From French Fries to a Franchise

Do McDonald’s use real eggs? Do they only hire children? How do you buy your own store? Michele Layet answers all these questions, and many more, by drawing on her own experiences as one of Australia’s first female franchisees and also by enlisting the help of an eight-foot tall plastic clown.


It is not just a story of Michele Layet but also the story of a famous burger giant? We learn about flag protocol, dreaded inspections, and why Ronald McDonald never appears in advertisements. 


We see Michele, first, as a fresh-faced trainee – overcooking fries and locking herself in the freezer. We see her rising through the management ranks, buying her own franchise, and rubbing shoulders with pioneer, Ray Kroc and Australian CEO (later world-wide CEO) Charlie Bell. We ultimately see her grow weary of life behind the counter and trade it all in for life behind a typewriter. 


It is an eventful, and humorous, journey from making French fries to running an enterprise. It shows what life is really like behind the golden arches.