2023 marks the 40th anniversary of Shirley and Mike Humerian of S&M Restaurants joining the BURGER KING® system as franchisees. The two married on May 1, 1983, and only a few weeks later, on May 27, they bought their first license to open a restaurant. They have been operating their Grover Beach store, No. 3731 ever since.
Shirley had an extensive history with the brand before becoming a franchisee. She explained, “I started working for BURGER KING when I was a student at UCLA, and it was my second job. As time went on, I moved up the restaurant management ladder and eventually went into company and franchise district-management.” She continued, “I spent 13 years working for BURGER KING Corp. before becoming a franchisee, and Mike spent a few years in the ranks as well.”
Shirley and Mike both engaged with their local association before the National Franchisee Association (NFA) took footing in 1988, and they have seen the association and brand go through many significant events.
“We’ve always been association members; as soon as we had an association to join, we did,” Shirley said. “NFA gave us access to franchisees and vendors across the country. Being former corporate employees, it was eye-opening at the time to get the full franchisee perspective and see that the BURGER KING Corp. viewpoint wasn’t the only way to look at things.”
Shirley recalled one of her favorite memories of being a BURGER KING franchisee, saying, “When we first opened the restaurant, we had a line around the block of people wanting jobs who were waiting to be interviewed. That was so encouraging to us.” She continued, “Employees coming back to visit us is always heartwarming, and we still have a lot of long-term employees on our team. It’s great to know that we are all still providing for each other, and it’s a win-win all around.”
As far as what’s next for Shirley and Mike, they’re not planning to sell their store just yet. When asked about her future plans, she said, “As always, we will see what God has, but there may be some mentoring and maybe even a city council run in the foreseeable future.”
Congratulations on this milestone, Shirley and Mike!