Whether it’s being an inspiration on program panels, continuing the owner-operator legacy, or being of service to their communities, the women of the Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Black McDonald’s Operators Association have proved to be dynamic leaders and entrepreneurs within the McDonald’s business.
Yolanda Travis, Doris Boulrece, and Esperenza McSween have carried the BMOA torch while still managing to dominate other roles for many years. Although they stand tall as pillars in their community, the true testament of their success is cultivated through their hard work, commitment and determination.
As we close out Women’s History Month, learn about the women who’ve created a platform and path for Black entrepreneurial women in the McDonald’s system.
Yolanda Travis is a recent award winner of the Chicago Defender’s 2016 Woman of Excellence Award. Her road to becoming a McDonald’s franchisee started with a goal and an action plan. After saving for four years, she was able to purchase her first restaurant. She currently owns and operates four restaurants in the Chicago area, and if that wasn’t enough, she is presently in the process of obtaining her pilot’s license.
Doris Boulrece is the first Black McDonald’s owner-operator in the Northwest Indiana area. As they say in McDonald’s, “she has ketchup in her veins” as she has been working as a part of the McDonald’s family for over a decade. Her passion for the ‘golden arches’ doesn’t stop with her, her daughters and son inherited their mother’s entrepreneurial spirit by supervising and managing their mother’s restaurant as well.
Esperenza McSween is a Black McDonald’s owner-operator that followed in her father, Cirillo McSween’s, footsteps. Working closely with her father, Esperanza grew to be a maven in finance and shortly the manager of her first McDonald’s restaurant in 1995. McSween made great strides in her father’s legacy by becoming an owner-operator of two McDonald’s restaurants while supporting signature programs such as the Dr. King Summit and Food for the Body & Spirit.
Contrary to entrepreneurial myths, these outstanding women went to great lengths of strength to create and maintain their success in the McDonald’s business. Yolanda Travis, Esperenza McSween, and Doris Boulerece are outstanding entrepreneurs in BMOA and in history.
