How a newcomer helped Charlotte learn and connect
Plus: County has 'no concerns' over Atrium housing; Flight cancellations mount; Remembering Charlotte magazine; Auditor vs. mayor; Get to know our managing editor; 65-foot wooden 'Big Pete' troll
Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by StreetFair. Find the home service pros your neighbors actually use and trust, and join together for group discounts.
Q&A: As Charlotte’s growth exploded, entrepreneur Haley Bohon started SkillPop to bring people together through shared interests; 10 years later, it’s still thriving
Haley Bohon (upper left, inset) started SkillPop in 2015 after seeing an opportunity to offer pop-up classes. (Photo by Julia Fay Photography, courtesy of SkillPop)
Fresh out of N.C. State with an engineering degree, Haley Bohon moved to Charlotte in 2013 to start her career.
Like many people who move here, she was craving community and connections. And she saw a void that she thought she could help fill.
Although at the time there were brewery run clubs and multi-week classes to learn new things, Bohon noticed that there was nothing in between — no one-time classes for people who wanted to learn to paint or sew after work in friendly and informal settings.
So in 2015, she started SkillPop and soon quit her job at a local tech company to focus on it full-time. In September, the company celebrated its 10-year anniversary and Bohon — who navigated SkillPop through growth, Covid-era retrenchment and now growth again — spoke with The Ledger’s Tony Mecia about the experience and her reflections.
The conversation (from The Charlotte Ledger Podcast) was edited for brevity and clarity:
Q. How did you get from working in a corporate job to starting SkillPop? Was it a side hustle or did you say, “I’ve got a million dollar idea — let’s go for it”?
I was someone who had just moved to Charlotte in their mid-20s. And there were thousands of people all the time who were moving to Charlotte in their mid-20s and -30s.
And so as I was getting established in the work world, I was also figuring out how do you build a community? How do you make friends? I had a few people I knew from college here, but really, I was building a social life from scratch.
I was recently married. We were just kind of establishing our life like you do in that stage, so I personally was looking for things to do and ways to meet people.
I noticed two trends. This was summer 2015. I saw a lot of organic networking events. Some of them were in the business space. Some of them were speaker series. A lot of people were flocking to those. I saw this trend of community.
I also saw a run club or yoga class at every brewery there was. And so the thing that sparked for me was there is a bigger need for community.
I saw this void: What about the people who are creative? What about the learners? If you want to take a photography class, why can’t you find that as easily as you can find a yoga class?
That’s really what SkillPop came out of. I got the domain skillpop.com for about $170. I remember that being the moment that I looked at my husband and said, “Are we for real about this, or is it just an idea?” It felt like a lot of money at the time.
I hosted four classes for free just to test the concept.
And in that very first class, I expected it to be my friends coming out to support me. I think I knew two people in a group of 20. It was people who had seen it online, who had found us on Instagram. And even though it was a free thing to come and do, that was still such a confirmation to me that I was onto something.
We were off to the races, and I’ve been growing ever since.
Q. Is it a good business?
It’s been a very flexible business, and it’s been a business we’ve been able to self-fund. I think when it comes to our revenue model, those are probably the most interesting pieces. All of our costs scale with how many tickets we’re selling, with how many classes we’re doing.
In March of 2020, I remember sitting in our accountant’s office on the day that I was getting my tax bill for the previous year and also seeing our revenue drop to zero from the pandemic.
We were an in-person business. We had to make a turn really quickly. It was an amazing — call it a gift, call it a blessing, call it how I built the business — the fact that our expenses scaled down when our revenue also scaled down.
We don’t have brick and mortars. We don’t have a lot of rent. We were able to navigate the pandemic and come out the other side the way we did because of the way our model is built.
Q. Was it a straight path from where you started in 2015 to today?
Absolutely not. But a lot of that is the pandemic. My personality type is I am the kind of person who will make the best of it and who says, generally, I think it’ll work out.
