Lemonade stands for children are so old school. There has been quite a buzz about the story of a 4-year-old who took lemonade stands to the next level.
At 4 years old, Mikaila found a recipe from her family’s 1940s cookbook. Using her great grandmother’s recipe for flaxseed lemonade, Mikaila decided to use local honey as a sweetener– thus creating a lemonade/honey drink. Determined to help save the dwindling bee population, Mikaila decided that a percentage of the profit will go to international organizations fighting to save the honeybee. How sweet of her!
Throughout the years, Mikaila has sold her product at youth entrepreneurial events, garnering attention attention from numerous media and big bee-zinesses. At around 11 years old, Mikaila pitched BeeSweet, one of her products, on Shark Tank and piqued the interest of a CEO who invested $60,000 in her business. Not only that, but she scored a contract with WholeFoods which sells her products in stores.
She doesn’t only sell and create products, however. She also leads workshops and educates others on how to save the honeybees, as well as participating in social entrepreneurship panels. She attended a kids’ state dinner at the White House one year. She’s even helped her friends start up their own businesses. And while leading a purposeful life, she’s also currently a middle school student.
This young lady is inspiring. She came up with an idea at the age of 4. That isn’t shab-bee at all. One thing to note, however, is that she wasn’t passionate about bees from the start. On their website, she says that she got stung by a bee. Twice. And was fearful of them. Yet, she didn’t let her fears get in the way of anything. Instead, she amassed her courage and built something worthwhile, something that would help the little buggers.
Here is the link to Mikaila’s website. Don’t bee afraid to buy some lemonade for your honey.
I thought she seemed familiar. I remember seeing that episode of Shark Tank. It is amazing that a girl that young is able to create a business such as this that also helps the environment, all while still going to school.