Bee Fearless by Mikaila Ulmer

This book came as a recommendation from the Business Teacher Book Club (Twitter @BusinessTeach11 – please join us). I had never heard of it before but after a little bit of searching released the author, Mikaila was and still is something of a sensation in the USA. At the age of just 4, she ran her first lemonade stand. Combining an entrepreneurial spirit with a desire to support and protect the all-important bee population she expanded operations, attending more local fetes, designing packaging, getting her drinks bottled, and then shipping to local stores for sales. This led to her invitation to ‘Shark Tank’ (The US version of Dragon’s Den) where secured funding and access to wider retail markets across the states. Today her lemonade, branded ‘Me & The Bees’ is a top seller across many states and makes a small fortune each year which is donated to charities that keep the bee population of the USA going.

However, this is just the outline of the story – where Mikaila has really excelled (Again) is in the creation of this book. It is part biography and part Business primer. Any young student of business will find this book accessible and educational, it stops every few pages to expand on a business concept she encounters in more detail (called ‘Buzziness Ideas’ – get it?).

As a result, it is a must-read for all middle school/high school students about to embark on their studies. Consequently, I have created a worksheet/resources to be completed alongside the reading of the book. I personally will offer this as an optional ‘summer holiday’ work between Year 9 and 10, before students begin studying Business Studies in the British curriculum.

It can be found here, at www.wolseyacademy.com/casestudies

Hope it helps.