Girls Impact the World 2018

This was Eloise's fifth year sponsoring Connecther's Girls Impact the World Film Festival. Every year, we are amazed at the voices, issues and perspectives raised by student filmmakers from around the world. Our support of the project goes in part to scholarship funds for talented filmmakers who are making a difference in their communities and globally through this incredible platform. We encourage you to watch the award winning films (and so many more!) that are all available on Connecther's website. 2018's prizes went to:

• JUDGES’ CHOICE Grand Prize - $5,000 The Superhero Without A Cape - HazeraBegum by Shafiqua Nawrin Oishi
• First Runner Up - $2,500 Let Me Breathe with my Dream by Novera HasanNikkon
• Second Runner Up - $1,000 A Truth by Susannah Joe
• GLOBAL IMPACT Grand Prize - $2,500 Award Cut by Aicha Cherif
• First Runner Up - $1,000 The Gods Will Be Angry by Preeti Shakya
• BEAUTY - $2,500 Award I Am Beautiful by Kristelle Dirks
• BEST FILM PRODUCTION - $1,000 Award Who is JenBLKYN by Roxanne Lim
• ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - $1,000 Award Pinata by Juliana Concepcion, Miranda Abazoski and Tianna McNair
• GEMS CHOICE - $1,500 Award Self Portrait by Meghan Cullen
• GIRLS IN TECH - STEM - $1,000 Award A World in Motion by An Nguyen, Khue Tran, and Makayla Moore and Balancing Tech by Schwetal Shah
• GREEN IS - $2,500 Award Fatima by Halimah Tariq
• LET GIRLS LEARN - $1,000 Award Maskad (The Aim) by Pooja Gowtham Bohra
• MOST INNOVATIVE SOLUTION - $1,000 Award Carry Your Dream with You by Shereen NidalNanish
• MOST INNOVATIVE FILM - $1,000 Award Tune Your Ears by Rebecca Dharmapalan
• PEOPLES’ CHOICE - $2,500 Award Talk Up the Talk by Jessica Mabanglo
• STAND UP MEN - $2,500 Award Stand Up Men by Palak Srivastava

#SXSW

On the first day of SXSW 2018, John Paul spoke on a panel entitled Giving Back Rocks: How Austin Brands Do It with prominent Austin philanthropists Kendra Scott and Andy Roddick. Though they all have different backgrounds and brands, each of these leaders has their own approach that has been a part of their lives from a young age. 

John Paul talked about how his mother instilled in him the importance of giving back. He went on to mention partners Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Sea Shepherd and Grow Appalachia. You can read more about it at Community Impact. 

#Americasfavoriteentrepreneur

We started the hashtag #americasfavoriteentrepreneur to post articles about John Paul because, well, it's just true ;). In this video, John Paul defines success, talks about how he got started giving back at a young age and how he celebrates (or doesn't celebrate) his birthday. 

PLH Ride 2018

We get asked about our name a lot -- why Peace, Love & Happiness? To us, it's not just a name or a collection of abstract ideas; it's long been John Paul's approach to life and philanthropy. Sixteen years ago, John Paul founded the Peace, Love & Happiness Ride with his friend Gary Spellman. Together, they have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities over the years by riding motorcycles, hosting amazing concerts and inviting friends to come along. Our foundation was born out of that same idea -- live your life by these principles and invite people to the celebration. See you at PLH 2018!  ☮ ❤ :)

John Paul and MLF on In Depth with Graham Bensinger

John Paul was recently profiled on In Depth with Graham Bensinger. You can see his Austin home and cars, hear from Eloise about how they met and listen to John Paul talk about never selling out. But, of course, we are most excited about seeing John Paul tour the Community First! Village at Mobile Loaves and Fishes. The Ferrari is fine, but, hey, giving is our work and life ;)

Peace Love & Happenings

We have written some guest blogs on the Paul Mitchell blog Peace Love & Happenings. You can read more about some of our projects here:

•  JUST: Supporting Female Entrepreneurship
• Mercy and Goodness with Mobile Loaves and Fishes
• An Elevated Voice of Compassion -- Brooke Axtell of She Is Rising
• Girls Impact the World with Eloise!
• Community First! A Place to Call Home 

Good Fortune

For our first update, we want to introduce the film Good Fortune by Josh and Rebecca Tickell. The documentary will give you a great idea of who John Paul DeJoria is and what he is all about from the perspective of his friends Dan Ackroyd, Danny Trejo, Michelle Phillips and more. Many of our partners and their work are featured as well!

Available now on iTunes and Amazon.