Community Showcase: Leigh Ann Morgan

Luis Malbas  
Hello, everybody, welcome to the training learning and development community. We are live and on. Let's just make sure everyone can hear us any of the audience out there. I still see that there are some active yay, Bobby, thank you so much. And before I forget, I didn't ask you this in the green room. Is it Leanne? Or it is it's yeah. Okay, Leanne. Great. Thank you. So, our guest today is Leanne Morgan, another member showcase. We haven't done these done one of these in a while. So I'm really glad to get going with another one again. And thank you, Leanne, so much for for, for wanting to do this. Because if there's one thing I love about doing CLDC, it's being able to, you know, to do these member showcases, and just learn more about people, learn more about folks in the community and try to get you connected with others. And I'm sure like people like Kim that is in the audience are always hearing curious about other instructional designers in our business and in our space. So thanks for coming in.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Thanks for having me.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah. So we've got, let's see, it looks like I have 11 questions in there. And everybody in the audience, if you don't already know, you can add more questions as we go along. So yeah, and basically, we're going to be asking Leanne, about her journey in instructional design, talk about this whole degree that she has in dietetics. And how do you say it again, diet? And all of that, so let me just get started and get into it. Um, so where did you start? Where did your journey and learning and lnd begin?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
It actually started kind of as not, as I ended intended, actually, I was getting my master's degree in dietetics. And going through that whole program, and one of the faculty members of the university was retiring. And they came to me, they department approached me and said, Hey, do you mind filling in and teaching some classes while we do our search for a full time faculty member. And so I was, of course, I'm absolutely would love to do that. And so I started to teach some courses at the University as I finished my master's degree. And after I graduated, they said, hey, I want to stay on full time and teach. So I continue to stay on full time teaching in the food nutrition department for about five to six years. And so I never actually got to go out and clinically practice as a dietitian, because I was teaching at the university full time. So I absolutely loved it. But for family reasons, I had relocated out of the area. So I left that position teaching at the university. And I ended up being gone for a few years. And then when I relocated back, my position, of course, had been filled, finally, and I got another teaching position, at a business college in the same area. And so again, teaching, online teaching, blended learning, all sorts of really cool things I got to do. And then the school actually closed after about 100 years of being in business, they finally said, you know, no more. So, there I was, I was like, Okay, I never practice clinically, all of my career spent in dietetics was in training and education and all that sort of thing. So I thought, Okay, what am I going to do, because I want to stay in this, I want to stay in that learning and development in that field. So where I got that first master's degree, I went back and said, I'm gonna go back and get Instructional Design and Technology master's degree, at that same university. That's how I ended up back there, ended up getting that degree and I did an internship at a corporate setting. So that was a huge difference. Being an academia my entire career. Having that corporate internship really changed things for me. Once I graduated, I ended up getting into, you know, a full time corporate job as an ID. So that's kind of kind of the journey.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah, so that's really interesting, making the decision to kind of depart one field and go into another. I mean, was that a hard decision to make? or was your passion for l&d so great that I'm like, I'm just gonna do this. You know,

Leigh Ann Morgan  
it really was It was not hard at all. You know, I didn't want to after being in l&d for so long as far as in academia, you know, in teaching and that sort of thing. I honestly didn't think twice about going into clinical dietetics any longer. I knew I wanted to stay in the l&d arena. And that's what drove me to get that second master so that I could do that, you know, and make that transition.

Luis Malbas  
So what was it about l&d? What What was your favorite? What was what was it that made you decide? Yeah, this is what I want to do.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
You know, I think it's the whole process. So, you know, starting from the very beginning, even just, you know, if I look back in the days of, of being, you know, a professor, you, you get this textbook, or they say, What textbook Are you going to use, and you get this textbook, and now you have to create, you know, your lessons, and you have to create the assessments, and you have to do all these things. And it's just the process of, okay, from the very start, how am I going to get this information to my students in a fun and engaging way? Because I didn't want to be, you know, that professor was like, Oh, she's so boring. And this is such an awful class, don't take her, you know, that whole thing. I was like, No, you know, I want to make this fun. So, it really started there, just getting that feedback from my students and said, that was really cool. How you, you know, demonstrated, I taught more laboratory classes. So food science, you know, if I put this into this, why does it do that type of thing. So the science behind baking and cooking and that sort of thing. And so I really like to see the process from start to finish. And that's kind of why I'm still seeing it in a different way. Now, of course, but that's what kept me in it is just the whole process.

