Why you shouldn't give up if you weren't successful when you were young

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The stories of Colonel Sanders, Paulo Coelho and Coco Chanel teach us not to be afraid of failure and follow our dreams, despite our age.

How Harland Sanders opened a restaurant at 40, lost everything and started over at 65

Escape from home, cleaning stables and work on the railroad

Harland David Sanders was born Ozersky J. - Colonel Sanders and the American Dream; Houston, 2012. in 1890 in a family of farmers in Indiana. Harland's father died when he was five years old. While his mother worked on the farm, Sanders looked after the younger siblings and cooked food.

In 1902, Harland's mother remarried. Then the boy dropped out of school: he could not master algebra and preferred to incomprehensible "letters mixed with numbers", work on farms and stables, as the Colonel himself later admitted. His stepfather beat him, so Sanders moved to live with his uncle, and at the age of 16 he faked his date of birth in order to enlist in the army.

Sanders volunteered for Cuba, where US troops suppressed protests against the American administration. But the young man did not take part in pacifying the unrest - instead he worked in the stable, raking out manure. Returning to his uncle a year later, Harland began working in the railway industry, which then promised great prospects. Sanders worked as an assistant to a blacksmith, a train cleaner, a fireman. On the railroad, he met his first wife, Josephine. In marriage, they had two daughters and a son who died early.

Working during the day, Sanders studied law at night at the private correspondence university La Salle in Chicago, from which he successfully graduated.

Ups, downs and the perfect chicken recipe

Already during his studies, Sanders began to practice law in Little Rock, Arkansas. This allowed him to buy his own home - before that, the young family huddled with Josephine's father. Sanders' legal career was destroyed by his hot-tempered nature: at one court hearing, he pounced on his own client with his fists. After that, Harland changed his place of residence several more times, worked on the railway and in insurance companies.

At 30, Sanders became one of the contributors to the Indiana Ferry Company. The resulting profit ($ 300,000 in translation at the current exchange rate), he invested in the production of carbide lamps and burned out, since at the same time incandescent lamps began to be massively sold. Harland moved again, now to Kentucky, where he opened a gas station under the Standard Oil franchise. But his business collapsed again Ozersky J. - Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, Houston, 2012 due to the onset of the Great Depression.

In 1930, when Sanders was 40 years old, he again decided to run a gas station in Corbyn, Kentucky. Visitors to the gas station were treated to dishes prepared according to their own recipes: Harland's chicken and steaks quickly became popular among the locals. With the money he earned, Sanders also opened a restaurant and motel, and in 1935 the governor of the state awarded him the honorary title of Colonel of Kentucky. This title, whose roots go back to the era of the US struggle for independence, the governor gave out for special services to the state. It meant that a person is respected by the authorities.

As claimed by Colonel Harland Sanders: The Autobiography of the Original Celebrity Chef; KFC Corporation, 2012 Colonel himself, before finding the perfect way to deep-fried chicken, he read hundreds of cookbooks and experimented for several years. Harland tried various combinations of spices and finally came up with the optimal seasoning with 11 ingredients. In 1952, Sanders registered his secret recipe and the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, and KFC was born. Several restaurants acquired licenses, but Sanders' main income came from his establishment.

Three years later, the US government built a new federal highway to bypass Sanders' restaurant. The flow of customers dropped sharply, and the establishment ceased to be profitable. Then the Colonel, who was already 65 years old, decided to focus on the development of the franchise, of which he made himself a symbol. He traveled around the country and offered restaurants to buy his secret chicken recipe. Often, he and his wife spent the night in the car, waiting for the next establishment to open in order to propose to its owner.

But before hearing "Yes", the Colonel was refused 1,009 times.

Colonel's legacy

In a year, Sanders had no more than eight franchisees. But restaurants under his brand were successful. Pete Harman, who acquired the franchise from Sanders back in 1952, played a significant role in this. For example, it was he who came up with the concept of the KFC bucket. … Eight years later, the KFC chain became the largest in the US fast food market, including about 600 establishments. A year later, Colonel Sanders sold Smith A. J. Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. Santa Barbara. 2012. KFC Corporation for $ 2 Million.

Today, the Harland Sanders logo employs more than 800,000 people worldwide, and the network has an annual net profit of Yum! Brands, Inc. Form 10-K for 2019. U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Report). $ 18 billion.

