Creating connections is key for local entrepreneur and her work with The Sphere Northampton

(left to right) Kayla Hevey, Mass Appeal; Tiffany Chapman, Owner, Tiffany Chapman Photography; Amanda Shafii, Owner, CopyCat and Co-founder of The Sphere Northampton; Megan Allen, Owner, The Community Classroom and Co-founder of The Sphere Northampton.

A trail map and new life for an empty storefront are part of the initiatives underway to help female and nonbinary entrepreneurs

NORTHAMPTON — Amanda Shafii is passionate about helping women-owned businesses succeed, connection by connection.

“I love the sense of community in the area,” says the entrepreneur. "Community is everything. It brings a sense of meaning to everything I do. I’ve found numerous ways to get involved, and I think it’s really beautiful to have that sense of community.”

The owner of CopyCat, Shafii took the reins of that Northampton business community staple from her parents (who started it in 1985) in 2015, when she also completely rebranded the business.

An experienced manager and designer (digital and web) with a demonstrated history of working in the print and design industry, Shafii is passionate about helping other local entrepreneurs elevate their businesses through professional design and creative solutions. A strong sales professional, she holds a bachelor of science degree in psychology/neuroscience from UMass/Amherst.

Shafii enjoys spending time on area bike trails, rivers, and lakes and dining at the many great restaurants in the 413, including Alina’s in Hadley, Kisara in Easthampton, and Eastside Grill in Northampton.

A member of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, Shafii serves on its board of directors, Ambassador Committee, and more. She has been a lifelong volunteer for numerous area causes.

The Sphere

Shafii is also a key leader and cofounder of an initiative called The Sphere Northampton, whose mission is to build an inclusive community that supports, uplifts, and inspires female and nonbinary entrepreneurs.

The Sphere works to not only help aspiring entrepreneurs women realize their potential, but also impact the community and local economy in positive ways, nurture work/life balance and expand access to financial and educational resources.

The group was launched last year as an initiative of the Downtown Northampton Association and is supported by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative with a $200,000 grant.

The grant support events, operational expenses, building the website, communication strategy, programming, and more.

“By eliminating barriers to starting and continuing to run businesses and making it easier for The Sphere entrepreneurs to access existing resources, we intend to bolster economic development and promote a more equitable business environment in Northampton,” reads a statement on the group’s website at spherenorthampton.com.

The Sphere name represents “the circular nature of support we are trying to create to address the challenges identified in our research from phase one of the grant, as well as the organic ecosystem for women entrepreneurs that we hope to create.”

Background information for The Sphere notes that “Northampton has always led the way, constantly developing systems and practices that value diversity, inclusion, and equality. However, even in a city where women experience a higher level of equality and feel more supported in their endeavors, they still must overcome numerous hurdles to achieve success as entrepreneurs.”

Those challenges include childcare, household obligations, and social pressure. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20 percent of small businesses fail within the first year, but female entrepreneurs face “even more odds as personal, professional, and societal expectations stack up against them and create an even more precipitous journey.”

While a reported 33 percent of Massachusetts businesses are female-owned, the city of Northampton has an even higher rate of women entrepreneurs: 44 percent, based on brick-and-mortar businesses alone.

According to a study from FitSmallBusiness published in Boston Magazine, Massachusetts is fifth from the bottom for supporting women entrepreneurs.

A 2021 report on female entrepreneurship in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP) and the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement concluded that “for [female entrepreneurs in Massachusetts] to continue to make gains, women business owners need better access to resources, financing, expertise and networking.”

Before The Sphere’s official launch in 2022, its advisory board undertook a study/needs assessment for Northampton women, talking to business owners.

“We found the reported greatest barriers to success for women-owned businesses were work/life balance, access to resources, and intersectionalism,” Shafii says, explaining that intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how a person’s various social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege, “identifying multiple factors of advantage and disadvantage.”

