By Mariela Quintuna–

We’ve all heard this greeting when entering a McDonald’s restaurant or drive-thru. However, Laura Mendez, 29, has become one of many successful Latinas to achieve in the business world. She comes from a Puerto Rican background and has parents that were supportive as she grew up. Her mother owned a real estate company in1991. She didn’t have everything handed down to her, but she worked hard to reach the position she is now, an owner/operator of the McDonald’s at O’Hare International Airport in Terminal 3.

It all began when she attended Trinity High School in River Forest where she was offered to be part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. This program offered her to take IB courses,which were honor courses that would qualify for college level credits. She took it for science, math and Spanish. Her greatest accomplishments was taking those courses and passing the exams.

Laura then applied to DePaul University and she received a scholarship as a result of her academic achievements. She received that award without even applying for it. All her efforts paid off and this is another accomplishment that she is proud of.

Mendez started in 1991 and she was 11 years old. Her father was a lawyer and her mother owned a real estate company at that time. Her father decided to change careers and became registered applicant which was a program that a person has to go through to become an owner/operator of a McDonald’s.

Her father had to practice law and still worked at a McDonald’s as a crew person and manager. One year later, he was approved as an owner/operator and bought his first restaurant on Montrose and Naragansett in Chicago.

In 1996, he sold that restaurant and bought two more in Terminal 3 of O’Hare International Airport. Five years later, he signed a contract for a third McDonald’s in O’Hare Airport. Years later, her sister became approved owner, so she and her dad eventually purchased four more restaurants. So the Mendez’s now own a total of seven restaurants in O’Hare Airport.

Laura started working at her dad’s first McDonald’s when she was 15 as a cashier and then learned new things around the place. Then she was promoted to shift manager, then to assistant manager, store manager. She was still at school at age 21 and had to learn to manage her time because she was working about 50 or more hours per week and was a full-time student at DePaul University.

It was at age 22 when she was promoted to supervisor of the three restaurants in O’Hare Airport. This transition made it difficult for her because she had to learn how to work in one store all the time and supervising three restaurants. So she found a way to lead three different management teams. Laura then graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.

She has achieved success despite the health problem she had.

“My biggest obstacle in life has been her health. When I was a teenager, I always seemed to have more health problems than her friends, andwould get sick more often, but I was always able to do what I wanted to do,” Mendez said.

It was at age 23 when she was getting sicker. She was struggling to work an eight hour day without being completely fatigued and feverish. When she was 24, doctors did different tests and found out that she was diagnosed with lupus. Lupus is an auto-immune disease that affects mostly women in the child-bearing years of age. Being diagnosed with lupus was her biggest obstacle and it greatly affected her work and personal life.

Edgar Herrera, current store manager at the Terminal 3 Apex, has been working in McDonald’s for six and half years. He has known Laura for six years and he also attended DePaul University.

“She works exceptionally well with all her employees because she genuinely cares about all of them and their well being. She enjoys training her managers and watches them develop,” Herrera said.

Edgar was recently promoted as a store manager, and Laura was the one that trained him in that area. She taught him everything she knew. When asked to describe Laura in one word, he said, “good-natured.” She inspired him to work harder.

Laura said all her efforts paid off. She never thought she would get the things she wanted just because she was the owner’s daughter.

“It is good for Latinas to be able to show they can be successful and exceed expectations,” she commented.

She has her life planned out, and she is happy to work with her employees. She enjoys going to the restaurants and help develop the employees to managers.

The people she works with have taught her about different backgrounds and the employees have taught her a lot.

“My job would definitely not be as fun if I just had to sit in an office all day without interacting with them,” Mendez said.

Laura Mendez has been an inspiration to all the employees in McDonald’s. She is a successful Latina that does her best to keep on succeeding.

Mariela Quintuna is a journalism student at Columbia College Chicago.