ABC News(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — A 7-year-old entrepreneur in Arkansas who ran a successful lemonade stand in her grandparent’s backyard last year has upgraded this summer, and is now operating her own food truck with the help of her mother.
Kyleigh McGee, 7, of Little Rock, told ABC News that she came up with the idea to expand her business and make it mobile last summer when she was operating her original lemonade stand.
“We had a lemonade stand in my grandparents’ backyard, and we started to make a lot of money with it,” Kyleigh said. “So I thought, ‘Why don’t we have a lemonade stand to bring to events?’ “
Gabrielle Williams, Kyleigh’s mother, told ABC News that they upgraded this year, after Kyleigh showed how dedicated she was to running her lemonade stand last summer, telling ABC News, “She had so much fun with it, and she had a chance to kind of get an idea of how it is to be an entrepreneur.”
“We purchased what used to be a snow cone stand, and we converted it into a lemonade stand,” Williams said, adding that they also expanded the menu to include ice cream; snacks; and the popular pineapple snow cones, which are sold in a hollowed-out pineapple.
Williams said having Kyleigh operate the food truck is “teaching her responsibilities,” including “how to save money and how to count money.”
Williams added that the response from the community to Kyleigh’s food truck has been overwhelming.
“Everyone is so excited. I have gotten so many phone calls, so many messages,” Williams said.
Williams told ABC News that her daughter has shown an interest in food and cooking since she was very young, but she has also expressed interest in other fields.
“I’ve heard her say she wants to be a teacher, a doctor, a singer and a tennis player,” the mother said. “I just tell her, ‘Whatever you decide to do, you have my support — 100 percent.”
The mother said the original plan was to run the food truck while Kyleigh was out of school during summer vacation, but they have received bookings all the way through December.
“So this will be open throughout the year now,” she said.
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