From 1009 Failures to Finger Lickin’ Success: The Inspiring Story of Colonel Sanders and KFC

This is the story of a man who did not chicken out from the countless challenges life threw at him.

You can find him in the legendary logo of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC); in a white suit, black string tie and a crutch. It is none other than Colonel Sanders, the founder and face of KFC.

Sanders was born on September 9, 1890, in Henryville. He lost his father at the age of six; his mother provided for his family. He joined the American army and eventually got dismissed. He later went on to join the railways and got fired owing to frequent squabbles with his colleagues. Sanders moved back to his hometown and started working as an insurance agent and was thrown out owing to insubordination.

Sanders suffered setbacks in both his professional and personal life, but that didn’t deter him. He embarked into the boat-making business and later ventured into lamp-making; both businesses were fleeting in the wake of the peer market competition. In the fullness of time, Sanders was still unsuccessful to carve a niche for himself.

At the age of 40, Sanders formulated an idea to sell fried chicken, to promote it, he offered free samples to the locals. Soon, he opened a quaint restaurant. In 1935, Ruby Lefon, the governor of Kentucky happened to savour lunch at Sanders’ restaurant and rejoiced at the fried chicken and went on to rename the restaurant as Kentucky Colonel.

The restaurant had a brief stint with success before a brawl broke out forcing the joint to be shut down. The emergence of World War foiled Sanders’ attempt to reopen his restaurant.

Even at the ripe age of 60, Sanders had still not found his calling, however, this did not deter him. He offered to share his recipe with various restaurants, that in return offered him suitable compensation. This wasn’t an easy task either; many restaurants would refuse to pay or reject him, and he faced a total of 1009 rejections. But the iron-willed Sanders did not budge, soon his recipe spread far and wide. In 1964, he started the now-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken, now a global brand with hundreds of locations around the world resonating with the tagline “finger lickin’ good”.

The story of Sanders is no less than a theatrical movie script. His perseverance shows his determination towards his calling. Sanders taught the world that failure is but an opportunity to rise again. ✌️🏆