Mikaila Ulmer

Mikaila Ulmer (born c. 2005) is an American teen entrepreneur who started a lemonade business in Austin, Texas. Her lemonade is sold in over 1500 stores.[1]

Mikaila Ulmer
portrait by Anna Wilding in 2016
Born2005 (age 15–16)
OccupationEntrepreneur, student
Known forTeen Social Entrepreneur

Life

Mikaila Ulmer was born in Houston , Texas c. 2005.[2] Her parents, D'Andra and Theo Ulmer, both have business degrees.[3] She is from Austin, Texas where she attends St. Stephen's Episcopal School.[4] By 2009, Ulmer she was in front of her house selling her lemonade inspired by her great grandmother’s 1940s recipe, using honey from local beekeepers [3] which includes flaxseed.[4] [5] The lemonade sold well and she was asked by a local pizza shop to supply her product to it, which is how bottling her lemonade started. Since her humble beginnings, Mikaila has donated 10% of the profits to charities that are concerned with saving the bees.[5]As the business grew her parents became involved.[3][6]

Ulmer appeared with her father on the television show Shark Tank in 2015 where she successfully received a $60,000 investment to support her growing business. Daymond John put up the money.[7] Ulmer was invited that year to meet President Barack Obama at the White House.[3]

Ulmer "had the honor" of introducing Barack Obama at the United State of Women Summit in 2016. Obama called her "an amazing young lady".[3] In 2017, her business received $800,000 dollars as an investment made by a consortium of football players.[3]

In 2017, her lemonade, "Me & The Bees Lemonade" was being sold in 500 American shops in 500,000 bottles a year. Running a business requires finding the right balance to do well in school too.[3]

In February 2020, Me & the Bees was in over 1,500 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Cost Plus World Market, Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers, H-E-B, Kroger, and The Fresh Market.[8] Me & the Bees has also expanded its product line to include lip balms made from bee’s wax.[9]

References
  1. Horch, A. J. (2020-02-26). "Me & the Bees Lemonade founder started her empire at four and a half years old. Her motto: 'Dream like a kid'". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  2. "Preteen powerhouse: Meet 12-year-old CEO and bee ambassador Mikaila Ulmer". Stories. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  3. Jeffrey, James (2018-07-23). "The 13-year-old who built a best-selling lemonade brand". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  4. Broyles, Addie. "Balancing keynotes and homework: A day in the life of the 15-year-old Me and the Bees founder". Brownwood Bulletin. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  5. Zillgitt, Jeff (May 19, 2018). "'Inspirational stories populate LeBron's account". USA Today. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  6. Broyles, Addie (April 1, 2015). "Food Matters: Television – BeeSweet founder, 10, scores deal with a 'shark'". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. p. D3.
  7. Gilchrist, Karen (2019-07-17). "14-year-old 'Shark Tank' success shares her best piece of advice for entrepreneurs". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  8. "Where to Buy". 2020-10-29.
  9. Horch, A. J. (2020-02-26). "Me & the Bees Lemonade founder started her empire at 4.5 years old. Her motto: 'Dream like a kid'". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.