The years that we were going through the pandemic, I mean, we had to flip an entire in-person business to a virtual model really overnight. Our revenue was cut in half. We had to issue so many refunds for classes that weren’t happening.
We’re still in business, and I’m grateful to still be in business. It has been in hindsight that I can look back and say, “No, some of that was really hard.” And candidly, I had some grief of feeling like I had lost a business that was really growing. As an entrepreneur, a lot of the excitement and rush and fun comes when you’re seeing the numbers going up and when you’re able to service more customers and when you feel like you’re doing it really well.
So when I was looking down the line of a year where I knew we are going to just be rebuilding this year to try and get back up to where we used to be, that was not as fun. It was hard.
Now we’re on the other side, and things are moving up again.
Q. What kind of trends are you seeing?
Things like knitting, crochet and sewing are really coming back — a lot of those tactile hobbies. I was at a weaving class a couple months ago and heard a student say, “Man, it feels so good to just have my phone down for a solid two hours and be doing something with my hands.”
About 40% of our revenue right now is supporting corporate teams with team-building and employee engagement. So we have clients who will bring us in to do different workshops for their women’s networking group or for their interns, things like that. We have a couple of commercial real estate partners that bring us in as a tenant amenity.
Q. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
I’m such a big believer in the concept of a minimum viable product — the concept of getting something together and getting it out as fast as you can. One thing I’ve always tried to do is to really listen to our customers and to listen to what they’re saying and wanting and needing.
And the faster you can get a product out, the faster you can start to do that. I think a lot of entrepreneurs are held back by wanting something to be perfect or completely done before you put it into the world.
We have done a lot of things imperfectly to be able to do it, and just build it out, then continue refining it as we grow.
Listen to the whole conversation with Haley Bohon on The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other pod platforms:
Email: County has ‘no concerns’ regarding Atrium’s affordable housing commitments
Mecklenburg County staff have “no concerns” about the affordable housing commitments made by Atrium Health tied to its new medical innovation district, The Pearl, according to an email from county commissioners chair Mark Jerrell.
Atrium made the commitments in 2021 when it requested $75M in public funding from the city and the county to help pay for infrastructure at The Pearl. Public presentations at the time indicated the hospital would set aside 5% of the apartments in the district for low-income residents, and that it would donate a separate 14-acre site on North Tryon Street for hundreds of units. A later contract signed with the city did not require those components and gave Atrium greater flexibility.
Jerrell’s email appears to have been prompted by an Oct. 13 Ledger/NC Health News article that highlighted questions about slow progress on the project’s affordable housing component.
In the Nov. 4 message to commissioners, Jerrell wrote, “It appears there may still be some confusion among commissioners about the commitments and the status of the project.” He then laid out the hospital’s commitments as outlined in its contract with the city of Charlotte.
Jerrell’s email did not address discrepancies between Atrium’s public promises in 2021 and the terms of that contract with the city.
For example, in 2021, city officials indicated 5% of the housing at The Pearl would be set aside for those earning 50% or less of the area’s median income. However, the contract does not require affordable housing at The Pearl, or any housing at all. (Atrium has said it is working with a developer to include affordable housing in the district.)
Atrium also pledged to donate the 14-acre site on North Tryon to Inlivian, the city’s housing authority, and to partner with the agency to develop 400+ units of housing there. Again, the city’s contract with Atrium does not require the donation. Instead, the land is part of a proposed three-way land swap between the two entities that allows Atrium to obtain land near The Pearl for medical offices.
Jerrell emphasized in his email that Atrium fulfilled its obligation to place deed restrictions on the North Tryon Street property. He also said the hospital is “working collaboratively with Inlivian” to finalize a master plan for the area around the North Tryon Street site.
“In summary,” Jerrell wrote, “all indications are that Atrium is in compliance with its contractual obligations, and staff continues to monitor the project as it evolves.”
