Q&A with Siena Jeakle

Siena Jeakle was our 2006 Best Lemonade Stand in America Grand Prize Winner. Here Inc.com's Carole Matthews asks her what she learned from entering -- and winning -- our first annual contest.

Running a lemonade stand wasn't just about making some summer money for Siena Jeakle and her family. They set up "the pink drink stand" in honor of their grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, and gave a portion of their lemonade sales to breast cancer research. Here Siena shares the highs, lows, and lessons learned in running a lemonade stand.

How did winning the Best Lemonade Stand in America affect your viewpoint of being an entrepreneur?
I realized that tiny things, even kid's stuff, can sometimes turn into big things. It's not all about just trying to make lots of money. You can be successful just doing simple things that are fun.

What was the most exciting thing that happened to you as a result of winning? Being on television with my brother and sister. Also, meeting famous people like Warren from Cake Love and Bert from Life is Good t-shirts. AND, of course, the Good Morning America people! It was also pretty cool when a limo driver held up a sign with my name on it (spelled right, too!)

Have you started any businesses since your lemonade stand?
Not officially, but I'm designing a little line of note cards that I'm going to sell at the retirement home gift shop in our neighborhood. Of course, we'll share the money we make, if we make any, with the home. My brother Matt, who is 11, is learning how to make websites, so our family made www.freshsqueezedkids.com. We want to add lots of ideas for things for kids to do during the summer so they don't get bored.

What would be your biggest piece of advice be to kids entering this year's contest?
If you live in a small or quiet neighborhood, you should think about putting up your lemonade stand at a friend or relative's house that might be on a busier street. I'd also recommend that you donate some of your money to a charity, and post that on a sign. A lot more people will come if they know the cause is not just "you."

What did you enjoy most about running your lemonade stand? And what did you enjoy least?
I mostly enjoyed designing the stand and making the lemonade -- testing it to make sure it was perfect. I loved serving people and offering them choices (ice, straw, mini-cupcakes). I enjoyed when people came to our stand because of the coupons we made and handed out at the park.

I least enjoyed the heat! The upside was, I had lots of ice-cold lemonade.

What was your biggest accomplishment in terms of running the stand?
The design of the stand. I was very proud of the way it looked. I loved designing and painting the big glass, making all the signs we posted around the neighborhood, and setting up everything on the table to make it look nice. My true passion is art.

If you were to enter again this year, what would you do differently? And what would you do exactly the same?
I wouldn't change a thing!

Do you plan to run another stand this summer? And will you be following the same formula as last year or doing something a bit different? I do plan to run another lemonade stand this year, because it's a traditional thing our family does. This time we'll create a different design of the stand. The lemonade will be the same recipe, but maybe not pink. In fact, a couple of years ago I sketched out a plan for a rainbow of lemonade flavors. Maybe this is the year for "Jeakle's Choose Your Flavor Lemonade!" I might also offer some of my cards and pictures that I talked about earlier.