commitment by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back. To date 224 people have signed the pledge.
In reality, John Paul made the pledge when he was just six-years-old, to his mom. He recounted a story of his mom taking he and his brother downtown LA around the holidays. As he and his brother marveled at the store windows, he said his mother gave he and his brother a dime and told them to put it in a bucket next to a guy ringing a bell. They didn’t have much money and John Paul questioned why they gave what little they had away. He said his mother responded, “Boys, that is the Salvation Army, and they take care of people who don’t have a house to live in or food to eat. We don’t have a lot, but it’s always good to give something. We can only afford ten cents this year, but there is always someone who needs it more than you do.”
“That is something that has never left my mind,” John Paul says. “Even in my, let’s call them bad boy days, during my motorcycle adventures riding with friends from Satan’s Slaves or Hell’s Angels or whatever, Thanksgiving or Christmas I would always volunteer my time, go help feed people, give back somehow even though I didn’t have any money.”
This year alone JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation committed $250,000 as a matching grant challenge to help kick start Salvation Army Austin’s Day of Giving. The Day of Giving raised more than $750,000 that will fund more than 18,700 nights of shelter for individuals and families.
Rather than just write checks, John Paul and Eloise, with the guidance of the foundation’s Executive Director Constance Dykhuizen, (who’s been there all ten years), vet and visit each potential project. “We don’t just donate money,” John Paul says, “For almost everything we do I want to somehow show up and be there, see it, contribute to it, talk to the people and see what they need.” A perfect example of this is Mobile Loaves and Fishes. John Paul says, “We went to see what it was all about when they first got going. We decided it was a really great thing that we would invest our time as well as invest our money in and the first thing that was needed was a garden. It grew from there. The MLF Community First Village started with 230 houses and is now home to the Peace, Love & Happiness Community Works Entrepreneur Hub. John Paul said that they are currently moving people in to Phase II of another 310 tiny houses and “by the time we’re done in a few years there will be 2000.”
During the pandemic John Paul worried about the medical needs of people without means for care. He’s on the Board of Advisors at the University of Texas and says, “I went straight to our Head of Schools and Sciences and said, ‘What can we do to help these guys out? They’re living under bridges and they’re going to spread the virus. What can we do to help?’ and they said, ‘JP, we can inoculate them, but we need help. We need half a million bucks.’ So I gave them half a million bucks and said let’s go do it.”
He continues, “We try to fill the gap, then think about what we can do about homelessness long-term.” That’s why he made a large donation to UT to start an Endowed Chair. “It’s when a few million is put in and all of the interest must go to professors or projects in the college that address homelessness and their medical issues and needs.”
John Paul, who’s especially efficient because he doesn’t use email (or even have an email address or a computer!) spends much of his time these days giving back. He says, “I found the greatest high you will ever get is when you do something for somebody else and ask absolutely nothing in return - other than you are doing something great and trying to spread a message that they should do the same. It’s a hell of a high, and I know what high is all about because I’m a kid of the 60s.”
He also says he feels like it’s an obligation, albeit one he’s happy to shoulder. “I’m so blessed with what I have that I feel part of my obligation, part of everyone’s obligation, is to do something while you are here to make your city, your state, your country, the world a better place because you’re here.” He adds, “We really pay attention to Austin as our global counterpoint to get things going.”
That’s thanks in no small part to his ever-supportive wife, who even after more than 30 years together still looks at John Paul like a lovestruck newlywed. A look of adoration and admiration John Paul reflects right back. “I dragged him here,” Eloise, a native Texan says of getting California-born and raised John Paul to move to Austin decades ago and make it the place they’d call home and raise their children.
“We looked the world over and we had a two-year-old son,” John Paul says, “And we thought, ‘Where do we want to raise him?’ It could have been anywhere in the world. We picked Austin for the community, you can’t beat it. It has some of the best schools in the nation, it’s family oriented and there are good family values here.” After decades here, their love for Austin (and each other) has only grown. Eloise says, “We love hiking the trails and the parks. We love being outside. And then, of course, the music festival. We love music. And I Iove the spirit of Austin. I just feel like everybody’s heart is in the right place here.”
John Paul adds, “My favorite thing is that a week does not go by where Austin doesn’t provide a variety of things to do. In Austin you have your choices and you can get involved if you want to. A lot of our friends come through who are musicians, we could go out and see them or we can have an easy weekend and just go outside here (at home). There’s beautiful water, the dogs run around, you can sit back and read and you are someplace else, not in a big city. It’s a beautiful place.
Made more beautiful by the life they’ve built there.
The more you know
#CouplesGoals: One of Eloise’s favorite things about her husband? “He never focuses on anything negative,” she says, “In my 30 years with John Paul I’ve never heard him talk one word bad about anyone. And John Paul says, “Thirty years ago she swept me off my feet, and just continuously does things that are wonderful with a kind heart.”
Get Involved
Title: Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Attend a community movie night, donate, adopt a house to build with your church or company
Volunteer
Title Multicultural Refugee Coalition
Sign up for their CSA, volunteer to teach English or help on the farm
Help Out
Title Keep Austin Fed
Volunteer to rescue food and distribute it to people and organizations that need it
6 fun facts
-John Paul has JP Special Brew Bourbon in production with Bardstown Brewery in Kentucky.
-Eloise doesn’t drink alcohol as she owns a recovery center called The Arbor with her son Justin Harvey.
-While the office doesn’t have any computers, it does have a red phone. John Paul says, “That just goes to Washington.” And, he’s not being sarcastic. John Paul is Ambassador at Large to the islands of Antigua and Barbuda and Honorary Consul General for Mali.
- John Paul is working with a group in Austin on a new Covid vaccine and delivery system that is leading to other advancements in the medical field.
-John Paul’s daughter Alexis DeJoria is a eight-time National Hot Rod Association winner
-Eloise has a fantastic wardrobe, from which she outfitted herself. She said she was just so excited to be able to wear some of her clothes, neglected during the pandemic! Her hair was done by Freida Kohler-Abeit for ZigZag Salon and Makeup and Styling by Russ Brouse.