When Jason Felts left small-town Texas for California in 1996, he was a fresh high school graduate who dreamed of building a career behind the camera.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts.
Over the course of the next decade-plus, the young creative and entrepreneur did just that.
Felts co-founded his production company, J2TV; built and led a multimillion-dollar entertainment company for Virgin Group as the second youngest CEO in the brand’s history behind Sir Richard Branson himself; served as CEO of Virgin Fest; and sat on Virgin’s Global Brand Council, where he consulted Virgin-branded companies across a range of industries.
Related: ‘I Enjoy Life Too Much’: Sir Richard Branson Has an Adventurous Approach to Business — But He Never Planned on Being an Entrepreneur
Felts explores his lesson-packed journey to success and why he ultimately left the entertainment industry for good in his new memoir, Hollywood Virgin: Breaking Into and Out of Show Business.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin.
Felts also reveals how several key mentors helped shape him along the way — including the billionaire Virgin Group founder Branson.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts and Richard Branson.
It wasn’t until Felts started writing Hollywood Virgin that he noticed the thread of mentorship throughout, he tells Entrepreneur.
Felts says that Branson mentored him “by osmosis.” Essentially, Felts became the leader he is now by watching how Branson treated people and managed priorities.
Related: 5 Famous Business Leaders on the Power of Mentorship
Entrepreneur sat down with Felts and Branson to learn more about their perspectives on business and leadership.
Jason Felts met Richard Branson on Necker Island — and experienced a “surreal” moment on top of a table
When Felts first visited Branson’s Necker Island, Virgin America, Voyages and Hotels didn’t yet exist. He knew little about the Virgin brand and its founder.
“I went down there with no preconceived notions,” Felts recalls, “[which] I believe is the best way to enter a room or situation. I don’t research people before I meet them.”
Branson says he immediately appreciated Felts’s demeanor, humor and enthusiasm.
“ I’m quite creative, and Jason’s extremely creative, and we both love music and films, and I thought there might be ways we could work together in the years to come,” Branson adds.
Related: 5 Lessons I Learned on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island
As dinner on Necker Island one evening came to a close, Branson asked Felts to get on the table — “all of our tables are made for dancing on,” Branson explains — and tell everyone about himself.
The request wasn’t one the Virgin founder had been planning. “I do a lot of things spur-of-the-moment,” Branson says.
In what Felts remembers as a “surreal” moment, he stood on top of the table, surrounded by wealthy and influential individuals, and shared his perspective on the film industry, predicting that people would visit movie theaters less frequently and consume more content on their phones.
Related: What I Learned About Business and Life Spending a Day With Sir Richard Branson
“All of my inhibitions went away,” Felts says. “I got on the plane and flew back to Los Angeles a different person.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts and Richard Branson.
Lead with authenticity and purpose
Felts’s experience on Necker Island taught him the value of genuine, purposeful leadership. “Once you’ve entered the room, or in my case, once you’ve gotten on the table, you better be ready to talk and convey your beliefs with authenticity,” he explains. “Don’t be shy.”
Years later, after Felts had helped build Virgin Group’s entertainment company and music festival brand, he found himself at a professional and personal crossroads that brought those values back to the fore.
“I was so busy with acting the part and working so hard at being the CEO that I lost sight of my true purpose and the fulfillment behind that,” Felts explains.
These days, unless there’s a real purpose behind an initiative, Felts isn’t interested — because otherwise “it feels like a chore.”
Related: It’s Time to Move Beyond Authoritative Leadership — 3 Ways to Lead with Integrity and Purpose
A portion of Felts’s proceeds from sales of Hollywood Virgin will support the LGBQT+ nonprofit The Trevor Project.
Additionally, like so many Los Angeles residents, Felts lost his home to the recent Palisades fire. He turned the book’s February 5 launch party, co-hosted by Los Angeles magazine, into a benefit for the LA Fire Department.
“You’re only as good as your moral compass and authenticity,” Felts says.
Listen and learn
In Hollywood Virgin, Felts also explores the idea that no matter how accomplished or confident someone might seem, they’re often just figuring things out as they go.
The tendency to say “yes” to an opportunity and work out the logistics later is a trait that he and Branson share, Felts notes.
“There’s the old adage ‘fake it ’til you make it,’ and I don’t subscribe to that,” Felts says. “Don’t fake it. Ask questions and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.”
