Most children who are stung by a bee remember the pain, but Mikaila Ulmer remembers the lesson that came after. At just four years old, she was stung twice within a week while playing outside her family's home in Austin, Texas. She was frightened at first, but was then encouraged by her parents to learn more about bees instead of fearing them. As she discovered how essential honeybees are to pollinating crops and maintaining ecosystems, another idea arrived from an unexpected source: her Great-Granny Helen's 1940s flaxseed lemonade recipe. Mikaila replaced sugar with local honey, entered Austin Lemonade Day and a children's business fair in 2009, and began selling what was then called BeeSweet Lemonade. According to Me & the Bees Lemonade , the business was created with a simple purpose beyond selling drinks: help save the bees by educating customers and donating part of its profits to organizations that were working on pollinator conservation.
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A lemonade stand that outgrew the sidewalk
It began as a neighborhood lemonade stand and soon attracted attention well beyond Austin. Local businesses began stocking the drink, and demand grew as customers responded to both the product and its environmental mission. Mikaila continued balancing school with the growing company, and often spent evenings and weekends preparing for demonstrations, presentations and production. A major turning point came after she appeared on ABC's Shark Tank, where investor Daymond John agreed to invest in the business, and soon afterward, the company secured a major retail breakthrough. According to TIME, in 2016 Whole Foods Market signed an agreement to carry Mikaila's lemonade in 55 stores across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, which helped transform a local children's business into a regional retail brand.
