John Jay Jay French is the Founder, Guitarist and Manager of Twisted Sister. Known for his savvy business and entrepreneurial skills and his philanthropic spirit, Jay Jay talks about learning the business of music and how its not that different than your business and about……

This Video shows how John Jay Jay French Rocked it in San Diego at Bestselling Author Steve Farber’s Extreme Leadership Summit where he spoke in August.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni5ssYr07wc]

The Video Interview

The audio Interview was done before Jay Jay’s talk from his office in New York. The video was taken at the conference after he had spoken to an excited group of entrepreneurs and business people.

I went to Steve Farber’s first ever Extreme Leaership Summit and now that it is over I can tell you it was a major success. NO Pitchfest, pure training, learning, networking and awesome entertainment. The message was important and Steve used his famous L.E.A.P. system to guide and help make the summit a wonderful experience. It was filled with speakers that taught Love of your business, client, worker and your product or service. It had speakers like Jay Jay French from Twisted Sister that were incredibly Energetic and Audacious and speakers like Simon Billsberry to give Proof of concept and implementation.

It was hard to get Jay Jay away from the throng of people that wanted his attention, but he stayed for the whole three days and made himself extremely available to the attendees. I grabbed him while he was signing autographs and got into the nitty gritty with him about his first talk on stage and about the music business and how what he learned creating one of the most successful bands in the history of rock, can help you and your business.

I loved Steve’s book so I knew the summit would be good, but I did not expect great and I got great. One night Steve and Jay Jay set it up so that Guitar Center and Epiphone Guitar supplied us with masses of instruments and a drum kit and we all got to go and play up on stage with Jay Jay. What a super honor. I played bass behind a couple of tunes… very cool. – JW

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The Audio Interview

This was written before the summit.

After speaking to Steve Farber, recently about his first ever Extreme Leadership Summit, I could see that this was going to be one of those life changing experiences that we just do not find in most conferences and summits nowadays.

Steve is cool enough, but he also offered to allow his speakers to interview with me before the event….  Great for me because, although I don’t do commercials or infomercials for people, I do love to create and share excellent and valuable content for you, and Steve and the speakers promised they would tell some cool stories and give me some great content and value to pass on to you. (And They Have!.. )

It is also great for Steve so that he can get the word out on this unbelievable summit. Steve has put together an Extreme Training Intensive… This is not another one of those sellathon weekends where speakers pitch you to buy at the back of the room…

Steve has brought his closest friends that have excelled in Extreme Leadership and he brings them to you so that you can learn what you need to know to accelerate your business and your life to never before foreseen heights.

I heard that Jay Jay and Steve had met at Liz Strauss’ SOBCon Event and was happy to hear that Jay Jay would be speaking at Steve’s Extreme Leadership Summit.

As a musician myself and a guitar player at that, it was sure exciting to get to speak with Jay Jay French the guitarist for the legendary Twisted Sister.

Jay Jay tells a great story and is quite candid and I found that there was really no question he was not willing to answer.

The big thing we discussed was how similar the music business is to other industries and how it takes the same qualities and systems and steps to place preparation into the path of opportunity.

Jay Jay, is a rock star that plays guitar in front of 70 to 80 thousand screaming fans at huge arenas and stadiums, but as the founder and also the manager of the band and others, Jay Jay is also a very savvy businessman, an entrepreneur and someone that has paid some dues.

Never thought I would say that some of the smartest business information I got came from a rock guitarist from a band with a name like Twisted Sister.

I want to thank Jay Jay for his time, for being a great guest and for spending some substantial time with me right after getting off his European Tour… Thanks Jay Jay. – JW

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Jay Jay French

Jay Jay French is a human enigma. His playing has inspired countless guitarists all over the world, and 30+ years after founding Twisted Sister, he is truly a living legend.

As a manager, he has worked with such diverse artists as Sevendust, songwriters Andrew Fortier and David Forman, blues guitar legend Johnny Gale, jam band heroes The Sound Of Urchin, underground new york legends The Step Kings, and Fred Sargolini–the “FS” of the world-famous new york DJ duo, Ming & FS.

In his combined roles as a guitarist, manager, and producer, Jay Jay has been responsible for the sale of over 12 million records worldwide and has 39 gold and platinum albums from 8 different countries.

Jay Jay has been in the rock’n’roll circus for three decades, and knows both sides of the stage and the microphone; yet, he keeps away from the gossip headlines and glamour nonsense that the industry is so infected with. He’s a New Yorker, but more so an international player that impresses on all levels. He’s tough when he’s on a mission, but his dedication, knowledge and trust is unheard of.  Jay Jay is the real deal – both as a musician, producer and manager, and he’s known by many as one of the most genuine people working in the music industry today.

“At the end of the day, Rock and roll is a business with universal business rules. You need to posses the ability to look inside yourself, be honest with what you see, re-invent, and then re-apply. And be fully prepared to be knocked down again.”

PinkBurst Project

Jay Jay French’s Pinkburst Project Donates Over $110,000 to The Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation

A total of $110,000 is being donated to The Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation for ongoing research, education and support for those affected by Uveitis and other inflammatory eye diseases.

All custom guitars and amps in The Pinkburst Project collection were auctioned for sale during the Skinner Fine Musical Instruments on Sunday, May 1, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts.

A benefit concert, “The Pinkburst Project: An Evening with Twisted Sister benefiting the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation” took place on Friday, April 29 at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square. Special guests included New York Yankee-great, Bernie Williams.

“When I embarked on the Pinkburst Project three and one-half years ago on behalf of my daughter Samantha and her struggle with her Uveitis, I did it at first to raise much needed money for research and a cure. I didn’t realize where that journey would take me.” stated French.

He continued, “The money raised of course is much needed but the media exposure and the realization that getting out the story could actually save people’s sight was something that I didn’t think about. Now I have come to realize that the combination of hard work, focus and the incredible help from so many people have created a social network of families who are fighting this disease and no longer feel like nobody in the world cares. People DO care.

The brotherhood of man has once again reached out to those in need and now the Pinkburst Project has given renewed hope to those afflicted that someday a cure may be found.”

“In spite of the fact that uveitis blinds thousands of patients every year, it remains “under the radar”, unknown by most and underappreciated even by many ophthalmologists as a cause of continuing misery and blindness. Raising awareness of this preventable tragedy among the public and educating eye doctors on the latest techniques proven to prevent blindness from uveitis is at the heart of the mission of the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation. The passion of Jay Jay French and of Twisted Sister in helping the Foundation in this matter is stunning, and our gratitude to them for this cannot be overstated.” Says. C. Stephen Foster, MD, President and Founder of the Ocular Immunology Uveitis Foundation.