Alma Anguiano might as well have a doctorate in the business of McDonald’s, and it’s paid off exponentially

Alma Anguiano, US National Field People Officer, McDonald’s

BY BILLY YOST, HISPANIC EXECUTIVE

Alma Anguiano has been part of McDonald’s, in some form or fashion, for thirty years. As a senior in high school, Anguiano attended a career fair and saw a presentation from a representative of her local McDonald’s restaurant who spoke so highly about the McDonald’s brand, that the high school student waited hours to have a conversation with the presenter. The presenter was so impressed by Anguiano’s persistence and passion that she was hired on the spot.

The current US National Field People Officer has succeeded on the franchisee support side of the Golden Arches as well as within the company itself over those three decades.

She’s found Hispanic and Latino/a mentors in leadership positions that she could model her own career after. She has been surrounded by diverse leadership for most of her career and, understandably so, speaks of her employer as part of her DNA. She grew up at McDonald’s professionally, she blossomed there, and she’s now able to be the kind of inspiration for the younger versions of herself she sees just beginning their lives at the home of the Big Mac.

Anguiano immigrated to Los Angeles from Colima, Mexico, at a young age. She grew up with a mother whose entrepreneurial spirit was indomitable. She came to know Los Angeles’s wholesale district, the Santee Alley, like the back of her hand.

“I have stayed at McDonald’s because I am passionate about what I do. I see the impact that my work has, especially in the area of people and with Hispanic talent because I can see myself in their journeys.”

Alma Anguiano

“My mother sold everything from jewelry to toys, anything we could buy and resell,” Anguiano says. “Both of my parents just sought out every way they could to give us a better life, but my mother especially was always looking for a way to create a little extra business or a little extra work. She had that entrepreneurial drive that I think just became part of who I am.”

Life in the inner city of Los Angeles wasn’t easy. Eventually, her parents were able to move their family to the small farm town of Dinuba, California. The change was hard but welcomed, and Anguiano was able to focus more intently on her studies.

Anguiano essentially created a masterclass for herself in all things McDonald’s after being hired. The franchisee she worked under relentlessly stressed the importance of continuing her education. He provided her scholarships long before Latino-focused organizations like HACER were doing so. Anguiano eventually moved to Sacramento to help support her franchisee’s continued expansion. It was supposed to last six months, but Anguiano wound up running her first restaurant.

“During that time, I never paused my education. Every case study, every assignment, it was all about McDonald’s and its business model around the three-legged stool [company, franchisees and suppliers],” she says. “I was putting theory into practice and testing out new approaches, concepts, and ideas to help me run a better business and organization.”

Seven years into her career, Anguiano was running five restaurants, and she thought it might be time to transition somewhere else. Her franchiser had begun an eastward expansion and had sold his restaurants to move in that direction. McDonald’s Corporation bought them, and suddenly Anguiano had an opportunity within the organization itself to continue climbing.

At this time of transition in her career, Anguiano found a community in McDonald’s Hispanic ERG (Employee Resource Group), a decade before most organizations were even thinking of forming them.

“I was exposed to Hispanic leadership within the company,” the executive explains. “I have been lucky to have had role models who looked like me and people whose backgrounds were similar to mine. I remember thinking, ‘I wish more people knew the kind of opportunities that are available here.’”

“I have been lucky to have had role models who looked like me and people whose backgrounds were similar to mine. I remember thinking, ‘I wish more people knew the kind of opportunities that are available here.’”

Alma Anguiano

She now chairs the Hispanic ERG at McDonald’s. She has seen firsthand how ERGs can offer networking and community outreach opportunities that could help create a pipeline of diverse talent for the organization. She is now that role model for so many others, including those close to home.

The executive recalled an occasion when a relative in college had to write an essay about a person who inspired her. She wrote about Anguiano, her career, her passion, and her spirit. It was then that she realized how important it was for her to continue to work to make a difference in other people’s lives. The executive is quick to point to her own mentors, like retired US Field Vice President Ofelia Melendrez-Kumpf, whose own mentorship meant so much to Anguiano. But she understands that the torch has been passed. It’s her time to inform the next generation.

Over Anguiano’s career at McDonald’s, she continues to remain inspired by the sheer amount of good work McDonald’s does in tandem with the Ronald McDonald House charities and the other countless programs it supports. She’s seen it time and time again: entrepreneurial spirit meeting passion and stewardship. Bridging that gap between the community and the business has helped enable the sourcing of talent who might never have thought a career was possible.

“I have stayed at McDonald’s because I am passionate about what I do. I see the impact that my work has, especially in the area of people and with Hispanic talent because I can see myself in their journeys,” Anguiano says. “I’ve started thinking about my own legacy and what I want to leave behind. My own mentors and advisors have been so critical to my own success, and I want to help those future leaders do the same thing.”

Hispanicexecutive.com