When most people think of mom and pop shops, the golden arches of McDonald’s don’t immediately come to mind. But for Jim and Leslie Wheeler, McDonald’s licensees, that’s exactly what their restaurants are. So, for National Small Business Month, we wanted to tell their incredible story:

When Jim’s mom nudged her with a knowing smile and said, “He really likes you, you should go out with him,” it might’ve seemed like the beginning of just another relationship. But for Leslie and Jim Wheeler, it marked the start of something much bigger—decades of partnership not only in marriage, but in business, family, and community.

After their first date, they never looked back. Within eleven months, Jim had landed his first restaurant management role, and Leslie got her ring. They were engaged in 1987 and married in 1988.

“I asked her mother at four in the morning,” Jim laughs, recalling how he proposed. “The day Leslie graduated from nursing school, I walked into her room with the ring. She didn’t say yes at first—she said GAAAH!’” Leslie still has the original ring box.

But their story isn’t just a sweet romance. It’s a blueprint of grit, growth, and the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that doesn’t quit: even when the path is anything but clear.

Building an Empire

Back when they first started dating, Leslie was already a nurse. Jim wasn’t yet in management, but he had his sights set. Over time, he climbed through the McDonald’s ranks, spending the last three of his 24 years with the corporation as a franchising manager. When corporate downsizing came knocking in the early 2000s, Jim was offered something unexpected: a chance to become a licensee.

It wasn’t a dream handed to them on a platter. It meant upheaval. Leslie took a chance, leaving her successful nursing job running a 48-bed pediatric unit in New Jersey. When they moved to Philadelphia, she paused her career and eventually returned to pediatric care at Dupont Children’s Hospital in Delaware. 

That move brought Leslie full circle with another part of her past: the Ronald McDonald House.

“As soon as we admitted a child whose family needed a place to stay, we’d send them across the street to the Ronald House,” Leslie explains. “And I realized I’d actually sent one of my former patients from New Jersey there. His family stayed while he was being treated for cancer.”

That powerful connection to the mission of Ronald McDonald House would continue to shape their story. But soon, the next chapter came calling.

The Call That Changed Everything

“One Saturday afternoon, Leslie was at work, our son James was playing baseball, and my boss called me,” Jim recalls. “She said, ‘Are you ready to be a licensee?’ I hung up the phone, turned around, and James had just hit a home run. I still have that ball.”

In September 2003, they took the leap—three McDonald’s restaurants in Virginia: Churchland, Harborview, and a Walmart location. It wasn’t glamorous. The stores were understaffed and in need of serious love. Jim lived in a hotel. Leslie stayed behind in Philly. But soon, she joined full-time after going through McDonald’s rigorous Spouse Approval Program and training at Hamburger University.

Together, they built their operation from the ground up. From three locations, they grew to 14 stores and two holding companies—each with a bit of playful competition. “She has 10, I have 4,” Jim says. “She lets me know. She beats me every time.”

Roots, Relationships, and Returning to Virginia

Fate has a funny way of working. Their very first vacation as a couple was in Virginia Beach. “We rented a little guest house from a sweet German couple,” Leslie says. “It was $400 for the week. Even back in 1987, that was not a lot! And it was magical.” Years later, when they relocated for business, they realized they were back in the very same area. “Full circle,” Leslie says with a smile.

It’s not just geography that’s come full circle. Their kids, once tagging along to restaurants and standing on stools in drive-thrus, are now part of the business. Their son James, with a biology degree from Penn State and a career in pharmaceutical labs, came to them three years ago with a proposition.

“He said, ‘I’ve proven I can do this on my own. But I also understand your business—and no one’s going to pay me what I’m worth unless I own it.’” Now James supervises three stores and is in the pipeline for licensee approval.

Their daughter Katie also joined the company, running HR, payroll, and internal communications. It was now a true family business.

A $3.5M Business Grown to $46M—Built on People

When the Wheelers started, the business generated $3.5 million a year. Today, it brings in over $46 million annually and employs 738 people.

“The key?” Jim says. “Infrastructure, and people. You grow with your people. Everyone who works with us is part of our team—not for us, with us. We defend them, and they defend us.”

They’ve made a conscious effort to stay ahead of the growth curve—building systems before expanding, investing in leadership, and prioritizing values over volume.

The Heart of the Business: Community

When asked what advice they’d give to small business owners, Leslie doesn’t hesitate: “It’s about community. Building relationships where you put your roots down, and learning what the community needs from you—not just as a business, but as neighbors.”

Jim agrees: “You have to be relentless. It’s not part-time. It never has been. The community needs to know you’re with them.”

For Jim and Leslie, success isn’t measured by store count or profit margins. It’s in the kids who grew up learning work ethic, in the employees who became family, in the patients Leslie once cared for who found a safe place at the Ronald House, and in a life they built side by side—one burger, one smile, and one full-circle moment at a time.