Company: Envestnet, Inc. 

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a Senior Learning Experience Designer for software as a service (SaaS) company called Envestnet. I’ve worked for Envestnet for the past three years and have been in the learning and development field for a decade. My team’s role is to design the learner experience for our client-facing eLearning content. This means everything from designing the user path for our LMS to designing eLearning templates that fit the needs of our team to developing training videos and eLearning content that was designed by our instructional designers. I also manage our eLearning content in the LMS.

I am married to my wonderful wife Lauren and we have a six year old son named Teddy plus two dogs (Juniper and Oakley).

What attracted you to the field of Talent Development?

I always loved the idea of being an educator. When I first went to college, I intended to become a primary school teacher but I realized that was not the right fit. I took some time off school and while working at a call center (toughest job I’ve ever had), my first six weeks were spent in onboarding with a corporate trainer. I loved the idea of a job where I could educate others without being in a classroom. That led me to my first Talent Development job as a trainer.

What prompted you to join SEWI-ATD?

I had been a member of the chapter early in my career but hadn’t been active. However, I rejoined SEWI-ATD about two years ago because my new role is remote and I wanted to connect with other people in the talent development field. I don’t get many opportunities to discuss my work with people who understand the work I do, so I enjoy being able to do so outside of my job.

In what ways have you been involved with the chapter?

I try to attend events whenever I am able, though with work, my family, and grad school that can be difficult. I think the PDNs are extremely useful and the topics are usually very interesting. I enjoy attending because I either have new tools I can use in my current role, or are great refreshers on skills that I no longer use in my current role in eLearning design and development. The events like the Summer and Winter socials are great to meet others in the field and talk about its unique challenges. And I’ve tried to help out the chapter with some projects (like editing the Welcome video on the website).

What is about the chapter that you enjoy most?

I really think it’s the sense of camaraderie. Sometimes in our field you can feel like you are on an island, and being a part of SEWI-ATD reminds you that there are lots of people with a similar passion for talent development.

What piece of advice would you offer to people coming into talent development?

Keep learning and developing new skills. Every opportunity I’ve gotten in the field is because of new skills I developed that were not part of my job description. Those skills have let me propose and implement projects that were my springboards to new roles.

Favorite Blog or Podcast?

Totally not talent development related, but I love Blank Check with Griffin and David. It’s a podcast about filmographies from famous directors, and it’s a very fun listen.

What do you do for fun?

I don’t have a ton of free time right now, but when my friends and I have time to get together we love to play board games. We all love to find new and interesting board games to try out (my suggestion is Spirit Island). I will also try to get some time to play video games between parenting and school, but that’s pretty rare these days.