Through his years of work at McDonalds, Chicago man Yancy Hicks had a dream. When his ticket turned up trumps in the 2008 Illinois State Lottery and he won $1 million, Yancy saw his chance. He went from employee to owner, but not at the place you'd expect.

Chicago 51-year-old Yancy Hicks followed his lifelong dream and bought a Subway franchise after his lottery win.

He kept working at McDonalds for a further four months, splurged on a red Corvette for $30,000 cash, but then got down to serious business - his own food store. He bought a Subway on the South Side.

And nothing, he says, beats being your own boss.

"A couple of days ago I was on my way to work and I was a couple of minutes late and I was worried about it.

Then I said to myself 'you know you're the owner don't worry about it! You get there when you get there.' But I still have those feelings from my old McDonald's days," Hicks said.

As well as helping pay for his daughter's college education, he bought his first home.

"Winning a million doesn't mean you can go buy a mansion in the Caribbean," he said. "It gives you a chance to get a nice solid foundation and you can work from there."

Source: myFOXChicago