Photo courtesy of McDonald’s
In the 1970s, flipping burgers at McDonald’s was the coolest job you could have.
At least according to Paul Hendel. He began working at the newly opened McDonald’s in Merrick, New York, on Long Island’s south shore in 1973 when he was just 16 years old, and looked forward to eating unlimited fries between shifts and spending time with his friends. The gig cost $1.85 an hour.
“Believe it or not, back then you had to have a job at McDonald’s to get a job, so my brother, who worked in the kitchen, recommended me for the job,” Hendel, 66, tells CNBC Make It. “Everyone wanted to work there.”
Hendel no longer saw a future in his high school job after graduating. He was accepted to CW Post University (now Long Island University) and planned to get a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and join his father, Hank, who worked for a Wall Street brokerage firm.
Fifty years later, Hendel owns and operates 31 McDonald’s locations on Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, including the flagship restaurant in Times Square.
“I never thought this would be my forever job,” says Hendel. “But I can’t imagine working anywhere else either.”
In 1975, Hendel was about to quit his job at Merrick McDonald’s before his freshman year of college when his boss at the time offered him a promotion: McDonald’s was opening a new location 30 minutes away in Glen Cove and urgently needed an assistant manager.
Hendel took the job because he assumed he could use the money to pay for tuition and books.
“There were a few parties that I missed and I wasn’t happy about that, but after I graduated it really paid off because I had no debt, so I really came out ahead in terms of work experience and networking job “, says Hendel. “Plus, it’s pretty exciting when you’re 18 and entrusted with opening a new restaurant.”
Hendel quickly proved to be a valuable asset to the team, volunteering for late shifts and improving the onboarding process for new crew members. Within three years he was promoted to general manager.
In 1980, after graduating from college, Hendel again found himself at a crossroads: should he join his father on Wall Street, where he could potentially make more money, or continue working at McDonald’s, at a job he was good at and which he enjoyed?
“I was seriously thinking about giving my two weeks’ notice and the owner/operator of the restaurant, Paul Hunt, must have read my mind because he says, ‘Paul, I don’t want you to leave. I will do that.’ “You will be appointed supervisor of five McDonald’s locations in Nassau County and will receive a raise and a company car,” recalls Hendel.
After talking to friends and reading a few job offers, Hendel discovered that the offer came with a much higher salary than he would have earned in his first year at a Wall Street firm (Hendel declined to give up his previous and to share current salary with CNBC Make It). .
Paul Hendel at McDonald’s in Oceanside, New York in 1986.
Photo courtesy of McDonald’s
Still, he felt conflicted. Hendel asked his father for advice before accepting the offer at McDonald’s. That conversation, he says, “changed the course of my career.”
“We went to dinner and I mentioned Hunt’s offer, and my dad’s first question – I’ll never forget it – was, ‘Do you like what you’re doing?'” Hendel says. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I really love it.’ And he says, ‘Do you think you’re good at this?’ And I said, ‘Well, I just got promoted!'”
He continues: “Then he said, ‘Paul, if you like doing this and you’re good at it, stick with it because I’m not crazy about my job or the daily commute to Manhattan.’ Then I realized that work isn’t just about getting a paycheck every week. I’m so glad he gave me the advice he did because I still love what I do.”
Another aspect of working at McDonald’s that excited Hendel in his 20s was the opportunity to become an owner/operator, overseeing the day-to-day operations of a restaurant and managing his own staff. It’s also a lucrative job: ZipRecruiter estimates that owner-operators at McDonald’s earn up to $400,000 a year.
“The possibilities that McDonald’s offers are truly limitless,” says Hendel. “I’ve worked with people who started out as crew members, then in a few years were promoted to owner/operators and became millionaires.”
In 1990, Hendel became the owner/operator of his first McDonald’s restaurant in Brooklyn. “From then on I got a different restaurant almost every year.”
Hendel says that working in Brooklyn taught him the importance of time management, compassion and “handling problems quickly and calmly” in a fast-paced environment. “You have to be really good with people when you manage a staff and serve over 1,000 customers a day in each restaurant,” he adds.
Paul Hendel and his children Lauren and Mark at a recent McDonald’s event for employees.
Photo courtesy of McDonald’s
Hendel still works five days a week and spends most of his time at the restaurants he owns, checking in on the employees and learning about any ongoing construction or renovations at the properties.
The skills Hendel relies on in his work haven’t changed in decades, Hendel jokes, and his McDonald’s order hasn’t changed either. “My favorite is still a Quarter Pounder with cheese,” he says.
Hendel hasn’t given much thought to his retirement. “As long as you do something you love, does it really work?” he says.
Ultimately, Hendel expects to gradually exit his role and hand more responsibility to his son Mark and daughter Lauren, who became owner/operators of McDonald’s franchises in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
“I want to be able to switch off flexibly at work so that I have more time for golfing, boating and spending time with my family,” says Hendel. “But I don’t want the word ‘retired’ next to my name.”
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