Truett Cathy

Posted October 9, 2008, 4:29 pm


S. Truett Cathy
Born: March 14, 1921

Founder of the Chik-fil-A fast food chain and inventor of the first fast-food chicken sandwich. Truett has taught Sunday school for nearly 50 years and enforces a strict no-business-on-Sunday rule throughout the Chik-fil-A franchise. A car fanatic, he owns three firetrucks, a racecar from Days of Thunder, and the Batmobile from Batman Returns.

After the Age of Seventy

• Has written or co-written four books since turning 70: Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People (Looking Glass Books, 2002); It’s Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men (Looking Glass Books, 2004); and How Did You Do It, Truett? (Looking Glass Books, 2007); and he is co-author of The Generosity Factor with Ken Blanchard (Zondervan Publishing, 2002).
• At age 79, (2000),  winer of the Ernst & Young- Entrepreneur of the Year – Lifetime Achievement Award
  
• At age 82 (2003), winner of Norman Vincent & Ruth Stafford Peale Humanitarian Award
  
• At age 86 (2007), winner of the Cecil B. Day Ethics Award
• At age 86 (2007), winner of the Silver Buffalo Award presented by the Boy Scouts of America
• At age 86 (2007), Tom Landry Excellence of Character Award
• At age 87 (2008),  Continues to run Chik-fil-A, which did nearly $2.7 billion in sales in 2007.
• Oversees the WinShape Foundation, which "shapes winners" by supporting college scholarships, leadership programs, foster care homes, overseas missionary work, and "marriage-enrichment retreats."

Quotes:

• “The best location we get is right next to a McDonald's. We can compete with them because we do it better.”
• You don't have to make the headlines to make a difference.
•  “As a kid, I can't remember having anything to play with except a loose tooth. And that wasn't mine. It was my brother's.”
• Courtesy is cheap to provide, and it pays great dividends.

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