Have you heard of Valerie Daniels-Carter? If you haven’t, that’s ok for you’re in the same boat as mostly everyone outside of Wisconsin.
But hers is a name you need to know.
Valerie Daniels-Carter is a highly successful businesswoman. She’s the founder of V&J Holding Companies in Milwaukee and has risen to become of the country’s most successful fast-food franchisers.
She and her brother, John Daniels, Jr., established V & J Foods Inc. in 1982 and became a Burger King franchisee in 1984 with a single store. The company now owns 38 stores across Wisconsin and Detroit.
V & J National Enterprises, LLC and V & J United Enterprises, founded in 1997 and 1999, respectively, are Pizza Hut franchisees. They operate 64 restaurants across upstate New York and Western Massachusetts.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Valerie also carved out her place in Wisconsin sports.
She is not only a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, but she also sits on the Board of Directors of the Green Bay Packers.
“There are couples that own the Bucks,” said Daniels-Carter in an interview with WTMJ4. “I’m the only African American female that’s single that I know of that owns the Bucks.”
While most know the majority owners of the Bucks like Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan, and Michael Fascitelli, most outside of the state aren’t familiar with the name Valerie Daniels-Carter.
She was born and raised on the North Side of Milwaukee, and she’s never forgotten where she comes from. Through her company, she’s fully vested in bettering her city through various education, community, and civic initiatives.
Daniels-Carter is an HBCU grad. She received her BS in Business Administration from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. After working in corporate for years, she stepped out to launch her own business. Now she’s one of the biggest, best known, and most successful franchise operators in the world. She’s even teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal to expand Auntie Anne’s famous Pretzels in Michigan and eventually across the country.
Regardless of her success, Daniels-Carter is grounded by her upbringing and her faith.
“I’m God-made. I have been blessed to work all of my life,” said Daniels-Carter. “When I started on this journey, I had a mission, and I have been able to achieve it.”
Her mission in sports, particularly in basketball, began at an early age.
“Sports, I love it,” Daniels-Carter said to WTMJ4. “I’ve been playing basketball since I was a little girl. I played college ball, high school ball, and even was drafted by the Milwaukee Does.”
The Does was a team in the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League (WPBL) from 1978-80.
Her love for the game fueled her foray into professional sports. In 2014, she formed Partners for Community Impact, a group of diverse investors, and purchased a minority stake in the Bucks.
Now, seven years later, the highly successful businesswoman gets to cheer on her Bucks in the NBA Finals.
“We’re going to bring a championship home to Milwaukee,” Valerie exclaimed.
And what better accomplishment to add to her lengthy resume than an NBA championship for her hometown team.
