Franchisee Realizes Dream

Freep.com:

Kenneth Brown (photo) says a taste of the good life is what inspired him to become a restaurateur.

Brown, who owns 2 metro Detroit McDonald’s franchises, grew up poor in Chicago. His parents struggled to raise 5 children. His family was evicted 10 times from Chicago-area homes. They ended up on welfare.

Nevertheless, the Browns persevered. All 5 children graduated from college, despite their parents being high-school dropouts. Brown’s late father, John Brown, later went to college and earned a master’s degree.

Whenever any of the kids graduated from grade school or high school, Brown’s father showed them how to overcome their meager beginnings. He took them to the ritzy Hyde Park Hilton, where he worked as a chef.

“He told us, ‘Education is our way out’ of poverty,” Brown said.

It was during one of those visits - when his older sister graduated from high school - that Brown realized he wanted to own an eatery. ‘It was the hustle, the bustle, the excitement,’ he said. ‘I knew I had to be in the restaurant business.’

Brown ended up talking to the restaurant’s manager, who asked him to come work there during college breaks. He learned everything he could while working as a busboy, janitor and waiter.

After graduating from Southern Illinois University, he went on to hold other positions at other restaurants. ‘I’ve always said I never had a job in my life. I’ve only had paid internships,’ the 40-year-old Brown says, adding it was from those positions that he learned the restaurant business.

Meeting leads to franchise.