I just came across a story that’s truly worth sharing. Many people know KFC, but they may not understand what the man behind it, Harland Sanders, went through.

This guy was born in Indiana in 1890, and life was tough from the very beginning. His father died when he was 6 years old, and he had to take care of his younger siblings while his mother worked to support the family. Childhood was anything but happy, filled only with endless responsibilities. He dropped out after seventh grade, and his life afterward was like gambling—farm worker, streetcar driver, railroad worker, soldier, insurance salesman, switching jobs one after another, each ending in failure.

It wasn’t until he was 40 that Sanders found some stability. He cooked at a gas station, offering meals to passing travelers. His fried chicken was especially popular, and that was the first time he felt proud of what he could do.

But fate played a joke on him again. At age 65, the government built a new highway that bypassed his restaurant. Business completely collapsed. All he had was a $105 Social Security check.

That was a turning point. Most people would have given up at that age, but Sanders was different. He decided to take a gamble. With his secret fried chicken recipe, he drove around in an old car, knocking on doors of restaurants, offering to provide the recipe for free in exchange for a small percentage of sales. He slept in his car and was rejected 1,009 times. Over a thousand times—can you imagine?

On the 1,010th try, someone finally said “yes.” That “yes” ignited everything. Kentucky Fried Chicken was born from that moment.

By age 70, KFC was everywhere in the United States. In 1964, Harland Sanders sold the company for $2 million, but his face and name forever became the symbol of the brand. Today, KFC has over 25,000 stores in more than 145 countries worldwide.

What does this story tell us? Failure is not the end; it’s just feedback. True success often requires enduring unimaginable rejection. Someone who started at 65, with only $105 and countless failures, built a billion-dollar empire. Next time you want to give up, think of Harland Sanders—he turned his last chance into a global legend.