Chick-Fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy offers Auburn Christian athletes insight to his success

Mingling business advice with his personal testimony, well-known Baptist businessman S. Truett Cathy, founder and CEO of Chick-Fil-A restaurants, recently shared his life story with members of Auburn University’s chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
   
“I’ve never seen a conflict between biblical principles and good business practice,” he told the group of nearly 300 attendees.
   
Echoing life lessons illustrated in his book “It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail,” Cathy challenged the Christian athletes to value a good reputation. Quoting Proverbs 22:1, “A good name is more desirable than great riches,” Cathy said.
   
Cathy is a man who hearkens back to the orthodoxy of “that old-time religion.” Not quite 81, this staunch Southern Baptist has taught eighth grade Sunday School for 47 years and remains a lucid, unwavering reminder that “it’s easier to build boys and girls than to mend men and women.”
   
In fact, the only thing unorthodox about Cathy is the way he runs his business. Along with an empire of successful restaurants, he has built a reputation for impeccable business ethics.
   
“I think the Bible spells out how we should treat our employees and how we should treat our customers.”
   
As Cathy elaborated on his philosophy he said, “A lot of people eat out when they’re not even hungry; they’re just looking for a pleasant experience, and we provide for their emotional needs and sometimes even their spiritual needs. I think there’s a reason so many of Christ’s dynamic experiences took place around the dining table,” he said.
   
Opening his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill, nearly 60 years ago, Cathy expressed fascination with the changes he has witnessed in the restaurant industry.
   
“Fast food is now a way of life,” said Cathy.
   
When asked about his restaurants being closed on Sundays, Cathy said, “That’s the best business decision I’ve ever made. I think the Lord has blessed us because of the fact that we’re closed on Sunday.”
   
And the proof is in the pudding, or the chicken in this case. Though critics cite as much as a 20 percent loss in sales resulting from the Sunday closing practice, Chick-Fil-A’s employee turnaround was about 4 percent in 2000, a miraculously low figure in the fast-food industry. Cathy quickly attributes this to his observance of the Sabbath. “It’s certainly helped to attract the caliber of people as employees who appreciate having Sundays off,” he said.
   
One such person who appreciates Cathy’s decision is Andrew Barnes, owner and operator of two Chick-Fil-A stores in the Auburn area. Barnes, who started working at Chick-Fil-A when he was just 14, is planning to open a third store in Opelika.
   
In addition to offering scholarships to the many student employees of Chick-Fil-A, Cathy started a foster home system, WinShape homes, that provides a nurturing environment for children until they reach college age.
   
There are 11 WinShape homes located in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, and one in Brazil. Cathy’s daughter, Trudy, and her husband John, were International Mission Board missionaries in Brazil for 10 years.
   
These words are on a plaque inside Chick-Fil-A headquarters: “Our corporate purpose is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.” For a man driven not by the dollar but by the cross, this motto is applicable in all areas of Cathy’s life.