Campbell quips that a funny thing happened to him on the road to the corporate boardroom: he became an entrepreneur instead. “I worked for McDonald’s for five years prior to becoming an owner. My first job was as an area supervisor … I was on the executive fast track and there was a planned succession to the next step. Being a franchisee was something that was so remote and so far down the line, I wasn’t even sure if it was attainable,” explains Campbell, who currently owns six McDonald’s restaurants in the Detroit metropolitan region.
The Michigan State University graduate says that the aspect he found most impressive and attractive about the fast-food giant was the level of diversity evident throughout the corporate ranks. “I went to an entrepreneur expo and I was looking for different business opportunities. … I went to the McDonald’s booth and although I worked for other [fast-food chains], I knew that McDonald’s offered the best opportunities for advancement. They really embraced diversity in a recognizable way. When I went to my interview, the HR manager was African American, the gentleman who hired me, Terry Reese, is African American. He was director of operations then and now he’s the vice president and general manager. The franchise manager that I met at the expo was also Afircan American,” recalls Campbell. “I had never seen [so much diversity] at that level. You might see it in [the dining room], but not so much at the middle management and executive levels,” he continues.
Ironically, the burgeoning businessman’s first work experience was with what would eventually become his corporate benefactor. Campbell worked for McDonald’s — as do so many enterprising young people — when he was in high school. He graduated from MSU in 1990 and in November of 2000 he acquired his first three McDonald’s stores. Within a month he’d purchased two more stores, and several years later picked up his sixth franchise operation.
Campbell, who is lauded for his business acumen, says his strategy is simple. “The way I grew up there wasn’t really a job that was beneath me. My approach was to make the most of the job I had, and I didn’t feel that having a degree meant that I couldn’t do service work. I recognized it as an opportunity to progress my career and to take advantage of what was presented to me.” –roz edward
