Pharrell Reflects on Getting Fired From McDonald’s Three Times: ‘I Wasn’t Inspired’
Pharrell also shares advice for someone working a 9-to-5 and wants to pursue their passion.
Pharrell has revealed he got fired from McDonald's not once but three different times before embarking on a successful music and fashion career.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary producer reflected on the early days where he was trying to find his way into the music industry. Before his fame, Pharrell worked at three different McDonald's fast-food restaurants and was fired from each one. According to Pharrell, he was lazy, and his firing was warranted, but he understood that it only happened because he wasn't inspired to do something that he was actually interested in.
"It would've been even funnier if I got fired from the same one, but it was just as bad at the time, and that's because I was lazy," said Pharrell. "And that's the other thing I wanted people to get from this story, too. I was lazy, but I was lazy for a reason, because I wasn't inspired. But when I got inspired, I'm now a workaholic, man."
Pharrell went on to say the one thing people should take away from his time with McDonald's is to figure out what it is that they love to do. Through that, people will find ways to land a job that will be "connected" to their true dreams.
"Think about something that you love to do, so much so that if you could do it for the rest of your life and never make one penny from it, you would still do it as long as your bills could get paid. Figure out what that is," said Pharrell. "Let's say that's football, but you're not in shape for football or you might be too small, or you might be too young — is there a job that you could do that's connected to it? Maybe you could be a coach? Could you be a sports therapist?"
He continued, "If you could figure out a way that you can do a job connected to something that you love, you'll love showing up every day. You'll come to work early on Monday, and you'll leave late on Friday. If you can also find a way to service humanity while you're doing that — well, now you have a dream job that you would do literally for free, but you get paid for it. You're a part of a bigger team, and you're doing something that is contributing to the community or your city or your state or the world. That's the key."
Pharrell had a full circle moment with McDonald's as he would later go on to pen one of their most famous jingles, "I'm Lovin' It." Justin Timberlake went on to perform the song, which was released in November 2003 and became an international hit.