Colonel Sanders

Work helps you stay young.

How Paulo Coelho walked 30 years to his first book

Forced psychiatry, prison and vagrancy

Paulo Coelho was born in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro to a wealthy religious family. At the age of seven, his parents sent the boy to be raised in a Catholic school. From there, young Coelho endured a strong dislike for traditionalism, an unwillingness to be like everyone else, and his cherished dream of becoming a writer.

Parents not only did not support the creative aspirations of their son, but also found them very strange. They wanted Paulo to become a lawyer, and under their pressure, the young man entered the law faculty of the University of Rio de Janeiro. But after only one course, 17-year-old Paulo dropped out of Paulo Coelho. I’ve presided over a few black masses in my time studying and started working as a journalist.

Trying to cope with Coelho's rebellion, his parents did not find a better way than to hand him over to a psychiatric hospital. Officially, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and subjected to severe treatment, including the use of electric shock. This did not shake Paulo in his pursuit of his dream, and during the second course of therapy, he escaped from the clinic.

For some time, Coelho wandered around the country and played in amateur theater: in Brazil at that time, such theaters served not only for creative expression, but also for the manifestation of social protest.

Lacking a livelihood, Coelho returned home and again ended up in a hospital. Finally, he left the clinic only at the age of 20.

After that, Coelho joined the hippies, became interested in the works of the English writer, mystic and Satanist Aleister Crowley, wandered, tried drugs, traveled across America and Africa. Coelho said that with only $ 100, he drove around Coelho P. Hippie. M. 2018. all of Europe.

Returning to his homeland in 1972, he began writing highly social lyrics for rock artists. One of them - Raul Seixas - even became a star in Brazil in the 70s. Acquaintance with Seixas leads Coelho to a connection with Brazilian anarchists. For this, the military who came to power after another coup arrested Coelho and even tortured Paulo Coelho: I was tortured by brazils dictatorship is that what bolsonaro wants celebrate - but it was the psychiatric diagnosis made in his youth that helped him to get out of captivity.

Pilgrimage and the first book published

After all the misadventures, Coelho began to lead a "quiet" life. He worked for record companies, married twice. In total, the writer was married four times. - Approx. the author. traveling in search of inspiration. In Holland he met Coelho P. Valkyrie. M. 2011. with a certain Jay, or Jay (J), - in "Valkyries" Coelho describes him as a tall blond man in a business suit. Jay was a great influence on Paulo and encouraged him to join the Catholic group RAM.

In 1986, Coelho followed the Way of Jacob, a Catholic pilgrimage road that runs through almost the entire north of Spain to the city of Santiago de Compostela. According to legend, this city arose on the site where the relics of St. James, the Apostle of Christ, were discovered. For Catholics, Santiago de Compostela is the third most important shrine after Jerusalem and Rome.

In the wake of this pilgrimage, Coelho wrote his autobiographical novel, The Diary of a Magician. The book was published in 1987 and greatly popularized the route to Compostela.

Paulo Coelho's childhood dream came true when he turned 40.

"Alchemist" and world fame

Coelho was able to become a writer. But his next novel, The Alchemist, brought him worldwide fame. Interestingly, a year after publication in 1988, the Brazilian publisher returned Interview with Paolo Coelho. Goodreads. the rights to the book, as sales did not suit his executives. Then Coelho, confident that he had written a great work, began to knock the doorsteps of other publishers to publish the novel again. And only the second edition in English, which took place in 1993, makes "The Alchemist" a bestseller and a book translated into the largest number of languages in the Guinness Book of Records.

In total, Coelho has written more than 20 novels, and the total circulation of copies of his books sold exceeds Meet the elite group of authors who sell 100 million books - or 350 million. The Independent. 300 million. His life clearly demonstrates that even after experiencing darkness, horror and injustice, you can find the strength in yourself to fulfill your dreams.

Paulo Coelho

I was very happy with what I was doing. I did something that gave me food and drink; using the metaphor from Alchemist, I worked, I had a person I love, I had money, but I still didn't have the feeling of a dream come true. My dream was and still is the desire to be a writer.

How Coco Chanel built an iconic brand despite a damaged reputation

Difficult childhood and dashing youth

Gabrielle Bonneur, better known as Coco Chanel, was born in 1883 in the small town of Saumur, into a poor family. Her childhood was difficult for Coco Chanel. A life told by herself. M. 2011. Gabrielle's mother, Jeanne, fanatically in love with her husband, paid little attention to her five children. And the father, who married only because Jeanne became pregnant from him, did not have warm feelings for the family and avoided her.

