Richard Branson And Jason Felts — Virgin Group's Second-youngest Ceo — Share Secrets For Success In Business And Leadership: 'get Into The Thick Of It'

When Jason Felts adjacent small-town Texas for California successful 1996, he was a caller precocious schoolhouse postgraduate who dreamed of building a profession down nan camera.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts.

Over nan group of nan adjacent decade-plus, nan young imaginative and entrepreneur did conscionable that.

Felts co-founded his accumulation company, J2TV; built and led a multimillion-dollar intermezo institution for Virgin Group arsenic nan 2nd youngest CEO successful nan brand's history down Sir Richard Branson himself; served arsenic CEO of Virgin Fest; and sat connected Virgin's Global Brand Council, wherever he consulted Virgin-branded companies crossed a scope of industries.

Related: 'I Enjoy Life Too Much': Sir Richard Branson Has an Adventurous Approach to Business — But He Never Planned connected Being an Entrepreneur

Felts explores his lesson-packed recreation to occurrence and why he yet adjacent nan intermezo manufacture for bully successful his caller memoir, Hollywood Virgin: Breaking Into and Out of Show Business.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin.

Felts too reveals really respective cardinal mentors helped style him connected nan measurement — including nan billionaire Virgin Group laminitis Branson.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts and Richard Branson.

It wasn't until Felts started penning Hollywood Virgin that he noticed nan thread of mentorship throughout, he tells Entrepreneur.

Felts says that Branson mentored him "by osmosis." Essentially, Felts became nan leader he is now by watching really Branson treated group and managed priorities.

Related: 5 Famous Business Leaders connected nan Power of Mentorship

Entrepreneur sat down pinch Felts and Branson to study overmuch astir their perspectives connected business and leadership.

Jason Felts met Richard Branson connected Necker Island — and knowledgeable a "surreal" infinitesimal connected apical of a table

When Felts first visited Branson's Necker Island, Virgin America, Voyages and Hotels didn't yet exist. He knew mini astir nan Virgin marque and its founder.

"I went down location pinch nary preconceived notions," Felts recalls, "[which] I judge is nan champion measurement to participate a room aliases situation. I don't investigation group earlier I meet them."

Branson says he instantly appreciated Felts's demeanor, joke and enthusiasm.

" I'm alternatively creative, and Jason's highly creative, and we immoderate emotion euphony and films, and I thought location mightiness beryllium ways we could activity together successful nan years to come," Branson adds.

Related: 5 Lessons I Learned connected Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island

As repast connected Necker Island 1 evening came to a close, Branson asked Felts to get connected nan array — "all of our tables are made for dancing on," Branson explains — and show everyone astir himself.

The petition wasn't 1 nan Virgin laminitis had been planning. "I do a batch of things spur-of-the-moment," Branson says.

In what Felts remembers arsenic a "surreal" moment, he stood connected apical of nan table, surrounded by able and influential individuals, and shared his position connected nan movie industry, predicting that group would sojourn movie theaters small often and devour overmuch contented connected 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 sewage connected nan level and flew backmost to Los Angeles a different person."

Image Credit: Courtesy of Hollywood Virgin. Jason Felts and Richard Branson.

Lead pinch authenticity and purpose

Felts's acquisition connected Necker Island taught him nan worthy of genuine, purposeful leadership. "Once you've entered nan room, aliases successful my case, erstwhile you've gotten connected nan table, you amended beryllium caller to talk and convey your beliefs pinch authenticity," he explains. "Don't beryllium shy."

Years later, aft Felts had helped build Virgin Group's intermezo institution and euphony show brand, he recovered himself astatine a maestro and individual crossroads that brought those values backmost to nan fore.

"I was truthful engaged pinch acting nan information and moving truthful difficult astatine being nan CEO that I mislaid show of my existent intent and nan fulfillment down that," Felts explains.

These days, unless there's a existent intent down an initiative, Felts isn't consenting — because different "it feels for illustration a chore."

Related: It's Time to Move Beyond Authoritative Leadership — 3 Ways to Lead pinch Integrity and Purpose

A accusation of Felts's proceeds from income of Hollywood Virgin will support nan LGBQT+ nonprofit The Trevor Project.

Additionally, for illustration truthful galore Los Angeles residents, Felts mislaid his location to nan caller Palisades fire. He turned nan book's February 5 motorboat party, co-hosted by Los Angeles magazine, into a usage for nan LA Fire Department.

"You're only arsenic bully arsenic your civilized compass and authenticity," Felts says.

Listen and learn

In Hollywood Virgin, Felts too explores nan thought that nary matter really accomplished aliases assured personification mightiness seem, they're often conscionable figuring things retired arsenic they go.

The inclination to opportunity "yes" to an opportunity and activity retired nan logistics later is simply a trait that he and Branson share, Felts notes.

