Celleen Michele Jones | Biz Journals
Gene Simmons— the Kiss rock star of makeup, tongue-flashing and platform boot fame – is also a shrewd businessman. A self-made entrepreneur. And a complete marketing genius.
Just ask him.
In his recently published book “Me, Inc: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business,” Israeli-born Simmons, recounts in his uniquely matter-of-fact, say-it-like-it-is manner, how he emigrated to America with his Holocaust-survivor single mother determined to make it big.
Simmons, now 65, has built a merchandising and branding empire around Kiss, the band he co-founded more than 40 years ago and which regularly sells out concert arenas and even Kiss Kruises.
Sharing business advice from a guy known as the Demon isn’t the type of fare often produced by the Jacksonville Business Journal – but having a bonafide member of the Kiss Army on our reporting staff meant we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see what Simmons has to say.