John Paul Jones DeJoria was born the second son of an Italian immigrant father and a Greek immigrant mother on April 13, 1944 in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Atwater Village on Garden Avenue and then Revere.
He attended Atwater Elementary and John Marshall High School. He graduated from high school in 1962 and spent two years in the United States Navy serving on the United States Ship Hornet, after which he held a series of jobs ranging from a janitor to an insurance salesman.
DeJoria entered the world of hair care as an employee of Redken Laboratories. He was fired from this position, he claims over a disagreement on business strategies. In 1980, he formed John Paul Mitchell Systems with hairdresser Paul Mitchell and a loan for $700.
DeJoria also owns 70% of The Patron Spirits Company.
The company is a tequila brand, and in 2011 they sold approximately 2,450,000 cases. Additionally, DeJoria has a business interest in the African oil industry through his holdings in Madagascar Oil Limited.
DeJoria has been active in the film industry as an executive producer and actor.
DeJoria also made a cameo appearance in the Showtime series Weeds season 2. He narrated and appeared in television commercials for Patron in November 2011.
In 2012, using a video, DeJoria showed his support for Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, when Watson was detained in Germany for interfering with shark finning operations.
DeJoria appeared on the November 1, 2013, broadcast of the American Broadcasting Company reality series Shark Tank as a guest investor, replacing series regular Robert Herjavec. He"s also been interviewed many times on prestigious podcasts and video series, including the Handshakin Video Series.
As a youth, DeJoria was a member of a street gang, but decided to change his life after being told by his high school math teacher that he would "never succeed at anything in life".
