Founder: Kemons Wilson

Since he founded the first Holiday Inn in 1952, in less than 20 years, he opened 1,000 Holiday Inn hotels all over the United States. The place where highways can pass, and go to the world, making Holiday Inn Hotel Group the first hotel group to reach a scale of 1 billion US dollars.

Looking back on the creation and expansion of Holiday Inn is exciting.

Despite such impressive achievements, Kemons Wilson remains tireless, constantly improving and never satisfied.

As his friend said: "He will find something wherever he goes.

"

1. Poverty Family

Orphaned shortly after birth

On January 5, 1913, Kemons Wilson was born in Osceola, a small town northwest of Memphis in the South of the United States.

His father, Charles Kemmons Wilson, served in the Navy as a stoker and clerk, and later left the Navy to work for the National Life and Casualty Insurance Company, selling insurance.

Due to his outstanding work, he accepted the company's appointment in 1912 and went to Osceola to open an office there.

His mother, Dole Wilson, was born in a very poor family in Memphis. When she was in her 10s, she worked as a grocery salesperson.

When their little boy was born, the future looked bright for the young and ambitious insurance agent and his bride.

They named their son Charles Kemmons Wilson Jr.

However, just nine months later, tragedy struck suddenly.

The 29-year-old Kemons was seriously ill. He suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, an incurable disease. The nerve cells that control muscle movement have deteriorated and are very painful.

On October 4, 1913, he died before his son could celebrate his first birthday, leaving Dole a widow and a single mother at the age of 18.

Old Kemmons had foresight and bought an insurance policy with a price of $2,000 during his lifetime, and the compensation would be paid to Dole after his death.

This was a considerable amount of money in 1913.

But. In dealing with Dole, an unscrupulous funeral goods seller took advantage of the young widow's grief and persuaded her to organize a large funeral for her late husband, thereby using up all the money she received under the insurance policy.

Old Kemmons’s tomb was quite impressive, but after the funeral, Dole had almost no money left.

It was at that time and place that an 18-year-old widow was almost penniless, but she made up her mind: no hardships or hardships could stop her from raising her son and training him to be a good person in the future. Someone who has made a difference and left a mark on the world.

Dole took her baby back to Memphis and moved to live with her mother at 336 North Watkins Street.

In the days before receiving the *** subsidy, Dole had no choice but to go out and work to support himself and his young son.

Wilson later recalled: "My mother found a job as a dentist's assistant, earning $11 a week.

Later, she became a bookkeeper. Reporter.

However, her monthly income has never exceeded 125 US dollars.

Can you imagine this situation? Looking back, how difficult it was. The years are really passing by like years!"

He started working to earn money at a young age

Just as Kemons Wilson was growing up, one of the most severe periods in American history reaching the pinnacle of its hardships.

Although the sudden collapse of the U.S. stock market in the late 1920s marked the beginning of the Great Depression, troubled times had actually begun to emerge years before.

As early as 1923, an average of two banks failed every day in the United States.

During the worst years of the economic crisis, one-third of the country’s workers could not find a job.

In Memphis and other cities across the country, it is common to see long lines of people waiting to receive relief food.

Wilson began working to earn money at a young age.

His first job was advertising the "Butter Bakery" and earned $5.

When he was 6 years old, he found a relatively stable job, selling the "Saturday Post" for 5 cents each.

Within a few months, he discovered that the "Lady's Home Journal" sold for 10 cents per copy, and that he could be the newspaper's regional manager and hire other children to sell on his behalf.

Wilson soon found a dozen children from the neighborhood where he lived to sell magazines for him.

The magazine makes a profit of 3 cents for every copy sold, of which the person selling the magazine for him gets 2 cents and he gets 1 cent.

At such a young age he was able to figure out, plan, and get others to work for him.

Later, Wilson found some money-making jobs, such as using his evening time to make rocking chairs in the basement of an uncle's house, helping a grocery store to bag food, etc.

He himself said: "I have done every kind of temporary job you can think of.

I am the worst student in the world because I work whenever I have time. As a result, I always felt tired.

I fell asleep as soon as I arrived at school.

I was unfortunately involved in a car accident while delivering goods. p> When Kemmons Wilson was 14, he found a job as a delivery boy and soda fountain clerk at Wagner's Grocery Store on the corner of Madison and Belvidere streets.

One good thing about this job is that you can eat as much ice cream as you want.

One night, while working in the grocery store, he received instructions to make a delivery to the New York Giants' first baseman, the outstanding baseball star Bill Terry.

Terry lived on Willett Avenue, a few blocks south of the grocery store.

He jumped on his bicycle and rode towards his destination.

Wilson had just reached the intersection of Belvedere Street and Union Street when he felt a force slamming into him, knocking him down in the middle of the street.

