*When it comes to making her mark, Tanya Hill-Holliday‘s small size has nothing on her giant-sized ambitions and faith. The Morgan State University alum is Women’s History Month personified, with elevating from scrubbing toilets at McDonald’s to owning 12 of the iconic franchise’s locations on Philadelphia’s Main Line.
Chatting recently with CBS News Philadelphia, Hill-Holliday detailed her journey from crew member to corporate executive, a testimony that proves hard work does pay off.
“I was told I wasn’t supposed to be here. I was called every name but my name,” the West Philadelphia-raised businesswoman said. “You are in my very first McDonald’s that I purchased in 2005, that’s the Rosemont McDonald’s right next to Villanova University.”
Hill-Holliday’s history with McDonald’s goes back to her days with Morgan State. It was during this time she landed her first job at the Golden Arches after seeing a listing for McDonald’s after flipping through the Yellow Pages.
From there, Hill-Holliday started from the bottom as a Baltimore, Maryland-based McDonald’s crew member. Despite days filled with cleaning up after customers, she had no problem, as she visualized a future beyond entry-level work.
“I always enjoyed what I was doing, as difficult as it was to be told, ‘You got to clean a table, you got to clean the toilets, you got to scrub the baseboards. You got to do…’ I did it,” the Virginia-born proprietor stated.
During her 44 years with McDonald’s Hill-Holliday has a slew of history with the fast-food business. In all, she has worked 13 positions including vice president.
With her experience, there was nowhere to go but up. It was a no-brainer to own her a McDonald’s franchise. That franchise now
And then the opportunity presented itself to own a franchise, a move that resulted in Hill-Holliday overseeing more than 600 employees at her locations while handling day-to-day operations. Couple that with her mission to give back and it’s safe to put Hill-Holliday among those who haven’t forgotten where she came from.
As the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association Chair and CEO of 168 entities, she harbors hopes her experiences with her climb to the top inspire young people working their first job.
To sum it all up, Hill-Holliday advises those coming after her to take a page out of her book with these three steps.
“Stay motivated, stay encouraged, stay prayed up. I stay prayed up all the time,” she said.
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