Vicki Chancellor owns several McDonald’s restaurants in the Atlanta area.
What inspires you go to work every day?
I grew up very poor and now I believe that I am being presented an opportunity to succeed and how can I not take full advantage of this opportunity. I have a lot of single working young mothers, seeing me at work daily hopefully I inspire –if only just one- that they can change their life situation.
How did you determine your career path?
I enjoy the interaction with people and product. I knew if I could find a business that would allow me to align these two that I would find the perfect lifestyle/career for me. When you love something it is not work.
Describe the skill sets that are essential to future business leader and innovators.
- Developing leadership capacity
- Collaborating across boundaries of your immediate responsibilities
- Valuing and utilizing diversity
- Using Technology to manage at a distance
Define innovative methods you apply to your business and life.
I do not know how innovative I am, but I am consistently looking at my processes to determine where I can reduce expenses and drive top line revenues. My workplace organization is constantly undergoing review to improve labor productivity, administrative costs, etc. We operate on very small margins and aggressively managing my expenses is the key to success.
Describe goal setting methods you use and how you evaluate your success?
I do not believe in inventing the wheel when I can apply something in my business that works. I use;
SMART mnemonic.
S Specific (or significant)
M Measurable (or meaningful)
A Attainable (action orientated)
R Relevant (rewarding)
T Time Bound (trackable)
Names three books that changed how you saw life that you would recommend to others?
Bible
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Describe why lifelong learning is important to you.
As a McDonald’s Business Owner I work with Employees, Customers and McDonald’s Executives daily. Being able to connect with each of these groups is important to my success. The greater my knowledge base the more I can meet people where they are, and the greater the stockpile of solutions I have at my disposal to tackle problems and remove barriers.
What are the 3 most important factors of being a successful woman?
Vision and Planning, The capacity to keep learning, Family support
Technology plays what role in your daily life?
Instant knowledge at your fingertips
Staying connected with my family and friends across the globe
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
No child would have to live in poverty, and every child would have access to the best education.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wear my feelings on my sleeve. I need to have more of a poker face and mask my true feelings better.
Who or what motivates you and why?
Failure motivates me. I always examine if the goal/objective is worth achieving. If the answer is yes, I must find a way to remove the barriers.
What are the dos and don’ts for young women in business?
Dos
- Find a mentor
- Learn the art of a simple THANK YOU
- Always treat a first meeting as a formal event; stand, make eye contact and offer your hand
- Pay it forward
Don’ts
Never talk about your manager with co-workers.
Do not take credit for someone else’s work.
How do you successfully grow from business failure?
I look at business failures as an opportunity to start anew with learnings that will make me successful. The initiative or the product failed not me. I am a human with the capacity to evolve and change daily and each failure brings you closer to success.
Name three of your female role models and share why you admire them.
My sister, because she cared for us when my Mom died. This was remarkable because she was only 21 herself and she just accepted the responsibly without ever complaining.
Michelle Obama. She has worn the title of first lady well. Always with grace.
Madame CJ Walker. A black female entrepreneur that beame the first African American millionaire.