Atrium has also stressed that it is honoring its contractual commitments related to housing.
County commissioner Elaine Powell, one of two elected officials who voted against the tax incentives for Atrium, said in an interview that she still has questions.
“I love that we have some of the best health professionals in the world here, and I am so thankful for them, but it’s up to elected leaders to make sure taxpayer dollars are well spent, that everything is crystal clear,” she said. “You can’t rely on handshakes in these kinds of matters.”
The first phase of The Pearl opened in July on 20 acres just outside uptown Charlotte. It features the Charlotte campus of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, a surgical training center and a growing number of medical technology companies. —Michelle Crouch
Related Ledger/N.C. Health News articles:
“As The Pearl opens, where’s the affordable housing?” (Oct. 13)
“Charlotte leaders press for answers on Atrium’s housing commitments” (Oct. 22)
Rough weekend for air travel from CLT: 1/3 of flights delayed, hundreds canceled
Even as legislators in Washington appear to have broken the impasse on the government shutdown, flights at Charlotte’s airport were still being canceled as of Monday morning.
Monday’s 49 cancellations as of 7 a.m. follow a rough weekend in which 150 flights were canceled on Saturday and 119 on Sunday amid a shortage of air traffic controllers, who are not being paid during the shutdown. In addition, about one-third of flights into and out of Charlotte were delayed over the weekend, according to data from flight-tracking service FlightAware.
The FAA ordered flight schedules to be trimmed nationwide starting on Friday.
Charlotte averages about 1,800 daily arrivals and departures, according to airport data. American Airlines accounts for about 90% of CLT’s flights.
But the end to the troubles could be in sight, with the Senate voting Sunday night to approve a measure that would reopen the government, pending additional votes in Congress in the coming days. —Tony Mecia
‘Big Pete,’ a 65-foot wooden troll, is now hanging out in Charlotte’s River District
CHARLOTTE’S GENTLE GIANT: A towering new resident has arrived in Charlotte’s River District: “Big Pete,” a 65-foot-long wooden troll by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. The massive sculpture joins Dambo’s North Carolina “troll family,” which includes five trolls in Raleigh’s Dix Park and another in High Point. Installed at the River District’s main trailhead, Big Pete is free to visit. (To get there, set your GPS to Crescent River Road; the trailhead is where it intersects with River District Drive. Wear shoes with treads — Big Pete lies at the top of a hill, and the terrain was muddy to reach him on Saturday.) (Photo: Cristina Bolling for The Charlotte Ledger)
Condolences start to pour in over Charlotte magazine’s demise
When you pull the plug on a beloved magazine that has been published for nearly 60 years, writers for that magazine are going to have opinions.
So it is with Charlotte magazine, the monthly publication that has captured life in Charlotte since 1968 and that seems set to end publication with its December issue. The magazine told contributors about the news last week, The Ledger previously reported.
The magazine’s owner, Morris Communications of Georgia, hasn’t provided an explanation.
Some of Charlotte magazine’s previous writers and editors reflected on its importance, in writings over the weekend:
Jeremy Markovich, N.C. Rabbit Hole: “Here’s the one thing you should know about this news: It sucks. My friends Andy Smith and Greg Lacour have consistently worked their asses off over the years, were rewarded by becoming publisher and editor, respectively, and now are going to be out of a job. … Charlotte itself, which admittedly has a wealth of media outlets, is losing a perspective that’s going to be impossible to replace.”
Tommy Tomlinson, The Writing Shed: “Charlotte Magazine served its readers well from the time it was founded in 1968. Like almost all city mags, it went heavy on the restaurant listings and Best Doctors In Town features. But in the 30 years or so I’ve been reading the magazine, it has always had meat on the bones.”
