John "Jay Jay" French

John French is a Keynote & Motivational Speaker, Entrepreneur with several music industry businesses and Founding Member/Manager of internationally-renown heavy metal band Twisted Sister.

 

An energizing and entertaining speaker, John delivers insight and inspiration about resiliency, reinvention, turning roadblocks into pathways, authentic leadership and innovation. He shows how these approaches enable a better understanding of business challenges and improve decision making, business operations and communication with partners, customers and employees. John also shares his expertise in developing sales strategies, building a global brand, hiring the right people and maximizing revenue from existing assets.

 

John’s unique insight comes from a bumpy, but successful road on a business and entertainment journey, including 40+ years with Twister Sister, as well as being a producer/executive producer/manager of other rock bands and the founder of a nonprofit. John is a rock star, but an atypical one because while being a guitarist for Twisted Sister, playing 9,000 shows in 34 countries and selling more than 20 million albums, he has also worn a disciplined business hat as band Manager and Director of Licensing, Publishing & Touring. John developed Twisted Sister into a global brand with multiple revenue streams and built it into the most licensed heavy metal band in history.

 

John is one of only a handful of people in the world of rock and roll who have succeeded on both the artistic side, being part of a world-class band, while simultaneously managing all aspects of their business and operations (some others include Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller of The Steve Miller Band). This highly unique ability provides John with business insights that are virtually unmatched.

 

Delivering presentations to global Fortune 500 companies, professional associations, private companies and nonprofits, John presents at leadership meetings, executive retreats, company-wide events and sales meetings. Some of the organizations he’s worked with include ASCAP, Apex Dynamics, Wolff Olins, Inc. 5000 Conference, Small Business Investors Alliance, International Business & Wine Society and Brook Venture Partners, among many others.

 

Whether a live event, podcast or international radio show, John makes people pay attention and put down their phones. His engaging delivery stems from experience having a stadium of 100,000 people in the palm of his hand, as well as an intimate group of 25 people hanging on his every word. Everything that John shares is based on real-life experiences.

 

John is also a writer for Inc.com, sharing business expertise in his column The French Connection since 2014. He also writes the column Now We’re 64 (about the Beatles) for Goldmine, The Music Collectors Magazine.

 

Twisted Sister retired from live performance in 2016, but John continues to oversee the thriving licensing and publishing business.

 

A charter member of the Long Island Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John has 37 Platinum, Gold and Silver albums as a member of Twisted Sister and 4 Platinum and Gold albums as a guest guitarist. A musician and guitarist for more than 50 years, John is considered a leading expert on vintage guitars and high-end music equipment.