The ‘Burger King Mom' who went viral for working shift by herself says she lost her job
Despite her viral display of a tireless work ethic while running every station at a Burger King in South Carolina by herself, Nykia Hamilton, better known online as the 'Burger King Mom,' is now out of a job.
In a recent emotional TikTok video, Hamilton tearfully updated followers about her situation, Complex reported.
'[Burger King] fired me because I've been late because of my kids,' she explained through tears. 'My kids come first. Y'all don't pay for no babysitter, or nothing.'
Hamilton, a 25-year-old single mother of three from Columbia, South Carolina, first captured national attention in July after a customer recorded her working an entire shift alone when a co-worker quit mid-shift. The footage showed her preparing food, running the drive-thru, cleaning, and working the front counter, all while managing the store's pace on her own.
The clip quickly went viral, sparking widespread admiration and outrage at her circumstances. At the time, she described the toll of her work to local media.
'I be missing out on my kids' lives when I work so much,' Hamilton told WACH News. 'I have to provide for them, but I really don't have time to spend with them—and it hurts me a lot.'
Shortly after the video spread, Hamilton launched a GoFundMe to support herself and her children. Initially set at $60,000, the fundraising goal was recently raised to $70,000 as contributions continued to pour in. She is now close to reaching that updated target, with hundreds of donors offering financial support to help ease the burden of her sudden job loss.
Alongside the generosity, Hamilton has also spoken candidly about the pitfalls of viral fame she never asked for. While the attention brought financial help and an outpouring of support, it has also left her vulnerable and exposed during an already difficult time.
'I'm already aggravated, I'm already depressed, all of this mental shit, and motherf— f— with me, so leave me alone,' she said during her emotional update. 'I ain't want no fame, no money, none of this s—.'
On her GoFundMe page, Hamilton wrote, 'I wasn't expecting my life to change how it did. I really do everything for my kids.'
More must-reads:
Trump claims DC is now 'safe' and more people are dining out since his crackdown. The numbers tell a different story
ESPN shelves Colin Kaepernick documentary directed by Spike Lee over creative differences
Sterling K. Brown praises his son for keeping a cool head during a racist encounter
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration not eyeing equity in companies that are increasing US investment, WSJ reports
(Reuters) -The Trump administration is considering taking equity stakes in companies receiving funds from the 2022 CHIPS Act but has no plans to seek shares in bigger semiconductor firms that are increasing their U.S. investments, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a government official. The development follows comments made by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who on Tuesday said the government is continuing to work on the possibility of taking a 10% stake in troubled chipmaker Intel. However, the administration does not intend to take equity stakes in companies like TSMC, which are ramping up investment, the official told the Journal. Businesses not increasing their commitments may need to offer equity to the government in exchange for subsidies. "The Commerce Department is not looking to take equity from TSMC and Micron," the official told WSJ. TSMC executives have already had discussions about giving back their subsidies if the administration asks to become a shareholder, according to the report. The White House and TSMC did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. TSMC, which counts Nvidia and Apple as key clients, announced plans for a $100 billion investment in the United States during an event with President Donald Trump at the White House in March. This investment is in addition to $65 billion committed for three manufacturing facilities in the state of Arizona. The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act, formally known as the CHIPS and Science Act, late last year finalized subsidies of $6.6 billion for TSMC to produce semiconductors in the United States. Besides Intel, Micron, TSMC and Samsung were among the biggest recipients of CHIPS Act funding. In the past, the U.S. government has taken stakes in companies during periods of economic uncertainty to provide financial support and restore confidence. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
For New York Liberty, success on court spreads spreads to balance sheet
Success for a sports team can be measured in a number of different ways, on the court, the rink, the field or the diamond … and on the balance sheet. But for the most part one follows the other rather than one being paramount to the other. At its simplest: You win, you win. Yes, you can win on the court but lose on the balance sheet, like the New Jersey Nets did in the early 2000s. Or can you lose on the field and win on the balance sheet, like a lot of New York teams have over the years. Ladies and gentleman, your New York … Jets. But as a matter of course, winning breeds winning. You don't choose one and not the other. Indeed, there's long been a rule in basketball: just get into the playoffs and you'll make your fans and other other stakeholders happy. According to an often-cited datapoint, each playoff home game can get your NBA team a million dollar profit. Post-season revenue-sharing is different with metrics adjusted to reward the winners. Not to mention every other metric, including goodwill as defined by season ticket sales, merchandise sales, etc … and of course the franchise and league valuations. Those in turn can used to do things like sell pieces of your club to carry out arena enhancements, training centers and other amenities attractive to the free agents … and fans There's probably no better example than the New York Liberty. Clara Wu Tsai, co-governor the Libs, has said the team is close to being profitable but those numbers are not available. What is known, as Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal wrote earlier this month. In less than 24 hours after their title, the Liberty shattered the WNBA's previous all-time 30-day record for championship merch sales. It wasn't just Liberty Mutual signing on for 2025:It was Pinterest, Fanatics, Amtrak, Essie, New York Lottery, Lola and Flamingo, amongothers. It was increased local media rights deals with Fox 5 and My 9, putting the team in7.5 million New York-area homes. It was sponsorship revenue climbing by 50% YOY. It wasticket sales in Barclays Center's upper bowl rising 68% YOY. It was overall social mediaengagement spiking 665%. It was e-commerce sales widening 58% YOY. It was in-arenamerch on non-game days climbing by 241% YOY, which means random fans were juststopping by. Which all started with the parade. Indeed, Friend notes that the Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment marketing team — known to not miss many beats —- used the championship parade down Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes to further ingrain the championship motif into the team. 