Vivian de Jesus, McDonald’s franchisee

What I do: Times must be really hard if a lawyer is flipping hamburgers.

But Vivian de Jesus, the lawyer, isn’t working in the kitchen at a McDonald’s in Duluth because things are that bad. It’s because she’s the owner-operator of the restaurant, and her job description means she does “everything,” she said.

Enlarge this image

Karl Ritzler / Special

As a McDonald’s franchisee, Vivian de Jesus, a lawyer in a former life, is a jill-of-all-trades.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

With her husband, Mike Hernandez, the couple own four McDonald’s restaurants in Gwinnett County. “We own the stores, and we operate the stores,” she said.

That means they fill in on everything that needs to be done, de Jesus said, including cleaning the bathrooms, cooking, paying bills and dealing with governmental agencies.

Being a franchisee means putting cash upfront and paying a percentage of sales back to the corporate headquarters. “It’s a substantial investment,” she said.

Both McDonald’s and the owner-operators have goals for sales, expenses and quality control, she said.

“You have a lot of latitude, but there are guidelines,” de Jesus said. “McDonald’s has been around for 50 years, and they’ve done this 20 million times.”

De Jesus says they hire a general manager for each store to run it day-to-day, and they like to think of all of their employees “like family.” Their time in the store varies, from a couple of hours to 12 or more hours a day, depending on need.

“This is a business you really have to like,” she said. “You have to have ketchup in your veins.”

What got me interested in this: The couple were living in Miami, where she was a lawyer and he was an insurance company claims manager. With worries about corporate downsizing, de Jesus said her husband began to look at franchising opportunities as a way to be independent.

Best part of my job: “The flexibility,” de Jesus said. “I can do whatever I want,” she said, by not being bound to a time clock. “I set my own schedule.”

Most challenging part: “The economy,” she said. “It’s costing us a lot more” as the costs for food, utilities and paper goods go up and as the people who provide services add fuel surcharges to their fees. “That squeezes us. These stores generate a lot of money, but they take a lot of money to run.”

What people don’t know about my job: “That we really do everything,” she said. “You have to be willing to do that. You lead by example.”

What keeps me going: “The challenge of making a difference to anybody I come in contact with,” de Jesus said. “I enjoy giving back to the community. I listen a lot. That’s the way you learn.”

Preparation needed for this job: You need a “get-go personality that’s not afraid of doing anything,” de Jesus said.

She said franchisees include former police officers, teachers and truck drivers. “If you want to be here and are willing to do everything,” you can get a franchise — with enough money.

McDonald’s provides extensive training for its franchisees and store managers, including its famous Hamburger University.

De Jesus and Hernandez opened their first McDonald’s store in Puerto Rico, where de Jesus grew up, in 1990 and moved their operations to Atlanta in 2002, where, she said, they were the first Hispanic franchisees in the metro area

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.

Please note: AJC policy prohibits the distribution of contact information (e-mail address, phone number, physical address) for subjects or sources in ajcjobs stories. If you are interested in contacting someone featured in Why I Love My Job, please get in touch with the person’s place of business directly. Thank you.