GRAB A LEMONADE FROM LIL HOMIES!
If you ask King Pickens, 12, and his brother, Sheddrick “Junior” Coney, 14, an old-school touch is good for business. The two prefer to meet their customers face to face as the co-founders of Lil Homies with Lemonades, a grassroots beverage company peddling more than 25 flavors.
It started when their mom, Smilesha Pickens, drove past a roadside lemonade stand during her delivery route job in 2020. Inspired by the sight of the kid outdoors and not on a digital device, she brought the idea home to her two sons. “Our mother had faith in us,” Coney says. “She saw potential in us.”
At first, the boys sold drinks to their friends at school. By March 2021, when feedback was positive, they decided to make the leap and take their then-modest array of flavors— classic lemonade, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry—on Uber rides and MARTA trains to reach populated areas such as Piedmont Park and Atlantic Station.
Coney and Pickens established a new headquarters in 2025: the corner of Deering Road and Mecaslin Street in the Westside neighborhood. To ensure they were welcome in their new area, they introduced themselves to pedestrians and passing cars, even checking in with neighbors during wintry weather. It worked. Today, business is booming. Lil Homies is available for inperson purchases most days of the week, from roughly 3 until roughly 6 p.m. in their usual spot. The boys share the work, taking turns collecting orders and money, checking supplies and distributing drinks. For the most part, the younger brother holds the sign with the list of flavors. Both boys make it a point to interact with customers. “My brother used to always do the talking, and one day, I had to speak up for myself,” Pickens says. “And I think I sold almost all the drinks that day.”
Though Lil Homies maintains an online component via Instagram and their website, both boys agree that the real-life sales are the key to their success. “We’ve always made more money being on foot; our faces are the groundwork of the business,” says Coney. “We talk to kids, elders and people not on social media. They see us, and they buy from us.”
Their setup is straightforward. A gray cooler is filled with ice and plastic bottles of rotating flavors, ranging from the four classics to newer additions such as peach and dragon fruit. A folding card table is set up with several drinks displayed in a rainbow of flavors. Each beverage is crafted with real fruit syrup plus water and sugar, and is made at home. A custom paper and ink label on each bottle bears the faces of the two co-founders.
Soon, a third member of the family will join Lil Homies: the boys’ 8-year-old sister, S’Vanna Pickens. She’s already filled in a couple times when either of her siblings was unavailable, and, according to Pickens, her work ethic is following in their footsteps. “She loves to hold the sign and share the duties,” he says.
Pickens and Coney both practice being present. Neither wastes business hours being on a phone or tablet; they’re alert and ready for customers. To that end, both boys try to construct plenty of activities aside from devices when they aren’t working, such as sports and hanging outdoors. Even off the clock, people around Atlanta often recognize them.
“We’ve been at the store, and people have seen us and said, ‘You’re the lemonade boys!’” Pickens says.
lilhomieswithlemonades.com
@lilhomieslemonades
STORY: Denise K. James
PHOTO: Erik Meadows
