I have what may seem like a silly question...

[anitarose]

I was just reading Ray Kroc's autobiography (the guy that came up with McDonald's) and I had a question pop into my head, but I don't know how to research it...Can someone please tell me how I research on the Internet how many people that have become successes (financial or otherwise) after the age of 45? Kroc was 52 when he started McDonald's....I also know that Willie Nelson didn't really achieve "stardom" until he was about 45 or so....

I want to know how many really became successes after the age of 45. Perhaps it may give me some hope (being 47, I feel like I haven't accomplished much in my life).

Thanks,

Anita

[BFP]

Anita I think you and I are in the same boat:>) I have such an urge to do something with my life but I have no idea what! I am 38 and my wonderful husband is encouraging me to go back to school after over 20 years of being a stay at home mom. I really want to please him in this and it would be great for me because I cannot simply stay at home now that there's no one here who needs me anymore:>) I am considering going for my BA as a beginning..but 3 years seems so long and I am so afraid I won't stick with it and dissappoint everyone...including myself:>) But I don't want to be 65 and still making minimum wage either...

I know that Kentucky Fried Chicken is another success story but I am not sure if he was a late bloomer or not...

Thanks for starting this thread...I may find some encouragement here as well!

[anitarose]

Anita I think you and I are in the same boat:>) I have such an urge to do something with my life but I have no idea what! I am 38 and my wonderful husband is encouraging me to go back to school after over 20 years of being a stay at home mom. I really want to please him in this and it would be great for me because I cannot simply stay at home now that there's no one here who needs me anymore:>) I am considering going for my BA as a beginning..but 3 years seems so long and I am so afraid I won't stick with it and dissappoint everyone...including myself:>) But I don't want to be 65 and still making minimum wage either...

I know that Kentucky Fried Chicken is another success story but I am not sure if he was a late bloomer or not...

Thanks for starting this thread...I may find some encouragement here as well!

I forgot about Colonel Sanders!!! I know he was over 50 when he started KFC!!!

thanks!

a.

[Smalcald]

I was just reading Ray Kroc's autobiography (the guy that came up with McDonald's) and I had a question pop into my head, but I don't know how to research it...Can someone please tell me how I research on the Internet how many people that have become successes (financial or otherwise) after the age of 45? Kroc was 52 when he started McDonald's....I also know that Willie Nelson didn't really achieve "stardom" until he was about 45 or so....

I want to know how many really became successes after the age of 45. Perhaps it may give me some hope (being 47, I feel like I haven't accomplished much in my life).

Thanks,

Anita

But you already have accomplished much! In Christ you have already sung with angels, you have already changed the universe by having faith in His Word and following Him. You are already a success with something more precious than all of the careers in the world.

Scripture says that we are "complete" in Him.

[anitarose]

I was just reading Ray Kroc's autobiography (the guy that came up with McDonald's) and I had a question pop into my head, but I don't know how to research it...Can someone please tell me how I research on the Internet how many people that have become successes (financial or otherwise) after the age of 45? Kroc was 52 when he started McDonald's....I also know that Willie Nelson didn't really achieve "stardom" until he was about 45 or so....

I want to know how many really became successes after the age of 45. Perhaps it may give me some hope (being 47, I feel like I haven't accomplished much in my life).

Thanks,

Anita

But you already have accomplished much! In Christ you have already sung with angels, you have already changed the universe by having faith in His Word and following Him. You are already a success with something more precious than all of the careers in the world.

Scripture says that we are "complete" in Him.

well said, my friend....but I still would like the answer to my question, simply because I want to know that it can be done.

a.

[Treasure]

KEMMONS WILSON

Holiday Inn (part of InterContinental Hotels Group)

Year founded: 1952

Headquarters: U.K., with offices in Atlanta

Revenue: $6.3 billion (2006)

Locations: More than 3,700 hotels in 100+ countries (1,300 Holiday Inns)

Today's leadership: Andrew Cosslett, Chief Executive, IHG

By all accounts, Kemmons Wilson (1913 - 2003) was quite industrious. As a young boy growing up in depression-era Memphis, he was forced to quit school to help his single mother support the family. One of his first endeavors was to set up a popcorn machine in a local movie theater - he claimed he made more money than the theater's owner. Later it was pinball machines and jukeboxes. From there he began a successful career in commercial and residential construction. But it was in 1951, on a trip to Washington, D.C., with his young family that he uncovered the key to what would be his greatest achievement.

While staying in roadside hotels during his trip, he was outraged by per-child surcharges. Kemmons said of this experience, "Well, I told my wife I didn't think this was fair. It wouldn't encourage people to travel with their children. I told her I was going to build a chain of motels, and I was never going to make a charge for children as long as they stayed in the same room as their parents."

That's exactly what he did. Wilson opened the doors to his first Holiday Inn in Memphis in 1952. It charged $6 per night. His business contacts throughout the state helped his new business take off. By 1959, 100 Holiday Inns were operating. Wilson focused on building his motels along the country's expanding Interstate highway system. His business model created a revolution in travel accommodations. Now travelers could have air conditioning in every room, free parking, free ice, in-room phones, high cleanliness standards - and rates by the room, not the number of people.

It's been said that at its peak in the 1970s, a new Holiday Inn was built every three days. And it wasn't long until travelers began to see those familiar yellow-and-green signs erected throughout the world in places including Argentina, Australia, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Lebanon, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Taiwan, and Zimbabwe. According to the company, 96 percent of Americans have stayed in a Holiday Inn at least once.

Wilson was successful because he recognized that people wanted simplicity, quality, and affordable cost in lodging. He was once quoted as saying, "You can cater to rich people, and I'll take the rest. The good Lord made more of them."

Later, Wilson founded another chain of hotels, Wilson World Hotels and Wilson Inn. He also founded the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management at the University of Memphis. The school offers education specific to the hospitality industry, including marketing and sales, beverage and food management, and human resource management.

others

[anitarose]

Wow, 4given1!!! Thanks for the site!!! I'm sure I'll learn a lot on that one!

a.

[Treasure]

You're welcome. I'm in that situation also. 41 years old and TRYING to do what I've always wanted to do, be a published writer.

[Honeybee88]

I'm on the other side of this, being younger and wanting to do so much, yet hemmed in by difficulties and seeming impossibilities. I certainly don't lack ideas or the desire to accomplish something. My problem lies in what to do first and how to do it. But don't be discouraged! Go for a degree if that's what you want. I totally understand that 3 or 4 years seems like a long time, and yet, in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't, even when to my young brain it seems like forever! And even if you didn't stick with it or decided to do something else, you'd still have the experience to take with you in the rest of your life, which may not even be half over! After all, my great grandmother just turned 92 and is still going strong!

[Guest man]

My problem lies in what to do first and how to do it.

Plan your work then work your plan.

Put your goals and ideas down on paper.

I'm 50, ( that seems old when I look at it ) I plan to retire when I'm 55. I made a plan and I'm workin it.