HBCU graduate becomes one of the youngest black women to own a McDonald’s franchise

Meet Lauren Copeland, a 35-year-old HBCU graduate from Howard University. She graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and a 3.83 GPA in 2009. While in school, Copeland combined her academics with work; she interned at Procter & Gamble and J.P. Morgan, and later worked at ExxonMobil for 13 years and helped several junior and senior-level positions at the firm, according to Black Business.

She later resigned and branched into entrepreneurship to become her own boss; turns out her gamble paid off. In 2022, she became the owner and operator of a McDonald’s franchise located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Her branch is said to be one of the top-performing franchises in the city. She is also one of the youngest black owners of a McDonald’s branch. With her move, Copeland joins more than 250 other African Americans across the country who own McDonald’s franchises.

Her skills and experience in not only leading, but supervising different work teams to achieve desired results bring out her brilliance at what she does. She is now one of the youngest McDonald’s franchise owners.

Jade Ashley Colin, a New Orleans native, attained the youngest McDonald’s franchise owner record when she was just 30. Prior to owning a McDonald’s franchise, she worked at the fast food giant.

She later decided to purchase her own franchise, following in her parents’ footsteps. Colin has since gone on to mentor several other business owners and teach them the importance of generational wealth in the Black community.

“As an African American community, we need more men and women to know that it’s not just about right now, but it’s about the generations to come,” Colin previously said.