Raising Up Wisconsin: How Minimum Wage Jobs Turned Into Family Supporting Careers
After more than a year of protests calling for the minimum wage to jump from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour, the perpetually aggrieved would have us believe that a minimum wage job is a lifelong sentence of poverty and misery.
The mainstream media has covered the picket lines and the bullhorns but the public never sees the other side of this debate — the inspiring success stories of real people who started out at a minimum wage job and went on to a meaningful career.
Meet Darin. He started as a dishwasher at a Rocky Rococo restaurant in Racine, Wisconsin thirty years ago. With some hard work and perseverance, Darin owns two Rocky Rococo restaurants, including the very store where he started as a dishwasher. Now, Darin is trying to help his employees follow in his footsteps down the same path he traveled to financial success.
If the professional protestors are successful in their attempt to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, research shows that tens of thousands of jobs would be eliminated here in Wisconsin. Gone, too, would be the type of opportunity Darin took advantage of.
Stay tuned for future videos in the Raising Up Wisconsin series and share your own stories on social media using the hashtag #RaisingUpWI.