John Paul DeJoria goes from being homeless in Los Angeles twice and running with motorcycle gangs to co-founding Paul Mitchell and Patrón.
Trailer for “Good Fortune”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- He went from being homeless in Los Angeles twice and running with motorcycle gangs to co-founding Paul Mitchell and Patrón.
- After his business partner died, he was out selling shampoo door-to-door, trying to keep the company alive.
- He became so wealthy that he funded or supported more than 160 charities worldwide. One of the doc’s best moments is him quietly paying for a stranger’s diner meal and refusing credit.
Watch “Good Fortune”
You can watch “Good Fortune” on Eventive.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 92/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 97/100 (Users); 75/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: “Good Fortune” is directed by Josh Tickell and Rebecca Tickell.
Release Date: 2016
My Review of “Good Fortune”
The Setup
“Good Fortune” tells the story of John Paul DeJoria, better known as JP. He starts with almost nothing: rough childhood, poverty, gang life, and stretches of homelessness in Los Angeles. Then he claws his way up through sales hustle and risk-taking until he co-founds the Paul Mitchell haircare line and later Patrón Tequila.
That alone would be enough for a solid rags-to-riches doc. But what gives this one its hook is that the film keeps asking what kind of rich guy he became after all that. Its answer is that DeJoria tried to build a business life around generosity, loyalty, and the triple bottom line.
More Highlights from the Doc
- The doc does a good job showing how real the early struggle was. This is not a founder who started with family money or elite connections. He was out there surviving and selling.
- The Paul Mitchell story is the strongest section for me. After his partner dies, DeJoria is still out there selling shampoo himself, door to door, trying to keep the company alive.
- The film makes clear how unusual his business résumé is. Most people would be lucky to build one giant company. He helps build a global haircare brand and then later a tequila empire.
- Los Angeles matters a lot here. It is not just backdrop. It is the city where he hit bottom and the city where he started rebuilding.
- I also liked that the doc does not stop at net worth. It keeps returning to how he spends his money, how he treats people, and why his charity work seems tied to his own years without security.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- His early life included time around motorcycle gangs, which makes his later clean-cut billionaire image feel almost impossible.
- The film presents DeJoria as the poster boy for the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit, not just shareholder return.
- One of the smallest moments in the movie says the most: he quietly pays for a stranger’s meal at a diner and does not want public thanks. That lands harder than any big charity total.
- The doc is basically making the case that his years of instability shaped his whole business philosophy. He knows what it feels like to have nothing, and the film argues that he never forgot it.
- Because the story covers homelessness, haircare, tequila, philanthropy, and environmental values, the movie ends up feeling bigger than a standard entrepreneur biography.
Wrap Up:
“Good Fortune” works best when it stays in the gritty details of JP’s rise from homelessness to global success. If you like entrepreneur docs but want one with more heart than ego, this one is worth your time.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc