Meet Mikaila Ulmer, the owner of the lucrative lemonade business that everyone seems to be talking about.
In 2016, the Texas native created her own brand of lemonade, Me & The Bees Classic Lemonade, based on an idea that came about after her great-grandmother gifted her an old cookbook. Despite the fact that the book was falling apart, what ended up falling together for Mikaila changed the course of her family’s lives forever.
According to The New York Post, the young lady found a recipe from the 1940s for making lemonade with flaxseed as one of the main ingredients. Like many youths, she started with a lemonade stand right outside of her house and the rest was history.
Per reports from Ulmer’s team, her company received a Local Producer Loan from Whole Foods Market in the amount of $10,000 back in 2015. Since then, she has used the funds to scale and grow her business, which recently hit the 7-figure sales mark.
Making it Her Own
While Mikaila used the recipe book from her great grandmother for inspiration, she put her own spin on the concoction through the use of honey. She was moved to check out the benefits of the sweet substance produced by bees after she was stung twice and left horrified by the experiences. In fact, Thrillist reports “she was inspired to create BeeSweet lemonade after being stung by a bee when she was 4.”
“I decided to give her beloved lemonade a new twist by adding honey from bees, instead of only sugar,” reads the Me & The Bees Lemonade website. “That’s how Be Sweet Lemonade was born.”
Further research led her to discover the implications for not only the bee community but the entire world, should they go extinct.
A Greater Cause
Mikaila’s lemonade not only provides a refreshing, cool beverage for those drinking it, but it is also an initiative that she uses to help bring awareness surrounding the protection of bees.
The lemonade stand that she started at the tender age of four has now set Mikaila up for generational wealth, ownership, and beyond.
Editorial Note: This piece has been edited for clarity.
