S Truett Cathy – Chick-Fil-A

S Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, was one of the finest Christian entrepreneurs in American history and exemplified what all Christian businessmen should strive to be in the workplace. Started from the most humble of beginnings, Chick-fil-A is now one of the top 3 largest fast food chains in the world with gross revenues exceeding $10.5 Billion annually despite requiring each of the more 2,363+ restaurants be closed on Sundays (surrendering over $1 Billion in annual sales as a result). Taking on giants in the fast food industry, while holding firm to his Christian beliefs, Truett Cathy accomplished the impossible in business through his faith in God. And then he used his billions to bless others. S Truett Cathy fostered children for more than 40 years and took in hundreds of foster children through WinShape Homes. His WinShape Foundation funded tens of millions to develop foster homes and summer camps. The foundation has also awarded thousands of students of Berry College with scholarships of up to $32,000. His Leadership Scholarship program for Chick-fil-A employees has awarded more than $30 Million in $1,000 scholarships in the past 35 years. Here’s his amazing story:

Early Years

Growing up during the Great Depression and in poverty, Truett was forced at an early age to help provide money to his family for food, rent and other basic necessities. He would learn quickly the value of a dollar and the importance of managing it well. In 1935, at the age of 14, Truett and his brother Ben operated a paper route which made them the primary bread winners for their family. During this time the Cathy’s were living in and operating an active boarding house, where Truett would often find himself cooking in the kitchen with his Mother for the guests renting out their rooms. She would teach him the principles of ingredients and how best to prepare the food before the baking process. As a result, his knowledge and passion for the restaurant business started to take shape.

The Dwarf House

After World War II ended and their service in the U.S. Army completed, the Cathy brothers decided to launch a venture together and opened up a restaurant. On May 23, 1946, the Dwarf House opened in Hapeville, Georgia. Their first day sales totaled $58.20. Without any college degree and limited experiences to their name, Truett and his brother realized the restaurant business was their future, but also realized the commitment it would require of their time and attention. Even with the demands of running the new business, Truett always kept his family and faith as a top priority and from the very start, Sundays were a day of rest and the business would close. After several years the Dwarf House began seeing regular customers who would become loyal friends and advisors to Truett even when tragedy would continually present setbacks.

Tragedy

In 1949, after only a few years in the restaurant business together, Truett would lose his brother/business partner as well as another brother in a plane crash. This would be the start to several lessons in tragedy Cathy would have to learn. Truett would continue in the restaurant business even after losing his brother and would open a second Dwarf House location. However, on February 24th, 1960 the Dwarf House II burned to the ground and with only $25,000 of insurance carried on the property, Cathy’s faith would be even further tested. Only 5 years later in February of 1965 the only remaining Dwarf House restaurant would also catch fire, but this time it brought a sense of determination within Truett Cathy to rebuild quickly and lead him to take an even more determined look at the future.

The Original Chicken Sandwich

Down to only one restaurant and needing a new menu item to win over the customers who continued to visit the Dwarf House, Truett went back to his times in the kitchen with his mother and decided to offer a new chicken dish. A partnership with a boneless chicken breast supplier, his mother’s formula for preparing the meat, special spices and seasonings and regular customers to test each new formula out on was exactly what Cathy needed to create the Original Chicken Sandwich. Needing a name for his new sandwich to protect it from infringement, Truett came up with the name Chick-fil-A. The final A capitalized to show it was top of the line, grade A meat. The success of his Original Chicken Sandwich was widespread and continued to grow in demand and popularity so it could not be contained within the walls of the small Dwarf House.

Chick-fil-A

After an attempt to license his newly created Chicken Sandwich, in which the quality could not be controlled properly, Truett decided to open up his first Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant inside the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta, Georgia in 1967 at the age of 46. Much to his surprise, his first Chick-fil-A location was such a great success that he proceeded to open up more of them inside of shopping malls. He didn’t set out to build a national restaurant chain but each new store was such a success that he just kept growing. Eventually, he began to test out opening up free-standing locations as well. And several decades later, by the year 2000, Truett’s Chick-fil-A empire would hit the $1 Billion annual gross sales mark for the first time. And it just kept picking up speed because by 2018 Chick-fil-A surpassed $10 Billion in annual sales! Perhaps most fascinating is that today, Chick-fil-A is one of the top 3 fast food chains in the world (although it’s locations are concentrated primarily in the Southeastern part of the United States) and its individual store average sales are $4 Million, fully double its next closest competitor, McDonalds (and they are closed on Sundays!). Truett attributed the turning point and success of all he witnessed with Chick-fil-A to the day when, as a company, they decided to put God first in everything they did…

The Mission

In 1982, after the first decline ever in annual revenue and seeing the hardships of a growing business, Truett and his executive team went on a retreat to refocus and realign the values and mission for Chick-fil-A. What came out of that retreat was the foundation for all the success which was to follow, it was a clear mission statement giving purpose for the entire Chick-fil-A company. The mission statement was: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.” Truett made it his mission in faith, family and business to always put God first. 10% of everything he made he gave back to God and on top of his giving back he changed the lives of people everywhere he went.

Truett’s Legacy

It was said that S Truett Cathy knew no strangers and he made it a point to always treat the person he was talking with as the most important person in the room. One of his most personal missions was his desire to help the fatherless and Orphans. In 1984, Cathy created the WinShape Foundation to offer scholarships and opportunities for youth who might never have the ability to go to college or experience the love of a family if it were not for someone stepping in on their behalf. In 1987, Cathy created WinShape Homes which would be the first of 12 Foster Homes for good youth who were not dealt a fair hand in life. Truett also created WinShape Camps to allow youth an opportunity to have experiences in a single camp retreat they may never have throughout the year otherwise. Truett loved the idea of shaping the next generation and put his money where his heart was by establishing a Scholarship program for employees as well as his foster youth. With over $92 million in scholarships given out, thousands of Orphans given a family and home through the WinShape Homes, not to mention the many events and retreats Chick-fil-A has sponsored, Truett’s generosity and desire to change the world around him was truly his number one mission.

Truett Cathy made Chick-fil-A an overwhelming success but he did so not for his benefit alone, but for all those who he had been called to help. Putting God first was never a challenge for Truett Cathy as the credit for the successes in his life were always attributed to his relationship with Jesus Christ. Even though many know what it is like to enjoy a Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, there are countless more who have been impacted by the life and generosity of Truett Cathy.

S Truett Cathy’s life is an extraordinary example of what one can accomplish when wholly committed to Christ. Truett has gone on to write several books, and perhaps the best is, Eat More Chikin, Inspire More People by S Truett Cathy.