Jodi Richards was 16 years old when she started her first job as a crew member at the downtown Waynesburg McDonald’s restaurant in 1999. A proud alumni of West Greene High School, she cites her family, first job, and her alma mater for the start she got to the career she now actively works in– and loves– today.
Soon after starting this position, Jodi was recommended for the manager’s program and became a shift manager at 18. She was then promoted to the next level in Morgantown, WV where she gained even more experience before returning to Waynesburg in 2006 as the General Manager. In this role, she found great joy in supporting the local communities in Greene County and serving familiar faces when they stopped in the restaurant.
In 2007, Jodi took a leap of faith and moved to the State College area for a chance to be promoted as the Area Supervisor. It paid off and she successfully led five McDonald’s restaurants in that area and grew her skillset exponentially before returning to Morgantown in the same role. By this point, Jodi realized that McDonald’s was a special company, and one she saw herself committing to long-term.
In 2012, she was hired as a consultant for the McDonald’s Corporation. In this role, Jodi became a trained facilitator at Hamburger University– “yes, that is a real place with a legitimate degree!”– Jodi remarks, laughing. She also began teaching leadership classes to employees at many of the area restaurants before moving onto her next role as a Business Consultant. “As a consultant to the franchisees, I worked with hundreds of restaurants and really liked the local feel operators had in their business.”
Fast forward to 2025 when Jodi was accepted into the owner/operator training program, which takes only 1% of all applicants. Now, she is running her own company under the Golden Arches, JMR Family Restaurants. She is the owner/operator of the three McDonald’s restaurants in Washington, PA, and works in the business alongside her husband Zach, sister Jennifer, and mother Patty.
When asked how she was capable of achieving this dream when so many others may not succeed, she simply says, “I am not a unicorn. Just work hard, work well with others, and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.”
Some of the first opportunities Jodi encountered were given to her by teachers at West Greene High School. She speaks fondly of field trips to the local animal shelter with Ms. Watson and how these trips set the stage for her love of community involvement. In her junior year, Mr. Tanner introduced her to Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW), a business-focused conference that teams high school kids together to run a fictitious company. Jodi shares that she was an active participant of 4-H growing up and learned so much about budgeting, responsibility, and community through the leaders and program.
Jodi also cites her first crew position with McDonald’s as her most beneficial training ground in the role of human resources and ownership. “Working in a rural area taught me to work hard and pull my weight. It taught me a kind of hospitality where I’ve never met a stranger. This was especially helpful early in my career, working with a diverse crowd on both sides of the counter,” she explains.
Throughout Jodi’s years of advancement, she also worked toward her bachelor’s degree, graduating in 2016 from West Liberty University. She calls attention to the McDonald’s Archways Program that helped her graduate debt free. She is excited to talk about the education benefits offered to all of her team members, like the McDonald’s partnership with Colorado Tech University, where employees can choose from a wide range of degree programs that are 100% paid for. CTU is designed with working adults in mind, and provides long-term advisors that stay with students throughout the duration of their program, as well as a free laptop to help employees get a jump on their educational pursuits.
She also explains that McDonald’s offers another program called “English Under the Arches” to support non-native language speakers to advance their careers with the linguistic skills they need to be successful, as well as online high school diplomas with placement testing that allows employees to finish only the coursework they need to complete this vital step of education without settling for a GED.
“Having an impact on people and being involved in give-back programs is one of my favorite things about the job. I am able to get involved with local events and have the autonomy to sponsor sporting events and provide benefits that help the whole families of my employees.”
Some of the benefits Jodi is most proud to offer at her restaurants are 24/7 access to telehealth and mental health support services for employees and their immediate families. “You can’t be your best when the whole family isn’t well,” Jodi remarks.
Some of Jodi’s other passions reflected in her three restaurants are supporting local youth, where she invites Trinity High School art students to frequently paint windows and design labels and logos for new drink lines and products. She is also an advocate for women in leadership, as well as any efforts to help animals, such as the “Pet Search” initiative that her business is currently supporting.
Owning and operating a McDonald’s restaurant isn’t for the weak, and it also isn’t for anyone who is not willing to pledge their “full-time, best effort,” as Jodi says. “It’s a unique franchising method,” she continues. Unlike other chain restaurants, “McDonald’s is 96% privately owned,” making it “a network of small business owners,” rather than a cold, one-size-fits-all cooperation.
She extends her sincere gratitude to her husband and the whole family– related or otherwise. “They are an integral part of what we do and I couldn’t do this without them,” she says. “Raising two young children and running a business can be a lot at times so I lean on my team and they help me make it work.” Jodi calls attention to Kelly (Wilkes) Gaskins, another Greene County native, who is the Business Manager for JMR and keeps things running behind the scene.
Jodi encourages anyone with interest in a career in hospitality to not fall victim to the stigma of working in the fast food industry. “There’s a lot of ways to get to the same destination. Be open! It’s not just burgers and fries; there are so many ways to grow, with roles ranging from management to real estate to supply chain.”
Jodi is absolutely right– it has never been just burgers and fries.
