Bee friends — The prickly secret behind Mikaila’s business idea

Photo: Screenshot of the website mentioned below.

Bee friends – The prickly secret behind Mikaila's business idea

From 2006 to 2010, we, that is my husband, me and our son who was still a baby, lived in the southern United States, in Atlanta, Georgia. In the summer, the radio would greet us with “Good morning, Hotlanta,” and let me tell you: from February to December, thirst is your constant companion. There’s nothing more refreshing than an ice-cold iced tea or homemade lemonade in the sweltering summer heat. Many kids run lemonade stands in the summer to earn a few dollars of pocket money. So I came across this sweet stinging business story during the time I was, in the fresh early morning hours at five am, when the baby was still sleeping, brooding over an idea to explain how knowledge and expertise, business and storytelling are connected.

Take something familiar and add an unusual ingredient

No story is quite like any other. Mikaila Ulmer could have just sold regular lemonade at her stand. She could have simply advertised her drink with: “Try my lemonade, it’s sweet, tangy, and ice cold.” But she did something else. And this might be because of her special story.

Mikaila’s neighbors in the hot Texas sun would surely have enjoyed her refreshing drinks, she would have made a few dollars, and then gone back to doing what eight-year-olds do best… But in that version of the story, she wouldn’t have ended up on TV, at the White House, or become the teenage CEO of a company selling products nationwide.

In a world full of sweet soft drinks (and Atlanta is by the way the hometown of Coca-Cola), a teenager managed to launch a lemonade brand that truly stands out.

Sometimes, all it takes is one unusual ingredient and an authentic story for extraordinary success

But let’s start from the beginning. When Mikaila was four, she was stung by a bee twice in the same week. Afterwards, she was terrified of bees.

“My parents wanted me to learn more about bees so I wouldn’t be so scared, and I started learning more and more about these important creatures—and that they’re dying out,” she says.

Her fear turned into curiosity, then concern, and then it became her mission to help bees… Mikaila invented her honey-sweetened lemonade based on her grandmother’s recipe and sold it at a fair in Austin. She donated part of her profits to a charity that helps families become beekeepers.

She started sharing her story and her mission. She struck a chord with people who love lemonade.

Step by step, she built a small business, selling her lemonade at local stores and events.

In 2014, she handed out samples in the stores of the organic supermarket chain Whole Foods. In 2015, at age 10, she appeared on the TV show “Shark Tank.” She won $60,000 to grow her business.

When she was invited to the White House in mid-2016, President Obama joked:

“In a few months, I’ll be back in the job market, so I hope she’ll have some openings.”

By 2018, Mikaila’s lemonade was being sold in hundreds of stores across the U.S.

The name of Mikaila’s lemonade brand? Me and the Bees

Let yourself be inspired: Become a Bee-liever!

Mikaila used her passion, courage, and the power of a good story to turn her vision into reality.

I hope her example helps you share your own story, build a community, create a solid foundation for your business, and do good in the world.

🐝 Check out Mikaila’s amazing story on her company’s website: https://www.meandthebees.com

🐝 And her foundation, the Healthy Hive Foundation: https://www.healthyhivefoundation.org/

Your life holds stories like this, too: Everyone reading this has the potential to create a story that’s at least as moving as Mikaila’s.

🐝 Have you ever had an unlucky moment in your life?

🍯 And? Were you able to turn it into something good? …

🚰🍋🧊 Have you ever created something special from ordinary ingredients?

Write your answers on a piece of paper, in your journal, or on sticky notes, and start building your story step by step.

Once you have your storyboard, you can ask me for a free slot for a complimentary story coaching session. Maybe you’ll get lucky.

What kind of foundation would you love to start—one that supports a good cause behind your business mission?

Write to me and let me know.

Yours,
Anja

Source: Margaret Rode, Storytelling for Small Businesses: Creating and Growing an Authentic Business Through the Power of Story, 2018.

Dive deeper: Watch Mikaila telling her story on CNBC (EN): https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/me-the-bees-lemonade-founder-is-expanding-her-biz.html