Michael Graff (former editor), The Charlotte Optimist: “Charlotte magazine was and is the best serial collection of our city’s story over the past half-century. … Spreadsheets can’t measure passion. Subscription numbers and pageviews are insufficient thermometers of how much something matters. Charlotte magazine matters. Or it mattered, I guess. It was bold yet modest, celebrated yet overlooked, much like our city when it’s at its best. In an age of doomscrolling and rage-baiting, that’s worth remembering.”
Rick Thurmond (former editor, publisher), writing on LinkedIn: “Charlotte magazine told the story of this city in a way that no other outlet did or ever will. … Today, all I am thinking about are the people. So many talented and caring writers, editors, designers, photographers, marketers, sales pros, entrepreneurs, and leaders served Charlotte at this little magazine and then went on to make their city a better place, in ways large and small. … I’m biased, but I would put the collective contributions and achievements of Charlotte mag alumni over the last 20 years up against any similar outfit in the country. Yes, the city is losing a magazine. More than that, it is losing a place that nurtured and incubated talented, creative, kind, passionate people who went on to change their community and city.”
Related Ledger article:
“Charlotte magazine is shutting down” (Nov. 6)
Quotable: State auditor says he forced transparency on Charlotte’s ‘big-city mayor’
From a Nov. 7 article published in the online news site Albemarle Observer, which covers Northeastern North Carolina, describing State Auditor Dave Boliek’s speech to a Chowan County Republican dinner last week:
Boliek said one of his most revealing investigations involved the City of Charlotte, which he described as “the 14th largest metropolitan area in the United States” — and a city with “a real problem with the big city mayor.”
Boliek said his office learned Charlotte officials had secretly settled a proposed lawsuit by their chief of police for $305,000 — before the lawsuit was ever filed.
“I said, listen, we’re going to investigate you,” Boliek recounted. “Because I’ve gotten reports that you’ve settled with your chief of police on a proposed lawsuit, not even a filed lawsuit, and you’ve not told the public about the money that you have spent.”
He said he reminded the Mayor Vi Lyles “that that was not her money — that’s the people’s money.”
When the mayor responded that she would “think about” whether to comply with transparency laws, Boliek said dryly, “So that bought her a second audit.”
That follow-up investigation examined Charlotte’s transit system, where the city had replaced armed guards with unarmed “customer service” personnel under a $18.4 million DEI-based contract.
“They went from 88 armed guards to 30 armed guards and 180 unarmed security personnel,” Boliek said. “Clearly that’s a policy change. And no one had ever seen those numbers until we released that initial report.”
Boliek’s remarks are particularly timely given what happened to Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed from behind three times while seated on the train in August. Footage of the killing sparked outrage on social media, leading to policy discussions about transit security.
🎙️ New on the podcast: Meet The Ledger’s new managing editor
After nearly a decade covering Charlotte’s skyline and business growth — first at the Charlotte Business Journal and then on a national real estate beat — journalist Ashley Fahey is returning to her local roots. Now, as managing editor of The Charlotte Ledger, she’s helping steer the newsroom’s next chapter of growth and community reporting. Fahey joined the team in September 2025.
In this episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, host Steve Dunn talks with Fahey about her path back to Charlotte media, her vision for The Ledger and what she sees as opportunities to reach new readers and tell deeper stories about the city’s evolution. They also discuss how her early journalism years shaped her approach to storytelling, the evolution of local journalism, why she sees real estate, housing and growth as some of Charlotte’s most defining issues, and what The Ledger does differently — and why it’s built around stories “no one else is covering.”
You can listen to the episode below or anywhere you stream your podcasts.
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
FRIDAY: “Senior Scholars Weekly Meetings,” 10-11 a.m., at Providence United Methodist Church, 2810 Providence Rd. Join the members of Senior Scholars as retired Mint Museum curator E. Michael Whittington introduces you to the Roman god you never heard of: Antinous, deified by the Emperor Hadrian after his mysterious death in 130, the dying and rising god whose cult rivaled that of Jesus of Nazareth in the early Roman Empire. $5 for guests. $25 annual membership.
