Charlotte-based education startup SkillPop is going back to what it knows best. Starting June 4, SkillPop will offer 10 in-person classes as part of a summer series. The classes, which run through July 20, will be SkillPop's first traditional ones in person since the pandemic forced it to go virtual in March 2020.
Classes at the Metropolitan, including hand lettering and abstract art, are already available for signups, with prices ranging from $38 to $48. Others will be held at familiar local venues, such as Resident Culture Brewing Co., Devil's Logic Brewing and Optimist Hall. Online options are still available.
SkillPop founder Haley Bohon described the last two years with three words — frustrating, invigorating and exciting.
"When people asked me, 'How are things going? How has SkillPop been?' for a long time my answer was just I was so thrilled that we were still in business," Bohon recalled.
Covid-19 created substantial challenges for SkillPop. In-person learning is what set the bootstrapped startup apart. However, Bohon and her team had few choices in 2020 as government mandates and fear of exposure shut down most gatherings. They pivoted SkillPop to online classes within a couple of weeks.
The online platform, called SkillPop Anywhere, allowed participants from across the country to tune into classes. SkillPop lowered prices for the virtual courses, generally ranging from $20 to $30.
A few years ago, Bohon would've said a definitive no to online classes. Now, she views it as a core part of business.
"I think how we connect has changed. I think how people want to access information has changed. ... I think there's space and room for both, and the question that we're tackling right now as a business and a team is, what does 'the both' look like for us?" Bohon said. "It wasn't ever a matter of, oh, we'll just flip the switch, and all of a sudden we're back in person in all of our markets."
In 2021, SkillPop also gained traction with corporate-level events, a transition that Bohon said happened gradually. The team had considered corporate classes pre-pandemic, but it never had the bandwidth to fully explore them. The emphasis on corporate culture and employee engagement grew stronger as Covid-19 changed the way people work.
SkillPop grew its corporate side organically, building on the customers it already knew. It is now SkillPop's fastest-growing segment. That business-to-business revenue comprised less than 2% of its pre-Covid monthly revenue, Bohon said. It had grown to an average 36% of revenue by the end of 2021, she added.
SkillPop has already experimented with in-person classes for corporate clients, she noted.
For Bohon, SkillPop is not the now six-year-old business she envisioned. It still feels like year two of a new venture.
"A lot of the thrill of running a startup is in the journey and is in the changes, and so the fact that it's taken some twists and turns that I never saw coming has kept it exciting and has kept it challenging," Bohon said.
The June 4 kickoff date at the Metropolitan will also feature food, drinks and bonus pop-ups. New in-person classes will roll out every other week.
