Marla D. Thrower expressed heartfelt gratitude as she joined a remarkable group of women, reflecting on her journey of hard work and dedication. As the matriarch of the Thrower Organization and CFO of several McDonald’s locations in Southeastern Michigan, she emphasized her commitment to uplifting young women who work at McDonald’s. Thrower described her role as a mentor, aiming to inspire the next generation to view their jobs as stepping stones toward greater opportunities. She acknowledged her family for their sacrifices and support throughout their entrepreneurial journey, reinforcing the importance of community and collaboration in achieving success. Her message resonated with a spirit of empowerment, urging everyone to strive for a better world.
This is her speech:
I just like to say thank you so much for including me with these wonderful women. I’ve always kind of been in the background working hard, encouraging my staff, encouraging my family, and today I just feel a little more proud of some of the things that I’ve been able to accomplish. We have the greatest opportunity amongst all of us to do the things that we need to do to make this a better place, a better world that we live in. And every day that I go to work, I deal with kids who are like 15, 16, 17 years old, particularly young women, because McDonald’s is basically a woman.
There are a lot of women that work in McDonald’s. And so, every day I try to give them a little bit of something to help them see their way clearer. We don’t believe that it is the be all end all.
We believe it’s a stepping stone to do better in life and to achieve more. And so that has been my superpower, I guess. And the other thing is I have to thank my family who’s here today. We did this McDonald’s thing all together. And I think back when we were starting, my husband and I were starting this, the kids had to sacrifice a lot. Shanna, you were one of them.
After school they come and they work in our business and help our business to grow and help themselves to grow as well because they learned a lot of things to make them have superpowers. So, I’d just like to thank everybody. Rolling Out, thank you very much. Very appreciative.
