Cool piece in Fast Company about notable Americans who got their career starts at McDonald's. (A lot of people have. McDonald's has employed some 20 million people over the years.) The piece is based on a new book by Cody Teets entitled, "Golden Opportunity: Remarkable Careers That Began At McDonald's."
Among them....
• Andrew Card, the former White House chief of staff, who says that "I remember thinking that McDonald’s was unique as a great equalizer. Wealthy and poor, black and white all came to McDonald’s and stood in the same lines and sat at the same booths."
• Jerry W. Hairston, Jr., the L.A. Dodgers second baseman, who says that "I was exposed to an incredibly diverse group of people of different ages and backgrounds. In sports and in school, everyone was around the same age and came from a similar upbringing. I remember noticing that everybody on crew was equally industrious, no matter what their background. I gained their respect and trust by sharing their work ethic and the goal of serving customers."
• And Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who says that "the most challenging thing was keeping everything going at the right pace during a rush. One of the great gifts I got from that job is that I learned to crack eggs with one hand. My favorite shift was Saturday morning. The first thing I would do is get a big bowl and crack three hundred eggs into it."
You can read the entire piece here.
Among them....
• Andrew Card, the former White House chief of staff, who says that "I remember thinking that McDonald’s was unique as a great equalizer. Wealthy and poor, black and white all came to McDonald’s and stood in the same lines and sat at the same booths."
• Jerry W. Hairston, Jr., the L.A. Dodgers second baseman, who says that "I was exposed to an incredibly diverse group of people of different ages and backgrounds. In sports and in school, everyone was around the same age and came from a similar upbringing. I remember noticing that everybody on crew was equally industrious, no matter what their background. I gained their respect and trust by sharing their work ethic and the goal of serving customers."
• And Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who says that "the most challenging thing was keeping everything going at the right pace during a rush. One of the great gifts I got from that job is that I learned to crack eggs with one hand. My favorite shift was Saturday morning. The first thing I would do is get a big bowl and crack three hundred eggs into it."
You can read the entire piece here.
- KC's View:
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Regular readers will know that I'm no McDonald's fan ... but the simple fact is that an awful lot of people have learned about maintaining a positive work ethic and responsibility by laboring under the Golden Arches. That's something that all small businesses can do, something that may be the best contribution they can make to their communities.
