What you really need to know...

I have > 𝟭𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 conducting needs assessments for a variety of clients, including:

• institutions of higher education such as a School of Management in Kazakhstan that needed over 400 professors retrained.

• an international language training company with more than 70 centers catering to 𝟭𝟮𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗺𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 & 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 across China.

• corporate advertisers: when I ran a popular digital magazine, I conducted frequent needs assessments for corporate advertisers. I then worked with these 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 (on their own products) on 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 that taught their target demographic about their products and how to use them - 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀.

I'm experienced with Needs Assessments, SMEs & ideating effective learning solutions.

I backwards design.

I studied adult learning theories at both 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗰𝗸'𝘀 𝗜𝗗 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽 and under 𝗗𝗿. 𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗻, Assistant Director of Instructional Design at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For his 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 course, I created a robust 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 in the 𝗟𝗠𝗦 𝗗𝟮𝗟 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 using 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻.

I can quickly generate a large variety of high-quality learning assets that support KPIs.

• I designed 𝟱𝟬 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 & 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 for the instructor retraining in Kazakhstan.

• 𝟭𝟬𝟬+ 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮 for the Beijing language training company, helping to boost sales of new contracts by 𝟮𝟱%, reduce refund requests & increase renewals by 𝟯𝟱%.

• 𝟭𝟱𝟬 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 & 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗱𝘀 to prep L2 learners for the AP Economics exams. Over 80% earned a 4 or 5 (out of 5).

• 𝟭𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 & 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀 for my digital magazine.

• Update: I now utilize 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 to create 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Certifications

Outside Instructional Design

I'm an avid powerlifter and owner of so many different tubs of protein powder and creatine, that one of my friends once told me I didn't have an inner child but an inner gym bro.

I also enjoy traveling and recently completed a fairly long stint working and living in Beijing, China. While there, I learned to play a Chinese traditional instrument that dates back over 5,000 years: a zither called the guzheng. What I lack in talent (a lot) I make up for by practicing almost every day!

And then of course there are books, books, books. My current - but always evolving - GOAT list includes A Confederacy of Dunces, The Three-Body Problem (trilogy), The Hate U Give, Bleak House & The Master and Margarita.