Age: 20
Education: Earning degree in entrepreneurship at UAB
Why is innovation important to you and why do you think it’s important to the future of Birmingham?
If it were not for innovation, we would not be here today. If it were not for innovation, the USA would not exist; if it were not for innovation, we wouldn’t be driving cars or flying planes. I see innovators as those who “dare a mighty thing.” Teddy Roosevelt once said: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” It takes a lot to dare greatly, but it all starts with a little innovation.
Innovation is the fuel that drives economies. If there’s no innovation and no creation, there is stagnation and dilapidation. Birmingham has had its ups and downs throughout the years, but if you are paying close attention, Birmingham still has a lot left to show us. New ways of thinking, or even good old ideas repurposed into something new; that’s where Birmingham can invest in the future, one that looks brighter and brighter all the time.
What is Birmingham doing right and what can we do to improve our innovation scene?
I have seen Birmingham’s willingness to pour into young individuals such as myself and many others at UAB as one of the best ways Birmingham is innovating. I have enjoyed several pitch competitions that not only provide a way for new ideas to surface, but also serve as a preliminary testing ground to let people prove what ideas will truly benefit Birmingham and Alabama as a whole.
We are renowned for our medical work, and the Innovation Depot is putting out some intriguing new tech innovators. But there are yet many opportunities to improve! For example, manufacturing is a key component to economic well-being, it provides jobs and gives us real tangible products. I also would like to throw in there that we are creative folk. We should definitely learn from others but we do not have to be looking like everyone else, and trying to keep up. Instead, I say we make our own way.
How is Birmingham competing with larger innovation and entrepreneurial markets like Nashville, Austin, and Atlanta? What do we have that they don’t?
Here is one of the beautiful characteristics about innovation and creativity: it doesn’t take much. Some of the greatest modern day entrepreneurs started in their basement. The greatest movements have been founded on ideas. You can’t restrict yourself to thinking too small; think big, then act locally. It’s a recipe that will impact Birmingham in new kinds of ways. On paper, it would seem that Nashville, Austin, and Atlanta have us beat. Sure, Nashville has some country music and potholes, Atlanta has a lot of airplanes and traffic, and Austin… is hot, but we in Birmingham, we have an Iron Resolve. We were forged by iron.
I think we are told far too often that “oh you’re in where? Alabama?” and we lack confidence in what we can truly do. I never confronted that attitude growing up; it was only until later I caught wind of it. If anything, necessity is the mother of invention. Whatever disadvantages others see, I see as a potential strength. It takes strong minds and stronger wills to see it through but I assure you it can be done. Let’s dare mighty things!
