A girl who became the boss of her own multi-million dollar business when she was just 11 years old is still inspiring others with hard work and determination.
Texas resident Mikaila Ulmer stirred up her unique brand of lemonade and won an $11 million deal with Whole Foods in 2016, the Sun reported Sunday.
“I really love my new label,” Ulmer said when referring to her bottle’s branding in 2016. “It actually has my face on it, so it makes me feel really special.”
The now 17-year-old got the idea for her company when she was four years old after her great-grandmother gave her an old cookbook that contained a recipe for flaxseed lemonade.
She began selling the sweet concoction to thirsty customers at a stand outside her home. The special ingredient? Honey.
The idea was sparked after being stung twice by bees, which left her frightened of the insects. But thanks to some research about bees, she realized how important they were to the ecosystem.
“So then I thought, what if I make something that helps honeybees and uses my Great Granny Helen’s lemonade recipe?” she wrote on her website:
I decided to give her beloved lemonade a new twist by adding honey from bees, instead of only sugar. That’s how Be Sweet Lemonade was born! However, we had to change the name due to a copyright issue so we decided to call it Me & the Bees Lemonade because we give a percentage of sales to help save the bees. We are now celebrating more than 10 years in “buzzness!”
The sweet beverage is available in numerous stores such as Whole Foods Market, HEB stores, and Kroger.
A promotional video from 2015 described the company’s mission:
The young woman also travels to speaking events and leads workshops on how to save bees, yet still works hard to be a good student.
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