Ana Sanchez, MBA
Ana Sanchez, MBA, is a McDonald’s Owner Operator and experienced restaurant industry leader with more than two decades of progressive experience across operations, corporate strategy, and franchise ownership. She currently owns and operates two McDonald’s restaurants in Central Michigan, located in Clare and Sanford, as part of RSAZ Enterprises LLC (Sanchez Restaurants). Officially approved as a franchisee in January 2025, Ana now leads alongside her husband, continuing to build a family legacy in the business while raising their children and modeling entrepreneurship and leadership across generations.
Ana began her career at McDonald’s as an hourly crew member while still in high school and has since advanced through every level of the organization over the past 20–21 years. She progressed through restaurant leadership roles, ultimately becoming a General Manager while attending college, where she led large teams and developed a strong foundation in people development and operational excellence. Her early career in restaurants shaped her leadership philosophy and deep understanding of the business from the ground up.
She later transitioned to McDonald’s corporate offices, beginning in Human Resources for the U.S. division before moving into global roles focused on people planning, alignment, and organizational initiatives. After approximately three years in global people strategy, she returned to her operational roots in a global operations role centered on restaurant innovation, leading initiatives from ideation through U.S. market pilots. Her final corporate role included helping launch McDonald’s innovation hub, Speedy Labs, during its move from the Chicago suburbs to downtown Chicago. As a first-generation professional and the oldest in her family, Ana has built her career as a pathfinder, and now embraces a full-circle moment as a franchise owner, building both a business and a lasting family legacy.
• Berlitz Spanish Assessment of Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing
• Lewis University - BBA
• DePaul University - MBA , Management
What do you attribute your success to?
I would say it's my personal drive and just always being self-driven, but I also recognize that there have been a lot of people along the way who have helped me. From that first manager who believed in me and said, 'I want you to be a manager,' to all of the mentors and managers I've had throughout my career who guided me, coached me, and provided me feedback. It really goes back to what I said about career advice: you own your career and you own your success, but you're not alone. There's a village of people who will help you, and different people play different roles throughout your career, whether that's mentorship, coaching, or even your family. I've always had people supporting me at every stage.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is that you own your career, but you're not alone. You have to be driven and know what your goal is. Don't wait for people to tap you on the shoulder and give you opportunities. You own your career, but you're also not alone in that journey. There are people who will support you and help you along the way.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say no dream is big enough. Dream big, but also take those steps and just be a sponge at the beginning. Learn, and learn, and fail, and learn, because those are all experiences that give you what you need for that next step. I think early on, we think that when we fail, we should just give up and say, 'This is what I can do.' But sometimes those failures are learning experiences that just make you a better leader as you continue to go towards that dream you have. So don't give up. Even the little bumps in the road are learnings that will help you as you continue to grow in your career.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think as women, there's always going to be that extra layer of challenges when you think about business ownership and entrepreneurship. We already face additional challenges just because we're women, and when you look at business, it's a mainly male-dominated industry. So the challenge is really learning to have the confidence and get your voice heard when you're in those rooms. There are also fewer people to help us navigate these challenges. And obviously with entrepreneurship in general, there's constant change. You have to be able to navigate not only what's happening within your industry, but also what's happening at a macro level. You're taking a lot of risk, and you have to have that agility as you navigate your business and react to both industry-specific and external factors.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Number one is family. When I say family, it's not only just my family, but I mean, I get to do this with my husband. We always talk about how we're building something, we're building a legacy together, and our children are watching us do that. So that's just such a beautiful thing. And family also means our employees are our family. We call it our MEC family because it's just a large family that we have responsibility for, and we care for each other. The other value I always talk about is excellence, always achieving and always trying to strive for excellence. And then a really important one for us is community, the value of giving back. That's part of our core values. We want to give back not only to our community, but also to our employees and help them grow and develop.