For Toni and Colton Hower, McDonald’s has always been more than a place to work. It’s part of their family story—and a place where they hope to create opportunities for the next generation.
Toni grew up around the business, watching her parents, John and Kathy, build their lives as McDonald’s operators. Today, she is an owner-operator herself, leading an organization that includes the McDonald’s in Mars and restaurants across the Pittsburgh region.
Now her husband, Colton, is learning another side of the business through a McDonald’s training program designed for spouses of owner-operators. The program prepares candidates to become franchisees and to work alongside their spouses in a family business.
For the couple, it’s another chapter in a relationship that already includes marriage, parenthood and years of talking through business decisions together.
“I mean, we’ve learned to work together on many different levels that some couples may never think about doing,” Toni said. “It’s just like another layer to our friendship, our spousal relationship and now being parents together.”
Those layers, she said, have helped them build a strong foundation.
Learning the Business
Colton said he has spent several months in the training program, learning about McDonald’s operations, systems and routines while working with a coach who helps him develop as a potential franchisee.
Having watched Toni go through her own training, he entered the program with a close-up view of what it takes to operate a restaurant. He also benefited from the openness of Toni’s parents, who shared financial information and explained the reasoning behind their business decisions.
Still, Colton said, there has been plenty to learn.
“I married into a family that has bled ketchup since day one,” he said, describing Toni’s lifelong connection to McDonald’s and her parents’ years in the business.
The challenge, he said, has been absorbing the knowledge and experience that Toni and her family have accumulated while also finding ways to contribute his own perspective.
His background in marketing and communications complements Toni’s strength in restaurant operations, he said. While Toni knows how to create an experience that brings customers back, Colton brings ideas about reaching new audiences and connecting with local communities.
“Us being able to talk business and talk about it productively … is very unique,” he said.
For Colton, Toni’s drive has also had an influence beyond the restaurants.
“Her drive and her dedication has pushed me in more ways personally and professionally than I could describe,” he said.
A New Generation
Their daughter, Blake, has already become a familiar part of the family’s life around the restaurants—much as McDonald’s was part of Toni’s childhood.
Toni said she sometimes jokes with Blake about going to “your store.” The moments bring back memories of growing up around the business and give her a chance to share that experience with her daughter.
“It’s been a part of my life and I’ve had so many good memories of McDonald’s and how good McDonald’s has been to my family,” Toni said.
Toni and Colton said they hope to give their children opportunities to choose their own paths, whether those paths lead to McDonald’s or somewhere else.
“It’s not just about us, it’s about our future and what does it look like to set up our kids?” Toni said. “Maybe if they want everything to do with McDonald’s or nothing, we just want to be able to provide the opportunity for them to go in whatever direction they want.”
The couple also shared that their family is growing. Blake, who is 1, is expected to become a big sister when the Howers welcome a baby boy in March.
Parenthood has changed the way the couple approaches each day. Colton said he and Toni once spent much of their time focused on work, but becoming parents has brought new priorities and a different rhythm to their lives.
Toni said Blake has taught them to make better use of their time.
“When you become a parent, you become very efficient with how you manage your day to day,” she said.
People Behind the Golden Arches
As the family looks ahead, Toni said supporting the people who work alongside them remains central to the way they operate.
“We do run it as a family business and we want to set our people up for success,” she said. “We wouldn’t be where we are without our people.”
She said that means giving employees the tools to succeed and working alongside them so they know the family is there for them.
Colton, who grew up in Moon Township, said it also means being part of the communities where their restaurants operate. Moon was the location of Toni’s first restaurant, making that connection especially meaningful to him.
The couple’s organization now includes 32 restaurants across the Pittsburgh region, he said.
“How we can continue to just intertwine ourselves, become almost the McDonald’s people in the local community … that’s something that means a whole lot to us,” Colton said.
For Toni, serving those communities means finding a balance between the convenience customers expect and the personal connection she remembers from growing up in the business.
Mobile ordering, delivery and other technology have changed the way people visit McDonald’s. But whether someone is picking up a quick meal after a game or sitting down for morning coffee, Toni said she wants customers to feel welcome.
“How do we still give them that smile and say, ‘Thank you for coming to visit us?’” she said.
It’s an approach rooted in the family business she grew up with—and one she and Colton hope to carry forward as they raise a family of their own.