"There's nan aged adage 'fake it 'til you make it,' and I don't subscribe to that," Felts says. "Don't clone it. Ask questions and business yourself pinch group who are smarter than you."

Related: Richard Branson Explains Why Most Entrepreneurs Lack nan Right Mindset

Branson too endorses a listen-and-learn approach. Early on, nan entrepreneur recognized that Felts was a bully listener, which is "a captious attribute" for a beardown leader, he says.

Branson points to Virgin Unite's The Elders, a group of independent world leaders moving together for bid and value authorities that has included leaders for illustration Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, arsenic an example.

"They're each awesome listeners," Branson explains. "They cognize what they're thinking. They don't petition to comprehend themselves saying it retired loud, and nan only measurement they tin study is by listening to different group talk."

Stay coming and spot your team

When Felts watched Branson execute his extremity of going to abstraction successful 2021, he knowledgeable a lightbulb moment: Seeing Branson execute his dream helped him admit that he'd too achieved his own. It was clip to move connected from nan intermezo industry.

The revelation too helped Felts grapple pinch "striver syndrome," aliases nan inclination to consciousness for illustration he should ever beryllium doing aliases seeking more. These days, Felts nary longer feels nan petition to beryllium each azygous event.

"Five years ago, you could personification invited maine to nan opening of an envelope, and I would personification been location because I felt for illustration I needed to beryllium there," Felts says. "Now, I'm 100% focused connected being present."

Related: 4 Mindful Leadership Practices That Transformed My Management and Company Culture

Felts admits his striver syndrome hasn't wholly disappeared, but now he approaches nan hours of nan clip different and has abstracted phones for activity and individual use. "It's not really astir equilibrium — there's nary play and activity differentiation for me," he says. "It's overmuch [a matter] of clip management."

Felts is adamant astir modeling that accuracy for his team; he pushes group to return breaks and lets them cognize that they don't ever personification to show up successful person. It goes backmost to different belief that he and Branson share: If you return attraction of your people, they'll return attraction of business.

" I would ever [say], 'I don't net you for nan number of hours that you work. I net you for really you think, and I net you for really you return attraction of yourself,'" Felts explains. "If you want to spell to yoga successful nan greeting because that zens you retired and you're tin to beryllium creative, do it. If you petition to miss nan portion gathering because that's information of your routine, fine. Figure it out, drawback up, get nan notes."

Be detail-oriented but too delegate

Felts tackled eager projects during his clip successful Hollywood and astatine Virgin Group, from developing, financing and producing movie and tv shows to helping create nan award-winning Virgin America Safety Dance video and orchestrating Virgin-branded euphony festivals.

Branson appreciates that Felts doesn't return himself excessively earnestly aliases awkward distant from nan details.

"That's important arsenic bully arsenic a leader," Branson says. "He'll dress arsenic he feels comfortable truthful that different group tin dress arsenic they consciousness comfortable. He'll rotation up his sleeves and get into nan dense of it. If there's a festival, he's retired and about, uncovering retired what's going on. If there's a problem successful immoderate area, he'll dive successful and reside it."

Image Credit: Hollywood Virgin. Richard Branson and Jason Felts.

Related: 5 Tips for Building a Strong Leadership Team

Felts is adept astatine assembling and managing teams, different must for successful leadership, Branson says. Good leaders should cognize really to delegate, letting group study from mistakes and achievements, he adds.

It's a activity strategy that Branson uses himself. For example, erstwhile Virgin Group's cruise institution Virgin Voyages launched, Branson was progressive successful nan original creation work, "getting into each nan weeds" for a less months earlier stepping backmost to fto personification different to return nan reins.

 "At Virgin, we effort to beforehand from incorrect truthful that we really cognize somebody's strengths and weaknesses earlier they become, say, a main executive," Branson says, "so that it's improbable they're going to recreation and destruct nan reside of a company."

Find a mentor and inquire for help

As a kid pinch ample Hollywood dreams, Felts would cold-call instrumentality clubs and personage assistants pinch abandon, and it led to immoderate breathtaking opportunities, for illustration attending a taping of John Ritter's then-current show Hearts Afire.

Of course, these days, young entrepreneurs seeking mentors and connection are overmuch apt to nonstop an email aliases DM than to spot a telephone aliases represent a letter.

"If you're networking and reaching out, [consider] doing it successful a measurement wherever you're presenting a mutually beneficial opportunity," Felts suggests. "If you're seeking something, find upfront what you tin proviso that individual, institution aliases connection successful return because clip 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 activity retired group who personification tally successful businesses and perchance sold them aliases retired because galore of them "would beryllium delighted to locomotion immoderate clip helping a young personification get their business going."

"If there's personification who you respect who's retired successful your neighborhood, get ahold of them and spot whether they could springiness you a mates of hours successful nan evenings aliases recreation and thief you a bit," Branson says.

"Never beryllium acrophobic to ask," Felts agrees.

It's nary uncertainty a mentality down immoderate of nan apical business successes.