J. Willard Marriott
Som ung slo J. Willard - "Bill" - inn for å dyrke sukkerroer og sauer på familiens lille gård.Han lærte raskt å stole på sin egen dømmekraft og initiativ."Min far ga meg ansvaret som en mann," sa Marriott mange år senere.«Han fortalte meg hva han ville ha gjort, men sa aldri så mye om hvordan han skulle gjøre det.Det var opp til meg å finne ut av det selv."
En ung gründer
At age 13, Marriott went into business for himself, enlisting his younger siblings to help raise lettuce on a few fallow acres on the farm. The harvest at summer's end brought $2 000, which Marriott immediately presented to his father. The next year, Hyrum entrusted his eldest son with the sale of a herd of 3,000 sheep, sending the boy and his woolly charges without escort by rail to San Francisco.
As much as Bill loved the open spaces and grandeur of the Rockies, he dreamed of a life beyond the family farm. Without an education, however, his prospects were limited. After completing a two-year mission for the Mormon Church in New England, Marriott returned to Utah in 1921 to pursue a college degree, graduating first from Weber Junior College and then the University of Utah. Tuition money came from assorted jobs, including a regular summer stint selling woolen underwear to lumberjacks in the Pacific Northwest.
Lansering av familiebedriften
While finishing up at the university, Marriott hatched plans for starting a business of his own, thousands of miles away, in the nation's capital. Bill had passed through hot, muggy Washington, D.C., at the end of his mission and recognized a tailor-made market for A&W Root Beer. He secured the A&W franchise for Washington, D.C. - plus Baltimore and Richmond - and headed east in the spring of 1927. Marriott and partner Hugh Colton pooled $6 000 to buy equipment and rent space for their tiny operation. On 20. mai 1927 - the day aviator Charles Lindbergh began his historic transatlantic solo flight - the duo opened their nine-stool root beer stand at 3128 14th Street, NW.
His fledgling business launched, Marriott raced back to Utah just two weeks later to attend another event that promised to change his life: his wedding to Alice Sheets. On 9. juni 1927, one day after Alice graduated from the University of Utah, the pair married in Salt Lake City. The couple's honeymoon consisted of a long, hot, bumpy drive back to Washington, D.C., in Bill's Model T Ford.
For the next 58 years - until his death in august 1985 - J. Willard Marriott rarely rested. Whether adding locations, perfecting procedures or expanding into new enterprises, Marriott breathed, ate, lived, and dreamed about his business. Even when his older son, J. Willard "Bill" Marriott, Jr., took over most major responsibilities after being named the company's CEO in 1972, the founder could not bring himself to retire. A true hands-on manager, he thoroughly enjoyed visiting Marriott's increasingly far-flung locations, as well as spending time with the ever-growing ranks of associates who - in his eyes - were the secret of his company's success. "Take care of associates and they'll take care of your customers," he constantly advised Marriott's managers, voicing a deeply held belief that remains the keystone of the company's culture.
Får hverdagen til å telle
Grunnleggerens bekymring for andre utvidet seg også til kirke, veldedighet og land.I tillegg til å gi tiende og inneha lederstillinger i Mormonkirken, ga Bill både tid og penger til å støtte saker som ligger ham varmt om hjertet, med spesiell vekt på utdanning.Han ledet også to presidentkomiteer og organiserte en spesiell "Honor America Day" i 1970 etter anmodning fra daværende president Richard M. Nixon.
Noe før hans død i feriehuset i New Hampshire den 13. august 1985 , oppsummerte J. Willard Marriott den personlige filosofien som drev ham hele livet: «En mann bør fortsette å være konstruktiv og gjøre konstruktive ting.Han burde ta del i de tingene som foregår i denne fantastiske verden.Han burde være en å regne med.Han burde leve livet og få hver dag til å telle, til det siste.Noen ganger er det tøft.Men det er det jeg skal gjøre."
J. WILLARD MED RICHARD & BILL PÅ KONTORET HANS, CA. 1975
J. WILLARD & ALICE ANMELDER EN MODELL AV TWIN BRIDGES MOTOR HOTEL, CA. 1955