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Bee Fearless:
Dream Like a Kid
by Mikaila Ulmer
c.2020, G.P. Putnam
$17.99 / higher in Canada
240 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Guest Column
Sometimes, a thousand
ideas buzz around in your head.
You're creative, and you
like to invent things and come up with fun ideas. That might
make you famous someday, and it might make you rich. And in
Bee Fearless by Mikaila Ulmer, you'll see how
that's possible now, even though you're still a kid.
When she was just four
years old, Mikaila Ulmer was stung by a bee. A few days
later, it happened again but with a different bee. She
cried, of course, because it hurt but her parents encouraged
her to learn why those things happened. She discovered that
bees are in serious trouble, and she became fierce about
helping them. |
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At around that same time,
Ulmer saw a flier for the Acton Children's Business Fair
that was being held near her Austin, Texas home. She told
her mother that she wanted to be in the fair, and because it
was five months away, she had plenty of time to decide what
she wanted to sell. Kids in Austin then were participating
in a city-wide Lemonade Day to learn about business and
Ulmer saw an opportunity. She'd sell lemonade... and to help
the bees, she'd sweeten the lemonade with honey!
At first, she made a lot
of mistakes in her new business, but that was okay. The
thing is that there's so much to learn about running a
business but the two most important things are that it
should be fun and you should want to make a difference.
After that, there are three steps to actually starting
your business: identify a problem that you or someone
else has, do your homework on the problem and a solution,
and make sure you're really passionate about the product.
Then, once you've found
your wings and you're ready to fly, remember these three
words: Give (because it's rewarding), Save
(because it's good for your future), and Spend (to
reward yourself). Finally, work hard, and you can bee
successful, too.
If you are an adult, you
might be asking yourself why you would ever want to read a
kids' book like Bee Fearless. In truth, the reasons
are many.
Being an entrepreneur
isn't just for grown-ups, and this book allows you to
mindfully be a mentor to a kid with ideas. Mentorship is
something that author, entrepreneur, and Shark Tank
dealmaker Mikaila Ulmer advocates, and she advises readers
to seek advice if they don't know or understand something,
which is great advice for any age. For the adult
entrepreneur, this book could also serve as a business
primer because its kid-friendly simplicity doesn't diminish
a reader. And if you're hoping your child might follow
parental footsteps into the family business, there are
plenty of inspirational early lessons available here.
Be aware that though Ulmer
was just four years old when she was stung by a bee and
bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, this book is really best
for 10-to-16-year-olds and grown-ups who want something
different. Look for Bee Fearless, because missing it
might kinda sting.
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