Mikaila Ulmer is barely in her tweens and is already a food product mogul. The 11-year-old from Austin, Texas made headlines last year when she secured a $60,000 investment on the hit TV show “Shark Tank” for her lemonade business.
Now her line of Bee Sweet lemonades will be sold in 55 Whole Foods stores, in states that include Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida. As the store is a world leader in the sales of organic and natural foods, this is no small feat.
Mikaila started her business in 2009, and has built an impressive national profile for her company over the years. With the help of her family, she began selling her lemonades at local fairs and events. She created the drink using her great-grandmother’s 1940 recipe and adding honey for sweetness. Using honey also helps bees, a cause that Mikaila is very passionate about.
“Last year, beekeepers lost 40 percent of all their hives,” she says. “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.”