ROSEMONT, Pa. — Tanya Hill-Holliday has defied the odds and made quite the name for herself. At just over 5 feet tall, she may be small in stature, but her fight and dreams were always big.
As Women's History Month kicks off, we sat down with Hill-Holliday, a McDonald's franchise owner who went from scrubbing toilets in Baltimore to becoming the proprietor of 12 McDonald's locations on the Main Line in Pennsylvania.
It was a journey from crew member to corporate executive.
"I was told I wasn't supposed to be here I was called every name but my name," Hill-Holliday said.
She's defied the odds and made quite the name for herself, owning a dozen franchise locations.
"You are in my very first McDonald's that I purchased in 2005, that's the Rosemont McDonald's right next to Villanova University," Hill-Holliday said.
Born in Virginia but raised in West Philadelphia, Hill-Holliday attended Morgan State University where she landed her first job.
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"I picked up the Yellow Pages at that time, started flipping through and I saw a listing for McDonald's," Hill-Holliday said.
She started out as a crew member at McDonald's in Baltimore, Maryland.
"I always enjoyed what I was doing, as difficult as it was to be told, 'You got to clean a table, you got to clean the toilets, you got to scrub the baseboards. You got to do...' I did it," Hill-Holliday said.
Hill-Holliday has been in been in the McDonald's system for 44 years now, and has worked 13 positions including vice president. And then the opportunity presented itself to own a franchise that now goes for close to $1.5 million.
Hill-Holliday now oversees more than 600 employees, while her team who she considers family runs the day-to-day operations.
Hill-Holliday makes it her mission to also give back, serving as the National Black McDonald's Operators Association Chair and CEO of 168 entities across the U.S.
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She hopes her journey inspires young people working their first job.
"Stay motivated, stay encouraged, stay prayed up. I stay prayed up all the time," Hill-Holliday said.
Hill-Holliday's success is truly because of her heart and hustle and the golden arches so many of us call home.