For Aubrie Greene, life is different than a majority of kids his age: He has a lemonade business he created from scratch. Drawing inspiration from his little brother’s cooking endeavors, Aubrie wanted a business of his own.
That’s when he texted his mom his idea. “Aubrie ended up sending me a picture of a lemon squeezer,” Aubrie’s mother, Ceydria McCray, said. “It was at Bed Bath & Beyond on sale for $19.99 and he asked me to grab it up and I did.”
That same day he began work on his perfect lemonade recipe. His mom took samples to work and the office loved them. “They requested gallons,” McCray said. “We ended up getting cups, from cups to pouches, pouches to jugs that I was getting at the dollar store and now we got sealed bottles.” Breezzy’s Lemonade was born. Then Aubrie was given the chance to put his bottles on shelves at The Market at 25th. Customers buy the product so fast that they have to restock every couple of days.
“It’s a really fast-moving product and people want it. It was really impressive when it first came in and people were coming in asking where it was, but it was already gone,” said Derek Houston, the business analyst of The Market at 25th. Starting off with an Instagram account, a bag of lemons and some sugar, the business hasn’t looked back since it took off. Aubrie’s family supports his goals, and works together as a firm unit.
Aubrie’s mentor accredits his success to growing up with a different way of thinking, saying he has learned to overcome Autism in his own amazing way. “It’s wonderful to see kids like Aubrie grow. They’ll say autism, they’ll think it’s a disability. Every kid excels in different ways,” Earl Hughes said. “This lemonade was never intended to be sold, it’s therapeutic,” McCray explained. “Aubrie rolls every lemon before he squeezes it, after he cuts and squeezes it he free-throws it into a bucket.”
With many flavors such as plain jane, grade-ade, tango mango, striker and dragonfruit, Aubrie’s business plans include the addition of more tasty flavors in the future. “That just goes to show when you find something you love, you do it. With his mind, he found something he loved and he’s creating something,” McCray said.
This Article Was Originally Published On wric.com ( 17 Jan 2020