This 15-Year-Old Is Making A Fortune Off Lemonade
Meet Mikaila Ulmer, the founder of Me & the Bees Lemonade. The young CEO founded her business when she was just four years old and over the past decade has sold millions of bottles of lemonade and even scored a deal on Shark Tank.
Why She Started Her Business
When Ulmer was 4 years old she got stung by a bee twice in less than a week. Initially she was scared of the bees but after a little research, she was fascinated and learned all about what bees did for us and the ecosystem.
Around that same time, her family encouraged her to make a product for a couple of children’s business competitions — the Acton Children’s Business Fair and Austin Lemonade Day. While she was thinking, her Great Granny Helen, who lived in Cameron, South Carolina, sent her family a 1940s cookbook, which included her special recipe for flaxseed lemonade. She decided to mix honey from the bees in her beloved lemonade rather than just sugar and then it was born: Me & The Bees Lemonade. Her company gives a percentage of their profits to organizations that help save the bees and are celebrating 10 years in “buzzness!”
Accomplishments
From her lemonade stand in front of her house in Texas this young lady has come a long way. In 2015 she and her father appeared on the infamous Shark Tank which Daymond john invested $60,000 in Mikaila’s business. She was invited to meet President Barack Obama at the White House the same year. In 2016 he called her “an amazing young lady.” At United State of Women Summit in 2017 her business Received a $800,000 investment by consortium of footballer players. In 2018 “Me & The Bees Lemonade” was being sold in 500 American shops and 1500 stores nationwide Including Whole foods and The Fresh market. Ulmer is also the author of “Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid” published by Penguin Random House.
What She Is Up To Today
She travels for speaking events to share her stories of being a social entrepreneur. She also leads workshops on how to save the bees and participates in social entrepreneurship panels. You can find Mikaila coming up with ideas to help the Healthy Hive Foundation, a nonprofit to further help the mission of saving the pollinators. She’s working hard as a high school student loving science spanish and rock climbing classes!
This article was originally published on TeenBlurb.com
