When Kemmons Wilson (1913-2003) took his family on vacation in 1951, he was appalled at the conditions – and the costliness – of the motels they stayed in. Wilson decided to begin a chain of motels that would offer clean, affordable, customer-friendly service. The result was Holiday Inn, and the birth of the modern American motel.
Coming up with an idea and acting on it was not a new practice for Wilson. By the time he began the world’s most recognized motel chain, he had already amassed two fortunes – the first he gave up to enter World War II as a transport pilot. His very first business success came as a teenager, when he borrowed $50 to buy a used popcorn machine and set up shop in a local movie theater. Between that business and several pinball machines he bought from his profits, Kemmons had saved $1700 by the time he was 20 – money he used to buy a house for his mother and himself.
His experiences convinced him that entertainment could be a lucrative business, and buying his house tipped him off to the promise of construction. Over the next few years he started a building company, bought several theaters, and purchased the regional Wurlitzer jukebox distributorship. He was already a rich man when he set out on his fateful vacation.
Not that all of Wilson’s ideas hit pay dirt. Upon his return from the war, he bought an Orange Crush distributorship that fizzled quickly, and he lost his $100,000 investment. And in a move for which he was kidded all his life, he advised his good friend Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records, to sell his contract with up and coming singer Elvis Presley to RCA for $35,000. “I just didn’t think he was a professional,” Wilson observed.
But he was never ashamed of his failures – he knew they were necessary bumps on the road to success. He once quipped, “The only person who doesn’t make mistakes is the one who doesn’t do anything,” and when he published his 20 Tips for Success, #11 was “A person has to take risks to achieve.”
Wilson knew that a person can only make successful decisions when that person is in the habit of making decisions at all. And he became the Father of the American Motel Chain by grabbing hold of an idea and putting all his resources and energies behind it.
“I’ve been accused of lots of things, but never indecision.” - Kemmons Wilson
The people we've chosen to write about have/had their quota of human failings and foibles just like the rest of us... But they share one transcendent quality: All of them in some way, at some time, acted courageously. We appreciate columnist, Jody Victor, focusing on Mr. Kemmons Wilson’s character and contributions to American families and business travelers. He saw a business need and a social issue and provided a solution. Leaders prepare themselves to recognize opportunities.
