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SPEAKER_00: This Women's History Month Encyclopedia Wamanica is brought to you by Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz celebrates all women driving change and is indebted to those trailblazing women who punctuate the brand's history, like Bertha Benz and Evie Ruskvist. These women defied the odds to change the auto industry forever. And Mercedes-Benz applauds the tenacity and courage it takes to pave the road ahead. Listen to Mercedes-Benz's story. Listen along this month as we share the stories of inspiring women in charge and at the top of their fields, powered by Mercedes-Benz. Happy International Women's Day. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Encyclopedia Wamanica. In case you're just tuning in, welcome. Here's the deal. Every day we're telling the story of the women who are driving the car, and this is the deal. Every day we're telling the stories of women from antiquity through today, who you may not know about, but definitely should. Each month is themed. This month, we're talking about women in the driver's seat, leaders who made remarkable impacts on their industries. Today we're talking about a woman who made a name for herself in the world of meat. Determined to make enough money to send her son to his dream school, the woman bought a floundering steakhouse and turned it into a national chain. Let's talk about Ruth Fertel. Ruth Ann O'Stadt was born on February 5th, 1927 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a teacher. Ruth's son later said that Ruth had been a tomboy as a kid. Her incredible intellect was evident at a young age. Ruth skipped several grades and graduated from high school at the age of 15 and from Louisiana State University at the age of 19. In 1948, Ruth married Rodney Fertel, an eccentric millionaire who shared with Ruth a love of horses. The two opened a racing stable in Baton Rouge, and Ruth became Louisiana's first female licensed horse trainer. The couple had two sons, Jerry and Randy. In 1958, Rodney left the family, and Ruth reentered the workforce. She began working as a lab technician at Tulane University. Ruth's sons were smart and ambitious, and she wanted to be able to send them to whatever university they hoped to attend. That just wasn't gonna happen with her university salary. Then in 1965, a classified ad in the paper caught Ruth's eye. It was for a restaurant for sale called Chris Steakhouse. After looking into it, Ruth realized Chris Steakhouse had first opened its doors on her birthday. She took that as a sign and decided to buy the restaurant. Ruth got a loan from the bank for $22,000 to put in an offer, mortgaging her house to do so. The restaurant was hers. Chris Matalick, the original owner, had promised to train Ruth on how to run things. Turns out, he was a bit of a shady character. Far from training her, Chris took the cash from the register and disappeared. On opening night, Ruth sold 35 steaks at $5 apiece. She said she butchered each steak herself using a hacksaw to cut through the bone. It was exhausting work, and the following week, Ruth purchased an electric saw. Despite having no real experience in the field, Ruth made the steakhouse work, accomplishing a feat that the original owner and several other previous buyers had failed to do. But Ruth's challenges were far from over. A few months after opening, Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and knocked out local electricity. Ruth took the high-end perishable steaks, cooked them in her gas broiler, and served them to community members and emergency responders. Her generosity was noticed and rewarded. Many of those she helped during that disaster became regular customers. For over a decade, Ruth operated Chris Steakhouse as a successful restaurant. Local politicians and celebrities were frequent diners. Remembering her own struggles and desire to support her kids, Ruth hired other single mothers as employees. She knew they'd be hard workers. The business was cruising along when disaster struck. In 1976, the restaurant burned down. Ruth had signed a new location to open a second steakhouse. But her deal with the original owner, Chris, stipulated that she could only call the restaurant Chris Steakhouse if it was in the original location. Ruth had successfully built up the restaurant's brand. Not being able to use the name was a major marketing problem. So Ruth came up with a solution. She named the new restaurant in the new location Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. She later said to Fortune Magazine, "'I've always hated the name, but we've always managed to work around it.'" That same year, in 1977, the business took another big step. Ruth agreed to franchise. The first franchised restaurant was opened in 1977 by a loyal customer in Baton Rouge. Ruth later said, "'All our franchisees were people who had eaten at one time or another in one of our restaurants. We never looked for franchisees. They came to us.'" Ruth's Chris grew into a major chain with more than 80 locations in the US and overseas. The success earned Ruth a number of accolades as an entrepreneur and the nicknames The First Lady of American Restaurants and The Empress of Steak. Ruth ran the restaurant until 1999. She was a smoker for most of her life and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000. She died two years later on April 16th, 2002. She was 75 years old. In her will, she established the Ruth U. Furtel Foundation, which supports education in Louisiana. Ruth entered the food business with little experience and left as the founder of one of the most successful steakhouse chains in the country. All month, we're talking about women in the driver's seat. For more on why we're doing what we're doing, check out our newsletter, Womanica Weekly. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Encyclopedia Womanica. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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