I am a life-long learner (bit of a nerd), book-aholic, and storyteller. I fell in love with learning design as a young professional, but it took me a while to discover that I could make a career out of doing what I love.

I earned a B.S. from Iowa State University many years ago in Family and Consumer Science. After spending time at home wrangling four WILDly wonderful little ones, I resumed my education and earned an alternative teacher certification. I spent several years in middle and high school classrooms, where I truly honed my knowledge and passion for designing meaningful learning experiences.

From there, an unexpected opportunity led me to serve for a time as the CEO of a Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. I found myself falling in love with creating tools, trainings, revitalizing a community leadership course, and developing collaborative learning experiences for staff, board members, and community members.

It was about this time that I began to think, “I wish I could do this type of thing for a living.” Haha!

Another twist in the journey brought our family to North Dakota, where I got to work for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. My work blended education, community connection, and volunteer development. Plus, I got to dig into building information systems, resources… remember when I said I’m a nerd? Some people unwind with puzzles; I unwind by designing apps and tools (for fun). 😀

And then one day, I discovered that “Instructional Designer” is an actual profession; as in, it’s a legitimate career where people get to do exactly the kind of work that lights me up. With the encouragement of my best friend and husband of 20+ years, and our four teens/young adults (plus two aging rescue cats who run the house), I decided to follow that love into this next chapter.

That’s me and my journey. I hope to meet you and work with you to achieve your organizational learning and development goals.