11-Year-Old Turns Lemonade Stand into Partnership With Whole Foods

Mikaila Ulmer is an entrepreneur, educator, and bee ambassador who has a partnership with Whole Foods. Oh, she’s also only 11 years old.

You see, Ulmer actually began her business when she was just four years old after her parents encouraged her to enter a children’s business competition. She said that while she was thinking of ideas for the competition, “two big events happened: I got stung by a bee. Twice. Then my Great Granny Helen, who lives in Cameron, South Carolina, sent my family a 1940s cookbook, which included her special recipe for Flaxseed Lemonade,” according to her Ulmer’s website.

Ulmer then said she became obsessed with bees and thought she should do something that combines bees and her grandmother’s recipe.

“That’s how BeeSweet Lemonade was born,” she writes.

Ulmer combines the honey from local bees with the lemonade made from her grandmother’s recipe to sweeten it. Ulmer’s lemonade is such a success that she sells out of it whenever she attends “entrepreneurial events.” She also donates a portion of her profits to help save the bees.

Because flaxseed has digestive benefits, you can now find BeeSweet Lemonade on the shelves of Whole Foods and other retailers. She also got an investment from the popular entrepreneurial TV show Shark Tank.  Ulmer also speaks at educational and entrepreneurial panels, telling people how they can help save the bees.

You can find Ulmer’s products on her website, or read about interesting bee facts on her Facebook page.