Teenage Founder and CEO
Who is Mikaila Ulmer?
At seventeen years old, Mikaila Ulmer, from the state of Texas, is building a lemonade empire and saving the entire species of honey bees while she’s at it. While today she may be the bee queen, it started many years ago when she was just four years old… and stung by a bee twice in one week. The stings were painful and so, Mikaila became very scared whenever she heard the familiar buzz. In order to help her cope with this new phobia, Mikaila’s parents took an interesting approach. They asked her to do research on bees. During this, Mikaila learned that bees are extremely important for the environment! They serve as pollinators for the flowers, gardens, and trees.
But Mikaila also learned something scary. Bees are dying at a rapid rate. In the past year, honey bee farmers have reported losing at least 42% of their colony. There are many theories as to why the bee population is dwindling as quickly as it is. Some people speculate that it could be due to the overuse of pesticides. But whatever the reason, there still needs to be a solution.
And Mikaila Ulmer quickly set her mind to making one. She decided she would sell lemonade! This started her company, BeeSweet Lemonade. She used a special recipe from her great-grandmother’s cookbook. However, instead of sugar, she decided to add honey in order to call attention to the very big problems honey bees are facing. She sold them almost everyday at her lemonade stand, taking every opportunity to tell her customers about the issues surrounding the buzzing bees. It started small but quickly grew beyond Mikaila’s wildest dreams.
Today, BeeSweet is projected to sell almost 140,000 bottles of lemonade in a single year. It can be found at Whole Foods Markets as well as many restaurants and other locations near Mikaila’s home in Austin, Texas.
3 Things We Love About Mikaila Ulmer:
- Mikaila has been in many news reports, magazines, blogs, and even on Shark Tank, a show featuring aspiring entrepreneurs!
- When asked, Mikaila says she doesn’t mind the hard work if she can see people happy enjoying their lemonade and learning more about bees!
- Every weekend, Mikaila makes sure to do something fun!
Work Cited
https://inspiremykids.com/10-year-old-mikaila-ulmer-building-a-lemonade-empire-to-save-bees/
https://www.meandthebees.com/pages/about-us
https://afrotech.com/17-year-old-mikaila-ulmer-is-behind-this-multi-million-lemonade-company