Shafii says the study found female entrepreneurs lack support due to their intersectional identities (the “isms”; racism, sexism, ageism, etc.), that they lack access to resources and funding, or that they lack the time, information, and learning to access those resources; and that female entrepreneurs lack the time to allow them to do the things necessary for them to succeed.

New life

The Sphere has also been awarded a $100,000 state grant to develop a new co-working space by renovating a storefront that has been empty since the 1990s.

The organization currently has a letter of intent to make The Sphere Innovation Lab by restoring the vacant 82 Maple Street location in Florence.

In the new space, organizations and people looking for entrepreneurial support and collaborative opportunities can work and share resources and space.

The Sphere is one of 39 projects funded by the collaborative workspace program. It’s intent is to accelerate the pace of new business formation, job creation and entrepreneurial activity by supporting infrastructure that pays for community-based innovation.

The collaborative workspace program is part of the state’s community one-stop for growth awards that used 13 state grant programs to distribute $164 million in funding to 338 local economic development projects. The grants were spread across 161 communities in the Commonwealth. Renovations are expected to begin in January. A soft opening is tentatively planned for the coming spring.

The Salon

To help fulfill its mission, The Sphere launched its first quarterly Salon in April of 2023 where the logo and branding (created by CopyCat) were unveiled.

“The Sphere chose this term to use as a nod to the word’s historical origins,” Shafii says. “Salons hosted by The Sphere blend tradition with a contemporary flair.”

Salons served as safe and inclusive spaces during the “Age of Conversation” to allow diverse voices to come together, exchange ideas, and celebrate creativity.

Many ambitious women attended salons to pursue a form of higher education, receive and give insight, read their own works, and hear the works and perspectives of other intellectuals.

“There’s a lot of research involved, which I love, and thinking how to create positive change with a research and science-based lens,” Shafii says of her work. “By forming The Sphere network and offering quarterly Salons to help foster connections, our goal is to create a supportive and uplifting community, so we can foster greater economic success in the area. We have had an amazing turnout at our events this year.”

As a Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce board member, Shafii notes that the sell-out attendance at the Salons brings “a different crowd” of diverse ages compared with “those who normally come to the usual local events. So that was exciting,” she says.

Salon topics have thus far ranged from wellness to navigating social media as a way to establish a theme for events that provides an educational component.

(left to right) Madeline LeBlanc, Owner, Socially Elite Media; Amanda Shafii; Megan Allen; Jessica Lockwood, Co-owner, Balanced Chaos Home and Wellness

Continuing to create connections

Shafii is one of three cofounders of The Sphere, which also includes Priceless Picnics owner Christina Webster and Megan Allen, founder and chief learning curator at the Community Classroom.

“Right now we’re trying to build community, spread awareness, and develop programming,” Shafii says. “We don’t want to duplicate existing resources; we want to find out where there are gaps and fill those gaps.”

This year, the group conducted another data collection as part of #GetOnTheMap campaign. The Sphere, in collaboration with Arts Equity Group, has collected responses from 269 women and nonbinary entrepreneurs and will look for various opportunities to link people with resources while also examining data with an eye to why it relates what it does.

The visual trail map, designed by Alexis Design Studio, that was created as part of this campaign ,was released at a ribbon cutting during the October Salon. You can find the Salon schedule and get tickets at https://spherenorthampton.com/events/

Clearly, Shafii is dedicated to her vocation. As a cofounder and Chief of Partnerships & Virtual Community for The Sphere, she’s “always happy to connect” and hopes anyone interested will send her a line.

“I also really enjoy grabbing coffee with other entrepreneurs and anyone interested in The Sphere,” Shafii says. “The Sphere wants to listen and understand how it can best serve the community, so we want to hear from people.”

To sponsor upcoming events, volunteer, make donations, and find resources, visit spherenorthampton.com and email info@spherenorthampton.com.

Visit The Sphere on Facebook at The Sphere Northampton, https://www.instagram.com/thespherenorthampton and https://www.linkedin.com/company/thespherenorthampton.

Learn more about the Trail Map: https://spherenorthampton.com/blog/trail-map/.