Haley Bohon graduated in 2012 from NC State with a degree in mechanical engineering. After stints with Newell Rubbermaid and Passport as a Project Manager, Haley was looking for a way to socialize outside the normal circles and continue to broaden her interest areas with quick in-person development. She found out a lot of other people had the same need. The idea for SkillPop was formed. SkillPop is one of Charlotte's fastest growing startups fresh out of the Techstars Austin program.

SkillPop believes that the best learning happens in-person, and strives to create environments where trying a new skill is social, accessible, and engaging. You shouldn’t have to spend huge amounts of time or money just to try something new or build your skills, so they make it simpler.

Haley has tapped into a huge unmet need by delivering quick doses of learning in popular skill areas through community partners like coworking spaces and local professionals.

Whether you’re learning about watercolors, marketing or anything else, SkillPop classes are designed to stretch you beyond the ordinary. Their teachers are established local experts looking to share their skills, and each class is bite-sized and focused so that you leave with the tools and knowledge to start pursuing your passion.

SkillPop recognizes the importance of deep community involvement, so courses are held pop-up style in unique locations throughout the city. They keep class sizes small to help you get the most out of the class and encourage easy connections in a new environment.

What’s important to Haley? Come find out why she has set her north star around these cultural pillars:

• Celebration is important
  
• Being scrappy is important – get things done –
  
• Experiment and learn
  
• There is a solution for every problem
  
• Do work that matters
  
• Make earning accessible
  

SkillPop was founded on 2015. Working out of a home office for the first 12 months and bootstrapping into a self-funded revenue flow, Haley has been fiscally conservative and used classic lean methods to build/test/learn. With a team of eight people, the company is now ready to scale with an upcoming seed round fundraise, leveraging the connections she acquired through the Techstars program. Speaking of which, we will explore in depth her experience in the accelerator and the benefit she got out of the experience.