"Colonel" Sanders-KFC

One of the most recognisable man in the world. His face adorns the delicious KFC chicken meals we all like. This old man with his trademark spectacles, white moustache & goatee, his black western bow tie and neatly pressed white suit is a symbol of the never give up against all odds attitude.

He was even given the honorary title "Colonel" by the state of Kentucky for his astounding accomplishments.

I only knew at first that he was the originator of the Kentucky Fried Chicken Food Franchise and little else but eventually knew about the great struggle and eventual success of this man because of the inspirational videos made about him in YouTube videos. The creators of these YouTube videos come from all over the world. A proof of his universal appeal in inspiring anyone with his life story.

This is a short synopsis of his life as told by the many videos and articles about him like his Wikipedia page. His full name is Harland David Sanders and he was born on September 9, 1890. He was the oldest of three children. His father died when he was only five years old leaving his mother to work and he to take care of his two older siblings.

This is the time where he started to develop his skills in cooking most notably with meat. He and his siblings foraged for food while their mother leave them all alone for days to work. By the age of ten he worked as a farmhand. While most children are still playing and being fed by their parents young Sanders is already has a job while at the same time taking care of his siblings.

In 1902 his mother remarried but he has a bad relationship with his stepfather. He also had difficulty and eventually dropped out of school and lived and worked in a farm. At the age of thirteen he finally left home and painted carriages for a living before working again as a farmhand a year later.

From 1906 to 1930 he worked in various jobs. In 1906 he worked as a streetcar conductor then falsified his age to enlist in the army towards the end of 1906 to work as a wagoner at just the age of sixteen. I remember my father who did the same thing just to be able to get a decent job just to have a chance to escape poverty.

You can just see the determination of people just like Sanders and my father at an early age. Upon his discharge in the army he worked as an assistant for a blacksmith. Then he worked as a cleaner of train ash pans. He progressed at still the age of sixteen to become a fireman where he worked as a "steam engine stroker" for three years until he was fired for "insubordination" for being sick.

In 1910 he worked as a labourer and married along the way and had three children of whom one died in 1932 from an infected tonsil. He then found work as a fireman while studying law at the same time. He was fired from his job because he brawled with a colleague and to work for the railroads again.

After a while he practiced law until a courtroom brawl with his own client ended his career. After this he went back to live with his mother and work again as a labourer for the railroad. He then worked as an insurance salesman but was fired again for insubordination. He then worked for another insurance company.

In 1920 at just 30 years old he started a successful ferry boat company. Around 1922 he also became the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Columbus, Indiana but resigned after a year admitting he cannot do the job. He sold his ownership of his ferry boat company and started a company that manufactured acetylene lamps but was defeated by a competitor.

He then worked as a tire salesman but lost his job when the company closed his manufacturing plant. In 1924 he worked as a manager of a service station which closed in 1930 due to the Great Depression. He is 40 years old by now and again without a job and to make it worse without a family.

You can see by now that at these stages of his life his defeat was numerous as compared to his little victories with life. It seems life keeps putting him down. But we can see that he always tries and perseveres no matter what hardships and obstacles he encounters. Lesser men would have turned to crime, alcohol, drugs or other vices and become spiteful but not he.

In 1930 he worked and lived at a service station where he served chicken and other meals which became popular. He was also involved in a shootout with a competitor in which one of his employees was killed. During this time he was also given the title of "Colonel" by Kentucky.

In 1939 he acquired a motel which he had to rebuild because it burned down. He eventually have to close it down during World War 2 when clients dried up. He then worked again as a supervisor and manager for the businesses of other people. He married his mistress in 1949 and in 1950 he became a "Colonel" again.

Notice that he is already a successful business owner in a few instances of his life but he still does not mind working for another person when circumstances dictate it. Other arrogant people would have balked at the idea of being a subordinate again after becoming a boss.

You can also see that he is a determined person not only in his work or career but on his personal life as well when he married again at the age of 59. At this age most people would have given up on personal relationships and would have lived alone.

In 1952 he was able to start franchising his chicken recipe. He was also able to open a new restaurant but have to sell it when the opening of a new road dried up his clients. He is now 65 years old with little savings and relying on his $105 a month pension only.

He decided to concentrate all his effort in franchising his chicken recipe. He would visit restaurants and cook and negotiated franchising rights all over the country and would often sleep in the back of his car. Imagine a man doing this past the age of 65.

We know the rest of the story. He became successful and rich eventually with franchising his chicken recipe. But the story continues with him at pension age still running a fast growing company just when most people are already past the point of being happily retired.

In 1964 at the age of 73 he sold his rights to the KFC Company but he still continued working. He became a brand ambassador for KFC and operated a small part of the franchise. He even started a new restaurant and named it after his wife a few years later.

He died in 1980 at the ripe old age of 90. I think the reason he lived so long was because he was a fighter. Life always put him down but he fights including fighting for his life until the age of 90.

He is not your typical success story. His early life was full of bitterness with unsupportive parents. He did not succeed at a young age and stayed on top until the end but rather had more defeats than successes.

He only became truly successful when he reached pension age. This is when the trappings of success do not seem to matter anymore. He succeeded because he needs to survive even near the end of his life as an old man with no money.