Did you know? Behind the global restaurant empire KFC, there is a man named Colonel Sanders, whose story is simply a textbook of inspiration.

This Colonel Sanders had a rough start in life. He lost his father at age 6, and at a young age, he had to take care of his siblings and help his mother shoulder the financial burden. His childhood was unremarkable, so he skipped ahead to work. He tried farm work, streetcar driving, train boiler operation, and even insurance sales. But each job ended in failure—rejected time and again. Who can understand that feeling of being turned down like fried fish fillets?

The turning point came a bit late. In his 40s, he opened a small restaurant near a gas station, cooking for passing customers. His fried chicken recipe became very popular, and he finally found a sense of purpose. But fate was not on his side. At age 65, the government built a new highway that cut off his customer flow. His restaurant closed, and he was left with only a $105 Social Security check.

Most people at that age would have given up and retired. But Colonel Sanders was different. He refused to accept defeat. Instead, he made a crazy decision—driving from town to town, knocking on restaurant doors, offering his secret fried chicken recipe for free, in exchange for a share of the sales profit.

And then came the legendary 1,009 rejections. That’s right—over a thousand “no”s. But he didn’t give up. He kept knocking. On the 1,010th try, finally, a restaurant owner said, “Sure, give it a shot.” That small “yes” was like igniting a firework in a barrel of gunpowder.

That’s how Kentucky Fried Chicken was born. By his seventies, Sanders saw KFC spread across the United States. In 1964, he sold the company for $2 million (equivalent to over twenty times that today), but his face and name forever became the brand’s symbol. Today, KFC has over 25,000 stores in 145 countries worldwide—a true business empire.

What does Colonel Sanders’ story tell us? First, age is never an excuse. Second, failure is not the end but feedback. Most importantly, success often hides in that 1,010th attempt.

A 65-year-old man with only $105 in his pocket, having faced countless setbacks, ultimately built a business worth billions. What does this prove? It shows that whenever you feel like giving up, think of Colonel Sanders—the man who turned his last chance into a global legacy.