“I always put my best foot forward, the same as I expect everyone else to. That has been ingrained in me ever since I was little,” says Kimberly Lane, a humble yet successful businesswoman who has come a long way since her days working part time in food service as a teenager. The daughter of a longtime McDonald’s franchise owner, Ms. Lane followed in her father’s footsteps and built her way to owning four McDonald’s restaurants in Canada. Driven by a focus centered on her employees and customers, she fully exemplified the company’s values and culture. Over the course of her career, she honed her expertise in personnel development and ability to double her stores’ cash flow. Additionally, she received a Manager of the Year award in 2000 and Restaurant of the Year awards in 2009 and 2010. “Having a vision of what I wanted to get to and where I wanted to be [was motivational for me],” she says. “I knew I wanted to be a successful businessperson and my background was McDonald’s, so it was just natural for me.”

A skilled merchant at the top of her game, Ms. Lane is both nervous and excited about her latest endeavor. “I’ve sold all of my restaurants,” she reports. “It’s one of those things I never thought I’d do,” she admits, adding that she is looking forward to having the luxury of staying at home with her two children while contemplating her next professional move. “I’ve put in my time, I’ve done a lot of the right things, and I’ve always given it my best,” she says. The challenge of balancing work and family on a daily basis has long been a struggle for Ms. Lane, and she is grateful for the opportunity to fully devote herself to motherhood for the first time.

Ms. Lane is also a philanthropic individual; she is a volunteer and former board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities. She belongs to a women’s scrapbooking group and occasionally hosts scrapbooking events that raise funds for the organization’s community-based activities. Despite her recent departure from franchisee life, she highly recommends the career to anyone with aspirations and ambition. She advises, “You need hard work and dedication. I am a firm believer that if you put in a good day’s effort, you get the payout at the end.”