Archive for lemonade

Mikaila Ulmer: Founder of “Me & the Bees” Lemonade

Mikaila Ulmer is a 17-year-old girl who started her own lemonade business at a very young age. The business idea started after young Mikaila got stung by a bee and wanted to learn more about bees to overcome her fear of them.  At age 4, she started a business by creating a very small lemonade stand. Very quickly, this turned into the business “Me & the Bees” as a result.

Mikaila is widely successful, at just age 9, she struck an $11 million distribution deal with US supermarket giants Whole Foods Market. Mikaila has also been invited to the White House twice, featured on Good Morning America, NBC News, Forbes Magazine, and Time Magazine for her entrepreneurial success. Mikaila is very busy; she juggles school, her business, and public speaking. The unique thing about her business is that 10% of her brand’s proceeds are donated to bee conservation charities. It is amazing how she used a challenge of hers (getting stung by a bee) to learn more about it and start up a profitable and charitable business.

Mikaila’s lemonade recipe is unique because it comes from her great Grandmother Helen’s flaxseed lemonade. It is fresh-squeezed, and each bottle is made with care. Her family has a huge part in helping her business thrive. As an extension to her business, Mikaila has created a “Bee-to-Z guide” for young entrepreneurs. Here, young entrepreneurs can find inspiration, business tips, and more to make their big ideas come to life. A very inspirational quote from Mikaila reads, “My generation—we’re the future,” Mikaila says. “When we grow up, we’re going to be the people who are the presidents and the leaders of the world. […]  If we start at a young age making a difference, donating back, giving back, when we grow up we can do that on a larger scale.” Mikaila’s business proves that, just like the bees, you are never too small to make a difference.

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Mikaila Ulmer of Me & the Bees Lemonade | Microsoft In Culture

Me & the Bees – Innovated Lemonade

It all began when four-year-old Mikaila Ulmer was stung by a bee twice in only one week. Naturally, she grew scared of bees, only until she realized how useful and crucial they were to the prosperity of human life and health. She learned about the amazing things bees do for our ecosystem. Once she was inspired by the bees, she was determined to somehow raise money to help save them and promote a boisterous population of bees around the globe. Shortly after she was stung she was encouraged by her family to create a product for two children’s business competitions. They were the Acton Children’s Business Fair and the Austin Lemonade Day. That same year she received a cookbook from her Great Granny Helen which inside included a very special homemade flaxseed lemonade recipe. As a young, talented innovator, Mikaila was prompted to think about how she could bring her newfound passion for bees and business together with her Great Granny’s iconic lemonade recipe. A lightbulb went off in her head. She thought up a plan to use honey from bees in a lemonade recipe that made the taste of that famous sweet summer drink more natural and enjoyable for consumers. At that point she began calling her lemonade brand, “Be Sweet Lemonade,” but due to copyright issues, changed it to “Me & the Bees Lemonade.” The goal of Mikaila’s business is to donate a percentage of the profits to local and international organizations that fight for the growth of the honeybee population worldwide. This young-innovator is now a 15-year-old entrepreneur who has grown her small, humble, Austin, Texas ideas into a profitable venture that has grown by over five hundred percent in just ten years. Her success does not stop there, she even appeared on the hit TV Show of entrepreneurs, Shark Tank in 2015, striking an impressive sixty-thousand-dollar investment from the famous shark, Daymond John. Even now “Me & the Bees Lemonade” is flying off the shelves of Whole Foods Market, The Fresh Market, H-E-B, World Market, and many other stores and sales venues across the state of Texas. Today, Mikaila is a known social entrepreneur, author, public speaker, social media presence, and a hard-working high school student. She is determined to grow her business, continue to raise awareness about the importance of bees, and bring delight to lemonade consumers. More than anything, Mikaila wants to teach everybody how to save the bees, and how to promote the prosperity of their kind. She went even further than just “Me & the Bees,” and established The Healthy Hive Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit that has the mission to save all bees through educating people of all ages and fields about bees, donating to bee researchers, and protecting the resources bees need to survive and thrive. She serves as an inspiration to young people by influencing them to become social entrepreneurs, just like herself. She turned her dreams into reality through innovation and social entrepreneurship. As always, we need more young women entrepreneurs like Mikaila Ulmer in the world. Take risks, you might just prosper more than you would have ever imagined you could.

Me and the Bees

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.