What does it take to go from arriving in America with just $20 in your pocket to building one of the most respected McDonald’s ownership legacies in the country?

In this powerful episode Anh sits down with legendary entrepreneur and community leader C.C. Yin to hear the remarkable story behind his journey from war-torn China and Taiwan to owning and transforming some of the toughest McDonald’s locations in California.

C.C. opens up about surviving poverty, losing his engineering career, borrowing money from family and friends, and taking a chance on a McDonald’s nobody else wanted. Rejected at first by the corporation and told he was “totally disqualified,” he ultimately earned the trust of employees, communities, and eventually McDonald’s itself.

But this episode goes far beyond hamburgers and business success. It’s a conversation about resilience, leadership, service, community trust, immigrant ambition, and the belief that helping others is the real key to long-term success.

You’ll also hear how C.C. helped build stronger relationships between McDonald’s and underserved communities, launched APAPA to empower Asian American civic leadership, and created the Yin Ranch and California State Asian Heritage Center as a lasting gift to future generations.

This is an unforgettable story about beating the odds, leading with humility, and building something bigger than yourself.

You can learn more about APAPA by visiting https://www.apapa.org/

00:00 – Surviving Against the Odds
01:00 – Arriving in America With $20
04:20 – Losing His Engineering Career
06:45 – Discovering McDonald’s Ownership
11:00 – Rejected by McDonald’s
14:00 – Earning Trust Through Training
21:00 – Building Success in East Oakland
32:00 – Turning Around Tough Stores
39:00 – Founding APAPA
47:00 – Building the Yin Ranch Legacy
53:00 – Go All In or Fold

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you found this episode valuable. To learn more about Phoong Law, visit: https://phoonglaw.com

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Go All In is recorded at Phoong Law Studio and produced by Hear Me Now Studio