Patricia Williams started her first McDonald’s franchise store in 1984. Now Williams and her daughters Nicole Enearu and Kerri Harper-Howie own ever McDonald’s location in the city of Compton Black Business reported. Williams and her daughters started working with her in 2020 opening 13 stores earning almost $50 million in revenue hiring over 700 people.

Williams’ journey started with her husband inspired by family members who owned McDonald’s franchises. The couple cashed out their retirement plans and set out to open their first store. Their plan worked and as the McDonald’s brand grew during the 1980s, Williams and her husband were able to buy a second store. Then when Williams marriage ended, she bought out her husband’s share in the business, sold their stores. She went on to open five more locations. This decision caused her to take out a small business loan, attend the required classes, and spend 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.”

Nicole or Kerri never planned to join their mother, but decided to grow their family business and get involved by opening their own stores according to Black Business. Nicole attended the McDonald’s franchise training program for owners and later became 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, however, then completed a training program for children of McDonald’s owner operators called the Next Generation program.

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