NOVEMBER 18: “Yoga at the Mint,” 5:15-6:15 p.m., at Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St. Participate in a one-hour yoga class with Dancing Lotus Yoga + Arts every Tuesday. Registration required. Free for Mint members. $10 for nonmembers.
NOVEMBER 20: “South Charlotte Partners Breakfast Club,” 8-9:30 a.m., at AC Hotel Charlotte Ballantyne, 14819 Ballantyne Village Way. Join South Charlotte Partners for an expert panel discussion on its November SCP Breakfast Club topic “South Charlotte Region Economic Development Outlook.” Tony Mecia will moderate the discussion with panelists sharing insights on the factors influencing regional growth, emerging business opportunities and the increasing importance of collaboration. $25 in advance. $35 at the door.
NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 31: “Learning Society Holiday Membership Drive,” Give yourself (or someone you love) the gift of learning this season. Queens University’s Mid-Year Learning Society Memberships are available at all tiers — and for a limited time, you can join for 50% off the regular price. Mid-Year Memberships include all the same benefits as an annual membership, excluding the fall lecture, which has already taken place. Individual Scholars Circle - $475. Individual President’s Circle - $1,250. Dual Scholars Circle - $950. Dual President’s Circle - $2,500.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
End of the line for Pizza Peel: The Pizza Peel & Tap Room said in a Facebook post that it is closing its Cotswold location after 17 years on Nov. 16. It didn’t provide a reason but encouraged people to visit its sister restaurant, The Improper Pig, which is opening in Plaza Midwood in December.
City candidates for new transit authority: Members of Charlotte City Council have picked 27 finalists to be considered for seven city appointees to the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority Board of Trustees, the 27-member board tasked with overseeing the county-wide transit organization that is newly formed following last week’s passage of the sales tax referendum. (WCNC, with the full list)
Worries about I-77 expansion: Residents of Charlotte’s historic McCrorey Heights neighborhood are fighting to prevent the state’s planned $3.2B I-77 toll-lane expansion from seizing their property and repeating the damage that previous highway projects inflicted on the century-old Black community. (QCity Metro)
Officer caused brain injury, student’s family says: The family of 14-year-old West Charlotte High student Ke’Nadie Cathey says she suffered a serious brain injury after a school resource officer slammed her to the ground during an Oct. 31 incident caught on video. Police and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are investigating. (Observer)
Michelin star leads to surge of reservations: After earning Charlotte’s first Michelin star last week, the restaurant Counter sold out reservations through mid-February in less than 36 hours, its owner said. About half of the new reservations were from outside Charlotte. (Axios Charlotte)
In memoriam: J. Alfred “Al” Broaddus Jr., who led the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (which covers territory including Charlotte), died Oct. 26 at age 86. He led the Richmond Fed from 1993 to 2004 and was known for championing low inflation and greater transparency in monetary policy. (Virginia Business)
Brrrrrr: Brace for Charlotte’s first freeze of the season tonight, as a powerful cold front is expected to send temperatures plunging into the 20s and 30s — with single-digit wind chills in the mountains. (WCNC)
Beginning to look a lot like Christmas: Charlotte-area malls have decorated for Christmas, radio station K104.7 has started playing Christmas music and Santa has started making photo appearances. (Axios Charlotte has a list of when and where Santa will be available.)
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 6 of our local newsletters:
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
◼️ About The Ledger • Our Team • Website
◼️ Newsletters • Podcast • Newcomer Guide • A Better You email series
◼️ Subscribe • Sponsor • Events Board • Merch Store • Manage Your Account
◼️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn
So our "Mayberry" city council has no problem with how their legal department signed off on a contract that didn't legally require the Atrium promised housing requirements. Maybe Atrium will provide them, maybe not. Regardless, the level of incompetence shown by their lead attorney is undefendable. In the private sector this would have been a fireable offence.