Wilson lay on the ground, dazed and confused.

His left leg was seriously injured and had 5 fractures.

The doctors who saw him for the first time said he would never walk again.

But then Dr. Willis Campbell, a very brilliant orthopedic surgeon, examined him and said, "Kymons, I'm going to make you walk again.

"Sure enough, the doctor was true to his words and fulfilled his words.

At the time, Wilson was scared.

However, Dr. Campbell's confidence enabled him to overcome his fear.

He stayed in the hospital for 4 months and had a cast on his body for 11 months.

Mother Dole used her break from working in a meat packing plant to go to the hospital and go to her son's ward to take care of him and help him with his homework.

With her loving attention, sincere prayers, and Dr. Campbell’s careful treatment, Wilson was finally able to walk again.

Although one of his legs was still 2 inches shorter than the other after recovery, it was only a year after the car accident. Wilson believes that after this difficult ordeal, he was able to regain his strength and make a comeback. His future life was of great significance, and he also trained himself so much that when the difficult years of the Great Depression panicked countless Americans, he was not only able to withstand it, but also showed what a born entrepreneur should be. Keen insight and unyielding dedication to the cause.

2. The hardships of starting a business

Started operating popcorn and pinball machines at the age of 17

Kemmons and the machine he originally bought on credit sold for $50 popcorn popper.

That was all he had when he started his business.

In the first few months of 1930, the disaster of the economic crisis quickly spread throughout the United States.

Dole Wilson also joins the growing ranks of the unemployed.

At that time, Kemons Wilson was in his final year at Central High School. He decided that it was time for him to find a job to earn money and shoulder the burden of supporting his family.

In this way, at the age of 17, he made up his mind to get rid of poverty.

"I didn't know what job I was going to do, I just knew I was going to get out of poverty.

I knew I had to make money somehow.

"

p>

After Wilson left school, he found a job writing the latest stock prices on a wooden board in a brokerage firm, earning a weekly salary of $12.

Soon I became a bookkeeper and was still paid $12 a week, while other bookkeepers were paid $35 a week.

He asked for a raise, but he was only given an increase of $3 a week.

So, he resigned and left.

Wilson said: "This is the first time in my life that I have worked full-time for someone else.

It will also be the last time.

"

p>

Young Wilson didn't plan to work for others, so he had to use his brain to find a way.

He had always loved going to the movies, often working odd jobs at the Memphis theater so he could see feature films for free.

One day, an idea came to his mind. He discovered that the theater did not sell snacks for the audience to enjoy while watching the movie, so he thought this was an opportunity to open up a market for himself.

So he went to talk to the manager of the Memphis Theater, who in turn talked to his boss, and they finally decided to let him put a popcorn machine in front of the theater.

Wilson purchased a popcorn machine for $50 on an installment plan.

He started selling popcorn, selling each bag for a nickel. The business was very prosperous, making a net profit of forty or fifty dollars a week.

The manager of the Memphis Theater only earned $25 a week. The manager came to count the number of popcorn sold. He was jealous. He felt that he was at a disadvantage. He wanted Wilson to give up the venue and he wanted to own it. Dry.

Wilson had to leave, feeling resentful: "I want to open a movie theater of my own, so that no one will ever drive away my popcorn machine again.

"A few years later, Wilson did just that.

After Wilson gave up popping corn, his first business was running pinball machines.

After he was forced to sell the popcorn machine to the theater manager, he used the money to buy five used pinball machines for $10 each.

He placed these pinball machines in busy places such as grocery stores and hotel lounges.

Wilson kept busy. Once he saved up $10, he would buy another pinball machine and find a place to install the pinball machine.

He once said: "I don't like playing pinball machines myself. What I like is just the money I make from pinball machines.

"Here is an episode.

Wilson had a pinball machine installed at the William Lane Hotel, and he came here about twice a week to inspect the machine and collect payment.

One day, Wilson came again.

There was a young woman named Sarah Boswell who ran a cigarette stall and said to him: "Kemons, I know you are not so rich, but if you are willing For another nickel, I will introduce you to a girl who will be the smartest girl you have ever seen.

"Wilson said, "Okay, I'm willing to spend this one. Nickel.

"So she introduced Wilson to Dorothy Lee, a girl who later became Wilson's beloved wife.

Operating a movie theater

Kemmons Wilson had always wanted to open a movie theater of his own.

He learned that a movie theater was for sale, so he used his rapidly growing creative ability and eloquence to raise the necessary funds and finally opened his own movie theater.

This movie theater is located in a community on the Mississippi River in the suburbs of Memphis. It is called DeSoto Cinema and has been closed for many years.

After Wilson went to observe, he went to find the owner of the movie theater.

The owner asked for $2,000, which Wilson thought he could accept, on the condition that he would not pay until he reopened the cinema, paying $25 a week until the $2,000 was paid off.

