Finalist
Retail & Wholesale
Though Jim Bodenstedt runs several Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Long John Silver’s restaurants today, he can still quote from the McDonald’s training manual he learned as a teenager.
From an early age, he knew he wanted to own a restaurant company. At 15, he was accepted into McDonald’s management training program. By 17, he was a general manager. He read every manual he could find about running a restaurant and becoming a franchisee — and the self-teaching contributed to some of the material still stuck in his head.
He further demonstrated his quick learning skills and innovation at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After he tested out of as many courses as he could to complete his master’s in accountancy degree in record time, the College of Business instituted the “Bodenstedt rule” to limit future students from testing out of graduate courses.
Then, as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at R&L Foods, Bodenstedt approached the president, saying he’d pay the company for the back office support to run his new company, Muy Brands LLC, while maintaining his roles there. The president recognized the entrepreneurial spirit it took for Bodenstedt to ask for support to be in the same business and agreed.
Today, Bodenstedt still balances his roles at R&L Foods with his role as president and CEO of Muy Brands.
While on his quest to fund the venture, Bodenstedt met a man who had real estate with equity. They agreed that the investor would own the real estate while Bodenstedt ran the restaurants. Through that cross-collateralization agreement, he purchased his initial 18 restaurants and today owns 117.
How to reach: Muy Brands LLC, (210) 493-3505 or www.muybrands.com
