Talk about legacy building!
Patricia Williams doesn’t just boast of owning a McDonald’s franchise which is quite impressive by itself, but she amazingly has 13 to her name, alongside her daughters who joined in on the entrepreneurial journey.
Inspired by family members who already owned McDonald’s franchises, Patricia Williams and her then husband in a daring move decided to forfeit their retirement plans and set out to open their first store in 1984. It paid off big and the McDonald’s brand witnessed a major boost throughout the 1980s. She even went further to purchase a second store before making another bold business move. When their marriage hit the rocks, Williams bought her husband’s share in their business, sold their stores and opened five more.
It was no easy feat, she took out a small business loan, attended the required classes, and spent time working in the store all while raising two daughters and working as a rehabilitation therapist.
“It was a pretty intense, a three-year program and I had two young daughters,” Williams said. “But like most things in life, it was the right time and the right place. The opportunity presented itself so I jumped right on in and I haven’t regretted one moment.”
Today Williams and her daughters Nicole Enearu and Kerri Harper-Howie who joined the business in 2000, reportedly own every McDonald’s in the city of Compton, Black Business reports. With over 700 people in the community employee under them, together they are now running multimillion-dollar company while generating annual revenues of almost $50 million
Daughters Nicole or Kerri didn’t have their minds set to join in at first but ultimately decided to grow their family empire and get involved by opening their own stores.
Nicole attended the McDonald’s franchise training program for owners, later making history as the first female, African American Chair for the McDonald’s Southern California Regional Leadership Council.
Kerri is a lawyer and started out first by providing legal and HR help to her mother’s franchise locations, but then completed a training program for children of McDonald’s owner operators called the Next Generation program.
Now, it’s all about uplifting their community by making their stores family friendly and accessible. They also offer scholarships to local students, and fund various local and national charities through their non-profit — the Williams/Enearu Organization.