The movie theater owner agreed.

Wilson then went to the National Theater Supply Company, which was run by Bob Bostic and provided him with invaluable assistance in running the movie theaters.

That day, Bostick sold $4,000 worth of equipment to Wilson, all on credit.

In this way, Wilson once again started a new business without making any initial payment.

The first movie theater run by Wilson was very prosperous due to proper management.

So, with Bostic's generous funding, he built a brand new movie theater at the corner of Memphis's airport and Lamar avenues, which was another success.

Since then, Wilson has opened one movie theater after another, opening 11 movie theaters in a few years.

During this period, Wilson worked at least 15 hours a day, operating popcorn, pinball machines, and movie theaters.

In addition, he started a variety of other early and most profitable businesses, one was the distribution of Seaberg gramophones and Wurlitzer phonographs, and the other was the operation of cigarette machines to sell cigarettes.

Wilson later recalled: "The most exciting thing in the world is to start a business.

Lay the foundation and then build the building on top.

" < /p>

Involved in real estate at the age of 20

Kemons Wilson’s mother kept telling him how much she longed to have a house of her own.

By 1933, when Wilson was 20 years old, he had saved enough money to build a house for his mother.

So Wilson paid $1,000 to buy a piece of land on Poplar Street, and spent $1,700 to build a house, which cost $2,700 per month.

The area was undeveloped at the time and was actually rural, but the area has since become one of the busiest and densest commercial areas in Memphis.

He used the house as collateral to get a $6,500 loan.

This incident gave Wilson a great inspiration. The real estate industry contains unlimited business opportunities.

He said: "If I can buy a piece of land for US$1,000, build a house for US$1,700, and then borrow US$6,500 as collateral, that is exactly the business I aspire to. < /p>

"So, from that day on, Wilson became a real estate agent.

Wilson knew next to nothing about building a house like this, but he didn't worry about it.

He said it well: "As long as you are good at finding others to do things for you, there is no job that is too difficult.

Find someone who can build a house.

Find another guy who can lay the pipes

All you have to do is contract out everything. Wilson was no homebuilding expert, but his soon-to-be discovery gave him a solid edge in the homebuilding industry for many years.

The discovery is this: almost anywhere, the central space around a house is not as expensive as the space outside the house, and can be used to expand the area of ????the house, so that the average increase in area per square meter ft. cost dropped to about $2.

Since you want to build a 1,000-square-foot house, it is possible to make the house 1,500 square feet just by making all the rooms larger, with little change in the cost of laying pipes, installing wiring, doors, and windows. , which is why the cost of building a home is lower per additional square foot.

Wilson's discovery also led him to buy up a piece of real estate as soon as he saw it was a good deal.

In the 1930s, such opportunities were plentiful and everywhere.

By the late 1930s, Wilson had purchased real estate in Memphis, with a total value of more than $4 million.

He is no longer a poor boy with only a popcorn machine.

***Enlisted in the Army after getting married at the age of 28

Before he was 30 years old, Kemons Wilson had already created a huge business, including real estate, movie theaters, and pinball. Machines, cigarette machines, distribution of phonographs, etc.

He has become one of Memphis' most determined and thriving young entrepreneurs.

In order to take care of various businesses, he drove a Chevrolet pickup truck, traveling back and forth in the city day or night. He was busy and became a sight in Memphis at that time.

On December 2, 1941, Wilson and the young girl Dorothy were officially married.

After the wedding, the two went to Peabody and held a party until about 11 o'clock that night.

They then set off for Orleans to attend the Wurlitzer Phonograph Conference, honeymooning while still working.

A few days after Wilson's wedding, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out.

Wilson knew that he would serve in the military and he could fly a plane, so he hoped to join the Air Force and become a pilot.

Later, his wish came true, and after passing the assessment, he became a flight officer in the U.S. Airlift Command.

Wilson stayed with the 4th Airlift Group in Memphis for about two or three years.

During this period, he flew various types of aircraft to various parts of the continental United States.

In 1944, the U.S. Air Force sent Wilson halfway around the world to participate in the most arduous airlift of World War II.

This airlift was called the "Over the Hump Airlift," and its purpose was to enable China to continue to side with the United States and its allies in the war against Japan.

However, Japan occupied many places in China and actually controlled almost all access to China.

The only way to enter China is to fly from the Upper Assam region of British India, fly over the Himalayas, cross the tropical jungles of Burma, and enter southwest China.

This air corridor later became known as the "Hump" and was a very dangerous route.

Wilson was one of the Hump pilots.

By the end of World War II, more than 600 transport planes had crashed during the Flying Over the Hump, killing 1,000 pilots.

Wilson was lucky enough to survive flying over the hump. He was tested, tempered, and his will became stronger.