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When life hands you lemons, make millions.

That’s the new motto for Mikaila Ulmer, the 11-year-old superstar who just landed a mega contract with Whole Foods.

Mikaila started her lemonade stand Bee Sweet Lemonade back in 2009. A natural entrepreneur, she worked hard on her business after school and during vacation.

“I work on the business after school, after I do my homework, and on weekends and during spring breaks,” Mikaila said in an interview with NBCBLK. “There are not too many times when I feel stressed.”

In the midst of building her sweet empire, Mikaila was continuously stung by bees. In order to help alleviate her fears, her mother D’Andra decided to teach Mikaila about bees and why the world needs them.

That’s when the eureka moment happened.

The mother/daughter duo decided to use honey for the sweetener in their lemonade inside of sugar and artificial ingredients. They also decided her business would operate from a socio-economic perspective, ensuring a portion of the proceeds goes to saving the honeybees.

With the business model in place, Mikaila appeared on Shark Tank where she secured a $60K investment from Daymond John.

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With money and a thriving business plan, Mikaila’s company has taken her to the White House twice–for the White House State’s dinner and the Easter Egg Roll. She also has plans to travel to South Africa to talk to girls about entrepreneurship.

When asked how she feels about all of this, Mikaila, as sweet as her homemade lemonade, said, “I want to help save the bees, and use my great-grandmother Helen’s lemonade recipe.”

We’re so proud of you!

SOURCE: NBC BLK

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.