With Graduate Degree She Worked At McDonald's, She Now Owns Three

NEW HAVEN, CT — Just after Sara Natalino Amato received a graduate degree at Fordham University, she went to work at an Orange McDonald's. Her job was to fry the fries. It wasn't that she couldn't find a better gig, it was because since she was a little girl, she wanted to own a McDonald's restaurant. She figured it was best to work her way up.

Now, the New Haven native and resident doesn't own one Mickey Ds, or even two. She owns three and is "not stopping any time soon."

Just last month, Amato acquired McDonald’s restaurants in Milford, Branford and Colchester.

“I can’t thank McDonald’s enough for putting me through the training from the bottom up because it has made me who I am today – from fries, to grill stations, to cashier and drive-thru and then training for management positions,” Amato was quoted as saying in a news release. “I am a stronger leader because of the training I received.”

Amato’s love for McDonald’s started when she was five. Her mother owns a general contracting company and spent many years building McDonald’s restaurants. Amato would go to work with her mom, and it's said that she was "intrigued" with the behind-the-scenes of running a McDonald's and was "hooked" and knew quickly that she had “ketchup in her veins.”

Amato became a McDonald's general manager in 2008. Soon after, she was promoted to area supervisor, overseeing six Connecticut restaurants. Always a hands-on manager, both in the restaurant and out in the community, she's involved in fundraising with schools and different organizations throughout the cities and towns she serves.

“I want to run great restaurants,” Amato said. “I want to have people see that we are local owners, involved in the community, encouraging our employees to succeed and our customers to be satisfied. I want to be involved. I want to give back. I want to be able to see success stories like my own with my employees.”

Amato said she is not stopping at just three restaurants and plans to continue to purchase more in the future.