'When we turned the corner at Canyon of the Heroes, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, this isabout the people,'' Keia Clarke, Liberty CEO, said Friend. 'I cannot one-to-one correlate that winning feeling as the reason we're averaging 16,000 fans this season, but make no mistake, there are people [at the parade] who said, 'I need to go to a game, or I need to watch when they're on TV, or I need to order something online, or I will follow them on social media, or I will take the time to learn a little bit about who [Breanna Stewart] is as a mom.' 'How we celebrated this team was important. The investments made in the parade, in rings, in the gratitude for the team and the staff and the partnerships that we have. It was very intentional.' SBJ looked at the big new sponsorship deal the Libs announced after the championship: a multiyear, multimillion dollar deal between the Liberty the WNBA team and Liberty Mutual, the insurance giant… Natural as the mating may have seemed for years to a lot of people, it didn't come to be until the basketball team got into the WNBA Finals in 2024 and the two sides met at a Finals game. 'I mean, it's kind of Captain Obvious,' Clarke told Friend. 'Liberty Mutual. We do share a name.' The success on the court also led not just to sponsorships and endorsements and TV deals etc. but an ability to sell a stake in the team — estimated in the 'mid-teens' per Bloomberg News — to a group of investors that included Jack Ma, the founder with Joe Tsai, of Alibaba, as well as five New York sportswomen that brought in roughly $40 million. That gave the Liberty a valuation of $450 million. That in turn is being used by BSE to finance around half the cost of the Liberty's new training center in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a 75,000 square foot facility that's likely to be the WNBA's best and a lure for the next class of free agents that'll be need to keep New York's dynasty going. It opens in time for the 2027 season. 'The ember has burned from October to this year,' Clarke said. 'Everybody's come in with this mindset of, 'OK, let's do it again.'' At both ends.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
With A Net Worth Of $40 Million And A Stake In A Billion-Dollar Company, They're Still Struggling. Dave Ramsey Says, 'This Is Just Asinine'
A caller named Ashley from Columbus, Ohio recently joined 'The Ramsey Show' with Dave Ramsey and Jade Warshaw to share a financial dilemma that, on the surface, shouldn't exist. Ashley and her husband have an estimated net worth of $40 million. Of that, $30 million is tied up in her husband's stake in a private company valued close to $1 billion. Despite this, their financial advisor suggested taking out a home equity loan on their fully paid-off vacation house. Locked Wealth, Limited Control Ashley explained that while the couple appears wealthy on paper, their money isn't liquid. Her husband's ownership stake doesn't allow them to redeem shares freely. 'He's one of the owners in the business,' she said, 'but he is not on the board of directors, so he doesn't get to make the decision on when redemptions can be made.' Don't Miss: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can That $30 million may look impressive, but it's effectively locked away. And as Ashley discovered, the board has no plans to make shareholder liquidity a priority. "It was told to me, crystal clear, no questions asked, we will never prioritize shareholder redemptions over the growth of the company," she said. Ramsey was straightforward. 'There's no possible way that borrowing on your lake house is a good idea when you have $40 million,' he told her. 'This is just asinine.' The remaining $10 million in their portfolio includes about $4 million in retirement accounts. Her husband also brings in about $400,000 annually on commission. Still, the family had grown used to spending far beyond that—at one point withdrawing $1 to $1.5 million per year from the business. Trending: Kevin O'Leary Says Real Estate's Been a Smart Bet for 200 Years — Ashley said that lifestyle included two homes, paid staff, private flights, yacht charters, a horse farm, and support for an ex-wife. "We spent money assuming that we were going to be redeeming shares," she admitted. "You know, chartering yachts and flying private—that'll happen real fast.' 'Now I'm getting there,' Ramsey responded dryly. Ashley said she only recently took control of their finances after realizing how unsustainable things had become. Ramsey made it clear the couple's main issue wasn't a lack of money—it was control and discipline. "You have $30 million tied up in something you have absolutely no control over. That is not okay," he Ashley mentioned they might have to divest entirely, Ramsey didn't hesitate: 'Absolutely. Because you are going to lose your butt.' He encouraged her to sell shares, even if it means paying taxes, in order to regain financial freedom. 'I'm going to pay some taxes and get free of these jerkwads. No chance I'm putting up with that crap,' he said. As for the financial advisor who suggested a loan on their lake house? Ramsey didn't hold back: "You may need a new financial advisor, too. This one's an idiot." Read Next: Shaquille O'Neal Wants People to Take Heart Health Seriously — Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article With A Net Worth Of $40 Million And A Stake In A Billion-Dollar Company, They're Still Struggling. Dave Ramsey Says, 'This Is Just Asinine' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
