Just who would we be able to call from Jones’ phone? “The world,” he states plainly. “Tom Brady, Ryan Sheckler, Ludacris, Michael Phelps, Floyd Mayweather ... the list goes on and on.” We arrive at the Melin office and Jones enters like a big ship, moving slowly but making waves. He’s introduced to owners Cory Roth and Brian McDonell by Sheckler’s agent, Steve Astephen from Wasserman Media Group. Astephen thought Jones would be a perfect fit for them; placing Melin hats on the heads of Jones’ celebrity friends could certainly help the business.
HATS OFF: Jones is partnered with Melin, a Southern California-based brand of luxury headwear. Their brand’s name, Melin, is derived from “milliner,” a term describing a person who designs and crafts headwear.
Roth and McDonell show Jones their hats, detailed with metal and leather trimming and stored in leather boxes. These are not your typical snapbacks. The hats range in price from just over $100 to well over $1,000. During the first meeting, Jones suggests some tweaks to the hat designs. They like his suggestions, and him, immediately and tell Jones they want him involved. He becomes an equity partner and goes to work immediately.
A BETTER TOMORROW: Jones and Phil Maloof are both involved with Never Too Hungover, a vitamin blend that prevents hangovers. By rehydrating and defusing alcoholic toxins, Never Too Hungover ensures you’ll be hangoverfree after a night out—it’s also sugar free, gluten free, low calorie and has no added caffeine.
The first call he makes is to Gabrielle Union. Jones tells Union he has something for her boyfriend, Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade, and sends him some hats to try. He then ships samples to friends DeMarcus Ware of the Denver Broncos, skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and Snoop Dogg. Wade started wearing the hats everywhere. They sent him dozens of hats and he started matching the color of the hat to the car he was driving that day. At the time, Wade was in all of the tabloids because of his upcoming wedding to Union. Jones also dropped by Melin’s booth at Agenda, the surf and skate trade show. By the time he reached the booth, about 30 people had followed, including Birdman and Floyd Mayweather. The partnership with Jones was a quick win for Melin. The brand is now carried in LIDS and Bloomingdales, and Jones says the company is doing exceedingly well. It’s quickly evident that Jones’ need to keep moving is as much out of purpose as it is out of desire. He’s currently involved with a drink to prevent hangovers called Never Too Hungover, a dating website, a brand called Publish (which he wears and encourages his friends to wear as well) and is working with the Maloofs to bring an NHL team to Las Vegas. Two years ago, when Gavin Maloof sold the Sacramento Kings, he decided to pursue another venture: hockey. He worked with Bill Foley, billionaire chairman of Fidelity National Financial, to bring a professional hockey team to Las Vegas. Their goal was to sell 10,000 tickets. If they were able to do that, it seemed likely they could win a franchise. Jones was able to sell boxes to competing nightclub impresarios like Jesse Waits from XS and Tryst, Alex Cordova from The Hakkasan Group and Victor Drai from Drai’s. “We ended
up selling 13,000 tickets. JJ was able to sell a lot of sky boxes to his network of friends,” Gavin Maloof says. “JJ is a great host, he does a good job of bringing two parties together.”
would need to be with Joe and Gavin all day. In the nighttime I would want to go out. I would be going all the time. Even when I wouldn’t go out, I would still be up researching, working, inspecting.”
“Trust me,”
With so much time spent doing business and networking, does Jones have any time for recreation? “Seventy percent work, 10 percent fun, 10 percent video games and 10 percent basketball,” Jones laughs. “I really don’t sleep. When I was in Vegas I
Even though Jones flexes on Instagram with hundreds of coveted Mayweather v. Pacquiao tickets and carries an iPhone full of sports and movie stars’ cell numbers, he’s still just a regular dude.
“JJ is the kind of guy you want to hang out with.”
GAVIN MA LOOF SAYS.
| NOVEMBER 2015 | 133