Marilyn Carlson NELSON

Chairman and CEO of Carlson Companies

Perseverance—never, ever giving up—is the final line of our Carlson Credo, our family’s guiding principles: “Whatever you do, do with Integrity. Wherever you go, go as a Leader. Whomever you serve, serve with Caring. Whenever you dream, dream with your All. And never, ever give up.”

My own personal and business life is rife with instances where hanging onto a plan, a hope, or a dream—in some cases just a little longer than one’s competitors—resulted in success. After all, it’s not the final blow that breaks the rock, but all the others before it. This approach helped my father build our business in sixty years from an unknown trading-stamp company founded on a borrowed $55 into a global organization that nets $20 billion and operates popular brands like Radisson hotels, T.G.I.Friday’s restaurants, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

Today my father is gone, but his advice lives on, inscribed on a bronze statue for which he posed on the occasion of our company’s fiftieth anniversary. The night before casting, the sculptor called him and asked him what advice he would like to leave for future generations. The sculptor wanted him to write it on the back of the statue for all time. Without hesitation, my father wrote the following: “Illegitimi non Carborundum,” which is Latin for “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

Illegitimi non Carborundum