Tanya Renee Hill-Holliday is proof that flipping burgers can make you a millionaire, writes Jeremy M. Lazarus for the Richmond Free Press.

She is currently the leading Black owner of McDonald’s franchises in the Philadelphia area with 12 stores.

“I started as crew, you can, too,” she tells new employees, as she espouses the virtues of hard work and a can-do attitude.

The new recruits don’t often agree with her assessment.

“The perception of the brand is that the food is inexpensive, and that carries over to the perception of the job,” she said. “To many, working at McDonald’s is a missed opportunity at a real job. They fail to see what is right in front of them.”

In January, the former Richmond, Virginia public housing resident will become the new chair and chief executive officer of the National Black McDonald’s Owners Association.

She would like to see more interest in McDonald’s, particularly among Black workers.

Of the 13,438 McDonald’s restaurants spread across the country, only about 1,400 are Black-owned.

Hill-Holliday spent 25 years rising through the ranks at McDonald’s before owning her first store in 2005 next to Villanova University.

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Tanya Hill-Holliday talks about her rise to success in this masterclass from February 2022.