Sophie Schaffer, Birmingham
COO at Accelerate Wind and founder and community manager at B.Home
Age 25
About
I have lived in Birmingham for one and a half years. While attending Olin College of Engineering, I started experimenting with entrepreneurship and community management by running a restaurant out of my dorm room and directing an interactive musical.
I graduated from Olin in 2020 and left Massachusetts to hike the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, for six months. I went straight from finishing the hike to joining the Birmingham Techstars Energytech 2021 cohort with Accelerate Wind, a roof wind turbine startup I had been working for since 2019. I remained in Birmingham to open and run B.Home, a short-term co-living and community space for entrepreneurs and creatives. In June 2023 I was promoted to COO of Accelerate Wind. I continue to work at both startups while living in B.Home.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
My proudest accomplishment is building B.Home. As a startup that I lead and live in, I feel incredibly close to B.Home. Community building has always been my number one value, and it is incredibly gratifying to have an opportunity to create my own community space in a city I love as much as Birmingham. I have gotten to see how much value this community brings to the entrepreneurs visiting Birmingham for accelerators and pilots along with becoming close friends with many of the founders who stay here. I keep being surprised by how supportive and creative the B.Home community has become.
How can we get more young people involved in tech and innovation in Birmingham?
I think it is important to create opportunities for them. Fund their ideas, give them time and space to try something new after graduating college, and believe in what they are trying to accomplish. Keeping the talent we are cultivating at UAB and other Birmingham colleges local is so important.
