Young Austin Entrepreneur Now Selling Her Lemonade At 60-Plus Stores

AUSTIN, TX -- Entrepreneur Mikaila Ulmer is on a seven-year winning streak: She recently met President Barack Obama, secured investment money on the television show "Shark Tank" and is set to sell her brand of lemonade at more than 60 Whole Foods stores nationwide.

Oh, and she's only 11 years old.

Ulmer is the founder and CEO of BeeSweet Lemonade, a product made with flaxseed and honey. She launched the company during its infancy (and nearly hers, too) at the age of four. On May 2, another corporate milestone: The product will undergo a re-branding, changing its name to Me and the Bees Lemonade.

As KVUE-TV recently reported, Ulmer just returned from Washington, D.C., invited to the White House as a "celebrity chef" during the Easter Egg Roll. She's been selling her special lemonade at Whole Foods since 2014, but expansion into the Austin chain's 62 stores throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas fully launched this year.

Last April, Whole Foods gave Ulmer a low-interest "local producer loan," enabling her to expand beyond the lemonade's original flavor with other versions. Terms weren't disclosed, but Whole Foods officials said its loans run up to $100,000.

The diminutive entrepreneur has expanded her product line thanks to that Whole Foods financing to include mint, ginger, tea and prickly pear.

She launched her empire at the tender age of four, when her parents urged her to concoct an elixir for the Acton Children's Business Fair and Austin Lemonade Day. As KVUE noted in a recent report, that was about the time her grandmother (Granny Helen, as she calls her) sent her the family cookbook dating to the 1940s, which included the recipe for flaxseed lemonade.

That's where it all began. Fascinated by the critical role honeybees play in the ecosystem through their pollination, she added her own twist to grandma's recipe by adding honey.

Ulmer's altruism doesn't end at helping promote the work of the honeybees. Partial proceeds from sales of her lemonade benefit Heifer International, Sustainable Food Center of Austin and Texas Beekeepers Association.

Given all her success, Ulmer has gotten some considerable buzz. In addition to being featured in publications throughout the country, she's been featured in Oprah magazine and even has her own YouTube channel.

>>> Images via BeeSweet Lemonade Facebook page