Not many kids turn their lemonade stands into successful ventures, but 11-year-old Mikaila Ulmer has raised the bar by securing a four-state contract with Whole Foods.
The Austin, Texas sixth-grader built her lemonade business, BeeSweet Lemonade (soon-to-be “Me & The Bees”), with a 1940s lemonade recipe from her grandmother that uses flaxseed and local honey as sweetener. Ulmer received a $60,000 investment when she appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank with her business.
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Whole Foods also saw the promise in her lemonade, which supports local bees by using honey. The supermarket chain signed a deal with Ulmer to sell the lemonade in 55 stores across Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. While the lemonade brand highlights the role of bees, Ulmer said she wasn’t always a fan
“When I was four years old, I got stung by two bees in one week,” she told NBC. “It was painful. I was terrified of bees.” But that fear ended up inspiring her to learn more about the insects, and she decided to make her lemonade with local honey.
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