Special to the AmNews
Inspired by a great do-for-self spirit, as well as her great-grandmother’s unique concoction, Mikaila Ulmer is breaking new ground and setting a precedent for future generations of youths who aspire to create and manage their own businesses.
After much commitment and effort, the 11-year-old launched BeeSweet, a flax-seed-based and honey-laced lemonade seven years ago in her native Austin, Texas with her mother, D’Andra Ulmer, helping provide motivation and support.
“When I was four years old, I got stung by two bees in one week,” Ulmer recalled. “It was painful. I was terrified of bees [after that].”
She said that experience taught her well, and she utilized it as motivation to investigate and uncover some previously unknown facts about the flying insects, including how significant they are to maintaining society’s environment, and that they could become extinct in the near future.
“But then something strange happened, I became fascinated with bees,” Ulmer reflected. “I learned all about what they do for me and our ecosystem. So then I thought, what if I make something that helps honeybees and uses my great-granny Helen’s recipe? And then it clicked!”
She began creating a specialized lemonade with a distinct recipe from the 1940s by sweetening it with honey from local bees instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners, thus providing a healthier and tastier alternative.
Simultaneously, she was bringing more awareness regarding the little creatures’ fates.
“Last year, beekeepers lost 40 percent of all their hives,” Ulmer noted. “Bees are dying.” She paraphrased Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left.”
Honeybees help produce approximately one-third of America’s farm-grown produce, food groups that include various fruits, vegetables and other products. They are responsible for pollinating several billion dollars worth of food annually.
Although she has other responsibilities, Ulmer works diligently.
“I work on the business after school, after I do my homework, and on weekends and during spring breaks,” she said.
She turned her painful experience with bees as a toddler into a fruitful enterprise years later, by brewing her own lemonade for local customers and for businesses.
“At first, [my friends] didn’t believe me,” she said. “Now I am helping my friends start their own businesses.”
After appearing on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” she received a $60,000 investment. Last year, she landed a distribution deal with Whole Foods, and now her lemonade reaches 55 different locations in Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.
Depending upon its success at those locations, BeeSweet will then be distributed nationally.
Ulmer plans to donate a percentage of proceeds to organizations working to protect the endangered honeybee.
The sixth grader also announced expanded distribution through United Natural Foods, a major national distributor of natural foods.
“She is a pretty hard worker,” her mother said. “I’m impressed with how she gets her homework done during her travels. She has a gift for public speaking, but what makes me very proud is that she is not only a smart entrepreneur but she’s a good person and she’s kind to people. That’s more important than business.”
Ulmer also attended the White House Kids’ State Dinner last year and met Barack Obama.
“The president said ‘sorry to crash the party,’” she reminisced. “It was very cool.”
In June, she’ll travel to Cape Town, South Africa to promote entrepreneurism among young girls.
Meanwhile, Ulmer is busy creating additional lemonade flavors as her business blossoms.
“I want to help save the bees,” she emphasized, “and use my great-grandmother Helen’s lemonade recipe.”
