My first lemonade stand, at 30.

My childhood friend and his wife started a new farmer's market down in Wilmington, Delaware in May of 2025. Max and Katie Kutler filled a community need with the Brandywine Farmer's Market. Me and a couple of buddies went down to help support them on their opening day.

It was a glorious day. Multiple farmers selling lettuce, tomatoes, fruits, veggies. Vendors selling bone broth and freshly cut steaks. One vendor selling bouquets of flowers. Another selling beef jerky. Crab cakes. Sourdough bagels. Croissants.

It was a warm one, but there was something missing from the lineup — no refreshments. Katie jokingly turned to me and my buddy Erik Headley and suggested we sell lemonade.

We looked at each other and said, why not?

We mobilized and had a stand set up in no time. Gemini whipped up a logo. We started running with Haymarket Fresh.

We had a hunch that mixing drinks on the fly — ice, water, lemon juice, simple syrup — would turn heads as the rocks crashed against the sides of the shaker bottle. We were right. We sold ourselves short and sold out with about an hour left in the market.

With each week, we improved one piece of the process. Restaurant Depot for bulk purchases — that place is crazy — did wonders for our margins. We rearranged our prep station for a smoother setup. We added fresh-squeezed OJ to the menu, which helped with some 9 AM sales. We started experimenting with a strawberry puree as a mix-in to the base lemonade. Absolute hit.

I'm very glad we did it. Many rounds of post-market golf. A ton of great time together.