Related: Richard Branson Explains Why Most Entrepreneurs Lack the Right Mindset
Branson also endorses a listen-and-learn approach. Early on, the entrepreneur recognized that Felts was a good listener, which is “a critical attribute” for a strong leader, he says.
Branson points to Virgin Unite’s The Elders, a group of independent global leaders working together for peace and human rights that has included leaders like Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, as an example.
“They’re all great listeners,” Branson explains. “They know what they’re thinking. They don’t need to hear themselves saying it out loud, and the only way they can learn is by listening to other people talk.”
Stay present and trust your team
When Felts watched Branson accomplish his goal of going to space in 2021, he experienced a lightbulb moment: Seeing Branson achieve his dream helped him realize that he’d also achieved his own. It was time to move on from the entertainment industry.
The revelation also helped Felts grapple with “striver syndrome,” or the inclination to feel like he should always be doing or seeking more. These days, Felts no longer feels the need to attend every single event.
“Five years ago, you could have invited me to the opening of an envelope, and I would have been there because I felt like I needed to be there,” Felts says. “Now, I’m 100% focused on being present.”
Related: 4 Mindful Leadership Practices That Transformed My Management and Company Culture
Felts admits his striver syndrome hasn’t completely disappeared, but now he approaches the hours of the day differently and has separate phones for work and personal use. “It’s not really about balance — there’s no play and work differentiation for me,” he says. “It’s more [a matter] of time management.”
Felts is adamant about modeling that philosophy for his team; he pushes people to take breaks and lets them know that they don’t always have to show up in person. It goes back to another belief that he and Branson share: If you take care of your people, they’ll take care of business.
“ I would always [say], ‘I don’t pay you for the number of hours that you work. I pay you for how you think, and I pay you for how you take care of yourself,'” Felts explains. “If you want to go to yoga in the morning because that zens you out and you’re able to be creative, do it. If you need to miss the staff meeting because that’s part of your routine, fine. Figure it out, catch up, get the notes.”
Be detail-oriented but also delegate
Felts tackled ambitious projects during his time in Hollywood and at Virgin Group, from developing, financing and producing film and television shows to helping create the award-winning Virgin America Safety Dance video and orchestrating Virgin-branded music festivals.
Branson appreciates that Felts doesn’t take himself too seriously or shy away from the details.
“That’s important as well as a leader,” Branson says. “He’ll dress as he feels comfortable so that other people can dress as they feel comfortable. He’ll roll up his sleeves and get into the thick of it. If there’s a festival, he’s out and about, finding out what’s going on. If there’s a problem in some area, he’ll dive in and address it.”
Image Credit: Hollywood Virgin. Richard Branson and Jason Felts.
Related: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Leadership Team
Felts is adept at assembling and managing teams, another must for successful leadership, Branson says. Good leaders should know how to delegate, letting people learn from mistakes and achievements, he adds.
It’s a leadership strategy that Branson uses himself. For example, when Virgin Group’s cruise company Virgin Voyages launched, Branson was involved in the original design work, “getting into all the weeds” for a few months before stepping back to allow someone else to take the reins.
”At Virgin, we try to promote from within so that we actually know somebody’s strengths and weaknesses before they become, say, a chief executive,” Branson says, “so that it’s unlikely they’re going to come and destroy the spirit of a company.”
Find a mentor and ask for help
As a kid with big Hollywood dreams, Felts would cold-call fan clubs and celebrity assistants with abandon, and it led to some exciting opportunities, like attending a taping of John Ritter’s then-current show Hearts Afire.
Of course, these days, young entrepreneurs seeking mentors and advice are more likely to send an email or DM than to place a call or write a letter.
“If you’re networking and reaching out, [consider] doing it in a way where you’re presenting a mutually beneficial opportunity,” Felts suggests. “If you’re seeking something, determine upfront what you can provide that individual, company or organization in return because time and bandwidth are limited.”
Related: What It’s Like to Be Mentored by Richard Branson, By Someone Who Wasn’t
Branson encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to seek out people who have run successful businesses and perhaps sold them or retired because many of them “would be delighted to spend some time helping a young person get their business going.”
“If there’s somebody who you respect who’s retired in your neighborhood, get ahold of them and see whether they could give you a couple of hours in the evenings or come and help you a bit,” Branson says.
“Never be afraid to ask,” Felts agrees.
It’s no doubt a mentality behind some of the greatest business successes.
