One summer day, a thirteen-year-old, J. William Marriot, noticed an oddity on the family farm near Ogde, Utah. Two hectares of unused land were hard to miss, especially for a boy as observant as he. He decided to see what he could do about it, so off he went to Ogden and spent a few days in produce markets to check the trade. Again, based on his observation, he was able to identify what was in demand and what was short in supply: lettuce.
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| Marriott Hotel at Orchard in Singapore. photo: William Cho |
Young Marriot went home and plowed the land from sunup to sundown. He also asked his father for money to buy lettuce plants and cases of soda pop — not to water the plants but to coax his brothers and sisters to help him with the planting.
Within six weeks, he was able to take samples of his lettuce to Ogden and drive a bargain with a large dealer for his crop. He harvested the next day, took the crops to the market and handed a two thousand dollar check to his father.
It took Marriott quite some time, but dreams are never impossible to achieve with hard work. While keeping his family afloat by planting and selling crops, he pursued education and devoured every book he could get his hands on. So dedicated was he to complete his studies that he successfully graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor’s degree. A year after college, he built his first restaurant and never looked back.
Now his name is strewn in more than 2,700 hotels and resorts in the whole world. The farmer became one of the most successful hoteliers in the world with Marriot International, and inspired many people with his hard work, innovation, and optimism.
With a talent for seeing opportunities and the drive to seize them, Marriott was clearly a natural entrepreneur.
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