The situation was aggravated by the death of Jeanne in 1894 - Gabriel was then only 11 years old. Father left Chaney L. Chanel: an intimate life. daughters in the care of a shelter at the monastery, and sent his sons to work on the farm. In the monastery, Gabrielle learned to sew, which largely determined her future career path. And at the age of 18, the girl was sent to a women's Catholic boarding house with very strict rules in the city of Moulins. She spent two years there.

After the boarding house, Gabrielle began working in an atelier, where she sewed dresses for ladies of the world.

Then she had Inside Chanel. Chapter 5. Coco. a persistent aversion to floral perfumes, which wealthy women of that era generously poured themselves on. Perhaps that is why the perfume Chanel No. 5 created under her brand will not use floral fragrances at all.

In the evenings, Gabrielle sang in a cabaret, and it was from there that her pseudonym Coco went. The girl tried to find a job as a singer in the resort town of Vichy, but unsuccessfully - from there she had to return to Moulins, and with an unplanned pregnancy. Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of her mother, Coco had an abortion for Coco Chanel. A life told by herself. M. 2011.

In the Moulins, Chanel began an affair with officer Etienne Balsan and moved with him to Paris. But soon she went to his friend, the English industrialist Arthur Capel, and he financed the creation of the first Chanel Modes hat store, opened in 1910. In 1913, Capel invested in a Chanel boutique for casual and sportswear. She retained warm feelings for Capel throughout her life: even the design of the Chanel No. 5 bottle was inspired by items from the everyday life of an Englishman.

War and a long return to the world of fashion

Opening a boutique in Paris, Chanel decided to fight the uncomfortable and impractical women's clothing of her age: heavy heavy skirts and crushing corsets. Her collections are based on the principle of "luxurious simplicity" and reinterpreted elements of men's wardrobe.

Atelier Chanel created and sold clothes and hats, accessories and perfumes. Things were going great English B. A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries.: Chanel dressed bohemians and talked to celebrities. Her clients included Baroness Rothschild and Hollywood film studios; among friends - Picasso, Dali, Cocteau and Stravinsky. Gabrielle returned all the money he had invested to Capel, and later anonymously donated 300,000 francs to Sergei Diaghilev to support the Russian ballet seasons in Paris.

But in 1939, when Chanel was 53 years old, the Second World War began. Gabrielle closed clothing stores, continuing only to sell perfume. 4,000 women who worked for her lost Picardie J. Coco Chanel at war. The Telegraph. work.

In 1940, Chanel's nephew was taken prisoner by the Germans. Trying to free him, Gabrielle turned to her longtime acquaintance - lawyer and diplomat Hans Gunther von Dinklage. He helped Chanel, and a romance began between them. After the liberation of Paris, Gabrielle was accused of Coco Chanel. A life told by herself. M. 2011. in espionage for the Nazis, and only the intercession of Winston Churchill saved her from prison. The main condition for her release was that Chanel would leave France, and she went to Switzerland, where she lived for 9 years away from her beloved business.

When, at one of the fashion shows, Chanel saw the return of old-cut dresses, she decided to return to the world of haute couture. In 1954, at the age of 71, Coco Chanel presents her new collection. Newspapers write about failure, but sales say Inside Chanel. Chapter 25. Gabrielle Chanel goes West. the opposite. Despite its success, it took Chanel three more years to regain its former influence, and in the 50s and 60s she again became a trendsetter.

Little black dress and iconic perfume

Coco Chanel's style survived her. A small black dress, a tweed suit, a perfume with a complex scent and other innovations of a thin woman with a boyish figure and a steel character are still relevant today. Gabrielle proved that even having lost everything - homeland, connections, reputation, you can return in triumph.

Time magazine included Coco Chanel in the Time 100 Persons of The Century list. Time. 100 most influential people of the 20th century. The company she founded is the largest player in the fashion world with an annual turnover of Sherman L. Chanel Surpasses $ 11 Billion in Sales, Dismisses Rumors of Imminent Sale. Business of Fashion. over a trillion dollars.

Coco Chanel

Some people think that luxury is the opposite of poverty. This is not true. Luxury is the opposite of vulgarity.