The Man at the Top of the Food Chain: Dave Thomas is Born
The Man at the Top of the Food Chain: Dave Thomas is Born
Born on July 2, 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rex David Thomas was born out of wedlock and quickly given up for adoption. He would never know or meet his birth parents. Rex and Auleva Thomas, a young couple from Michigan, adopted him at six weeks old. When Thomas was five years old, Auleva died from rheumatic fever. Thomas’ father, a construction worker who would marry three more times, was left to care for his son alone. In search of work, the family spent Thomas’ early years moving from state to state.
Despite the loneliness, Thomas found comfort in the restaurants where he and his father would often dine, which showed him what family life was supposed to be like. Thomas also found comfort in his grandmother Minnie Sinclair, with whom he would spend his summers in Michigan. It was Sinclair whom Thomas would credit with teaching him life’s most important lessons. “The days I spent with my Grandmother Minnie Sinclair were the best times of my childhood, and she was the greatest influence in my young life,” recalled Thomas. “She knew what she wanted and went after it…the greatest lesson she taught me: Don’t cut corners on quality.”
When Thomas was 12 years old, he got his first job working as a counterman at a Knoxville restaurant. Three years later, he moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to work at the Hobby House Restaurant and, in what he would later claim to be the greatest mistake of his life, he dropped out of high school. He started working full-time as a busboy, then he worked the fountain and then on to the front of the kitchen. His father decided to move yet again, but Thomas chose to remain behind. At 15 years old, Thomas was living by himself at the YMCA and working full-time.
After three years of working at the Hobby House, Thomas joined the army. By volunteering instead of waiting for the draft for the Korean War, Thomas was able to choose his assignment. He asked to be placed in the Cook and Bakers School in Georgia. He was soon sent to Germany where he was in charge of feeding over 2,000 soldiers each day. In 1953, Thomas was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant.
Thomas returned to work at the Hobby House, where he would soon meet Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1962, against the advice of the Colonel, the Hobby House owner Phil Clauss purchased four KFC restaurants that were failing in Columbus, Ohio and assigned Thomas to the task of saving them. Thomas began reforming its menu and marketing strategy and in just four years, he had turned them into multi-million dollar operations.
With the successful experience of running someone else’s restaurant behind him, Thomas decided that it was time to finally realize his own dreams.
The Man at the Top of the Food Chain Dave Thomas is Born
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Dave Thomas starred in 652 commercials for Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, more than any other person in television history. But, he wasn’t just that friendly face you saw on TV with his white shirts and red ties; Thomas built his multi-billion dollar fast-food restaurant chain from the ground up, earning him a reputation as one of the most successful and loved entrepreneurs in American history.
Born on July 2, 1932 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rex David Thomas was born out of wedlock and quickly given up for adoption. He would never know or meet his birth parents. Rex and Auleva Thomas, a young couple from Michigan, adopted him at six weeks old. When Thomas was five years old, Auleva died from rheumatic fever. Thomas’ father, a construction worker who would marry three more times, was left to care for his son alone. In search of work, the family spent Thomas’ early years moving from state to state.
Despite the loneliness, Thomas found comfort in the restaurants where he and his father would often dine, which showed him what family life was supposed to be like. Thomas also found comfort in his grandmother Minnie Sinclair, with whom he would spend his summers in Michigan. It was Sinclair whom Thomas would credit with teaching him life’s most important lessons. “The days I spent with my Grandmother Minnie Sinclair were the best times of my childhood, and she was the greatest influence in my young life,” recalled Thomas. “She knew what she wanted and went after it…the greatest lesson she taught me: Don’t cut corners on quality.”
When Thomas was 12 years old, he got his first job working as a counterman at a Knoxville restaurant. Three years later, he moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to work at the Hobby House Restaurant and, in what he would later claim to be the greatest mistake of his life, he dropped out of high school. He started working full-time as a busboy, then he worked the fountain and then on to the front of the kitchen. His father decided to move yet again, but Thomas chose to remain behind. At 15 years old, Thomas was living by himself at the YMCA and working full-time.
After three years of working at the Hobby House, Thomas joined the army. By volunteering instead of waiting for the draft for the Korean War, Thomas was able to choose his assignment. He asked to be placed in the Cook and Bakers School in Georgia. He was soon sent to Germany where he was in charge of feeding over 2,000 soldiers each day. In 1953, Thomas was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant.
Thomas returned to work at the Hobby House, where he would soon meet Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1962, against the advice of the Colonel, the Hobby House owner Phil Clauss purchased four KFC restaurants that were failing in Columbus, Ohio and assigned Thomas to the task of saving them. Thomas began reforming its menu and marketing strategy and in just four years, he had turned them into multi-million dollar operations.
With the successful experience of running someone else’s restaurant behind him, Thomas decided that it was time to finally realize his own dreams.
The Man at the Top of the Food Chain Dave Thomas is Born
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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