At just four years old, Mikaila Ulmer’s parents encouraged her to enter a children’s business competition. So, little Mikaila put her thinking cap on. She said, two significant things happened in that time period. She got stung by a bee twice and her grandmother sent their family her cookbook, which included the grandmothers lemonade recipe.
At first, Mikaila was scared of the bees, but then she became fascinated with them. She started researching them and realized that bees needed help. She thought, “What if I could help the bees by using my grandma’s lemonade recipe?”. Thus, Me and the Bee’s Lemonade was born.
At first, the venture was small and endearing, but now, at 14 years old, Mikaila is participating in large social entrepreneurship panels. She is also educating the public on how to better protect the honeybees. A percentage of her profits goes towards helping organizations fight to save the bees.
Me and the Bee’s Lemonade is now being sold at places like Whole Foods (an 11 million dollar deal) the world’s leader in natural and organic food. There are also a growing amount of restaurants serving her lemonade. Through connecting two very different ideas, Mikaila has been able to create a thriving business while striving to raise funds and awareness for the struggling bee population.
What a cool story of a young girl who has perfected the art of mash-up! The fact that she has created a successful product, yet continues to passionately support the honeybee cause is so cool. I’d love to try her lemonade sometime!