Making it big in the food industry does not always follow a standard path, but according to four Massachusetts restaurant owners, a consistent given is a willingness to start anywhere—even Burger King.

At a panel event in Fong Auditorium Monday night hosted by the Leadership Institute at Harvard College, owners of four local restaurants in Massachusetts shared their stories of working from the bottom up and entering the food industry from unrelated fields.

For Ayr Muir, an MIT and Harvard Business School graduate, this meant leaving a career at McKinsey and Company to “toast frozen burgers at Burger King.”

“The only reason it was Burger King is because I had six McDonald’s turn me down,” said Muir.

Working at Burger King, however, was just a way for Muir to get experience in food service. He went on to establish Clover Food Lab, one of the first food trucks in the country. It has since expanded into restaurants throughout the state.

Jason Bond, who founded Bondir, a restaurant located in Cambridge, agreed that working one’s way up the ladder helps restaurateurs perfect their craft.

“As you go through career steps and change jobs, every job was geared towards learning a new skill,” said Bond, who worked in a variety of positions at many restaurants before starting his own.