In 1946 after Cathy’s discharge from the U.S. Army, both Mr. Cathy and his brother Ben opened the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
(Source: From Chick fil-A)
The grill was originally built next to a Ford auto plant. Their thinking was that there was going to be a lot of hungry workers during lunch and they were right.
More importantly from the grill came the idea for the Chick-fil-A concept. The brothers noticed that many of the customers were making chicken sandwiches from the rolls and the chicken meat that they served. I guess you never know where the next greatest idea is going to come from.
In 1967, the Chick-fil-A chain was started in the Greenbriar Mall in southwestern Atlanta.
Have you ever noticed that most Chick fil-A restaurants are located in shopping malls? The main reason is that in the early 60’s, Cathy noted that the main growth of America’s suburbs were springing up on the outskirts of cities. Thus, he wanted to go where the growth was happening.
Chick-fil-A has now grown to nearly 1,500 restaurants in 39 states.
Here’s some interesting facts that we can take from his 93 years on Earth.
9 Interesting Facts About Truett Cathy
1 Entrepreneurial spirit was inspired by Napoleon Hill.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that both Truett Cathy and I were both inspired by Napoleon Hill’s book, “Think and Grow Rich.”
Mr. Cathy went on later to write four books which focus on personal inspiration and business motivation.
2 Hard work learned early on in life.
Serving comes natural to Mr. Cathy’s family. When he was young, in order to increase their income, his parents allowed boarders in their home (even though they were a family of nine).
During that time, Cathy learned the value of hard work as he helped his family serve those staying in their home. Now you know why Chick-fil-A strives so hard for giving out top notch customer service. He was raised to serve.
If you’ve ever said, “Thank you” in one of their restaurants, then you’ll likely get a “My pleasure” reply from one of their smiling employees.
3 Cathy descendants are not entitled.
I went fishing last month with a friend whose family was the first to bottle Coca-cola. When asked about his kids, he informed me that one of his sons, who wants to join the family business, must work for five years outside the company before returning.
It seems that Chick-fil-A has a similar policy except Cathy descendants must work for two years outside of the family business before they can join Chick-fil-A.
Why? The descendants are taught that just because they are part of the Cathy family, doesn’t mean that they are entitled to automatically have a job with Chick-fil-A. Impressive.
They want them to experience what every other college graduate experiences: finding a job on their own.
4 Start by managing your own household – family first.
Truett Cathy passed away in 2014 at the age of 93. His wife, Jeannette passed away the following year at 92. They were married for over 60 years. One of their secrets to marital success was that they were always improving their marriage and never gave up on their relationship. This was something that he frequently taught young couples.
He felt that if you can’t manage your household, you couldn’t run a business either. He believed that if you have problems in your marriage, your problems directly reflect how you run a business. He felt that family should always come before your business, and if you do not take care of your family, your business suffers.
5 NEVER give up. Perseverance is the key.
- Welcoming countless homeless people into his own home
- Improving the lives of thousands of disadvantaged kids
For him, chicken was simply a tool to accomplish his real purpose: honoring God and helping people.
As we learn from Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, most successful companies understand what they do best, WHY they do it and then focus on doing it.
Truett Cathy was a great and honorable man that will be missed by many.
Another great review on a remarkable person. Learned stuff that I didn’t know so thanks ?
Thanks for reading friend. Mr. Cathy was an amazing man.
I thoroughly enjoyed researching his life.
Great book – Start w WHy, one of my favorites. I love the Chik Fil A story, I am part of the Chik Fil A leadership academy at school. Pretty cool stuff.
Josh, it’s always educational whenever I research interesting people such as the great Truett Cathy.
I love what he stood for and the values he’s passed down to the company to continue to operate by.