Life is getting a little sweeter for Mikaila Ulmer, the 11-year-old entrepreneur whose BeeSweet Lemonade is making a buzz across the nation. After securing a $60,000 investment from FUBU CEO Daymond John on the television series “Shark Tank” last year, Ulmer has now landed a million dollar contract with America’s largest natural food supplier. BeeSweet lemonade will now be available in 55 Whole Foods stores across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, Louisiana.
Mikaila first got her start in the business at the age of four years old after getting stung by a bee. “I got stung by a bee. Twice,” reveals the entrepreneur on her company’s website. “Then my Great Granny Helen, who lives in Cameron, South Carolina, sent my family a 1940’s cookbook, which included her special recipe for Flaxseed Lemonade.”
Ulmer’s all-natural beverage is made with 100% fresh-squeezed lemon juice, flax seeds, mint and Texas wildflower honey. She
donates a portion of the profits from the sale of her lemonade to organizations that are fighting to save honey bee populations.
“Last year, beekeepers lost 40 percent of all their hives,” Mikaila said in a recent interview. “Bees are dying.” She quoted Albert Einstein who said: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.”
When not busy with her business, Mikaila leads workshops on how to save the honeybees, and she participates in social entrepreneurship panels.
