When Mikaila Ulmer was 4, she received a 1940’s cookbook from her grandma that would lead to a multi-million-dollar company in just a few years. One of the recipes was for flaxseed lemonade and Mikaila decided to give it her own twist by adding honey instead of only sugar. She came up with this idea when she was stung by bees twice in one week and began to research them and their importance. Mikaila then began to sell her lemonade, called Me & the Bees, locally to support organizations protecting honeybees. Since the beginning of her business, she has given 10% of her profits to charities that protect honeybees. In 2015, Mikaila pitched her business on Shark Tank and landed a $60,000 deal with Daymond John, to put toward growing her business. In just a few years, Mikaila’s lemonade now sold in over 1,500 stores and is carried in many major retailers such as Whole Foods and Kroger. Since then, Mikaila has expanded her business to include other honey and beeswax-based product such as lip balm. Mikaila is now 17 and, in addition to her company Me and the Bees, she works with the Health Hive Foundation, “a nonprofit to further help the mission of saving the pollinators.”
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It’s awesome to see that Mikaila was able to start a non-profit with a mission that many people can support. I like that she was able to capitalize on simple products like lemonade and provide a healthier alternative by using honey as opposed to sugar. The fact that she took a traditional product and then by using a single different ingredient was able to be innovative in the market is remarkable.
One thing that is really interesting in this blog is how young she is. At such a young age she explored bees and how she could save them. Even by a simple idea like hers, she was able to grow her company and help the environment and save the bees! Thank you!