Luis Malbas  
So going through and if I recall correctly, you kind of went through that, like, was it 2016 2017 or so? So, you've been doing this around five years? Yep. And you made that switch? Is there anything that you know, now, like that you wish you had known when you started out like five years ago, and you're like, Okay, I'm gonna, I'm switching gears here. I love you know, what I was doing, but I think I want to just get into into lnd Is there anything you wish you had known back then that you know, now?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Um, you know, I wish that even though I did that did an internship in the corporate setting, I didn't really get to see too much of the behind the scenes of how it worked in the corporate setting, because as an intern, you know, you're only showing so much. Yeah, well, I think I would have liked to have learned a little more about the corporate culture, the language, you know, it's very different than than higher ed language. And, you know, the business processes and that whole kind of behind the scenes, I wish I would have maybe paid more attention or asked more questions as an intern when I was, you know, in corporate because it isn't, it's a different, different world. versus higher ed.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah, yeah. And it looked like when you were doing your internship, I think you were kind of doing some web development, things like that

Leigh Ann Morgan  
yet, web development LMS administrator, so I got to dabble in in a bunch of different things. So I do really enjoy the design process a lot. So graphic design, web design, that's also a side interest. Yeah.

Luis Malbas  
Okay, awesome. So let's go there. What kind of projects are you working on now,

Leigh Ann Morgan  
a little bit of everything, actually. I am working, developing all sorts of training elearning modules for different functional groups in the organization. So really, I was brought in about eight, nine months ago now. And so starting kind of creating the whole LMD team. And there's a small group of us, we are small, but mighty, as we like to say, and really working together to try to keep building our learning and our offerings within the organization. So my hand is kind of in a bunch of different areas right now. And I absolutely love it because I'm getting to know people in the organization because I'm working with different, you know, me's and different people and collaborating. So it's been, it's been really fun and very supportive. So that is so helpful. You know, whenever you're just starting kind of new and right now I'm the sole instructional designer, our team is growing. So more more coming on board, which I'm very excited about to have some some more support and help but my hands and everything.

Luis Malbas  
That's great. Is that something you like having your hands in everything I do?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Because you can work you know, I can. I know like a lot of it and I wish I would have known a little bit more about project management. I just happened to be really organized naturally. So that helped. But you know, having a bunch of different projects at once you have to really make sure that everything is lined up and aligned. And I do like it. So I can skip for one and say, okay, you know, you have to step away sometimes and say, I've been looking at this too long. So I can step away from that and go into another project. And, you know, it's just bouncing back and forth like that. I do enjoy that a lot.

Luis Malbas  
Is there one piece of it that you particularly favor that you really like to work on?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
I like the building part of it, I really do. The design process with whether it's, you know, using storyline or creating animated videos or working in rise. I just like the build of it all the design, you know, picking, choosing color palettes and fonts and, you know, having those side things, but then really designing it to make it engaging and fun. I'm all about fun learning. So I want to make it fun.

Luis Malbas  
That's great. Bobbi was saying, project management versus portfolio management. That's a great distinction there. Leann? So yeah, that's fantastic. Excellent. Now, I sort of want to back up, because I thought that was interesting that you'd pointed out the sort of the corporate dialogue versus the higher ed dialogue. Is there anything more you can say about that? Is there anything specific that you would say? Or, like, why the communication is, is different? Or how you found it different?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
I think that it's more structured in corporate, believe it or not, you know, it's, they, it's certain processes, and there's just certain ways to do things. And there's kind of guidelines to follow and steps that you have to take in, you know, a certain order, where in higher ed, it's kind of more, I guess, relaxed, a little bit more loose. You know, you have a little bit more autonomy, maybe. But in my particular role, I'm given that legit currently, which is fantastic, because it's kind of having the best of both worlds. Yeah, in my current role, but corporate in general, just learning the different, you know, business processes, I think, is just maybe where the differences because in higher ed, it's generally up to you know, the professor who's teaching the course. They're working with the instructional designer, sometimes, it's, it's more of a one to one collaboration, where a corporate there's more hands, you know, involved.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah, yeah. So do you miss that sometimes the higher end just higher ed way of just going straight to the professor or?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
No, I you know, I don't think so I think because like I said, the, the team I'm currently working with, we are a small team. And so in my current role, I am getting that both of that, so I'm just, we collaborate. So well, together, we have these great brainstorming sessions, what at least once a week, and just kind of bounce things off of each other. And so, you know, it makes it, it makes it really cool to, to have that to have those team members be so supportive and give great feedback and hear what others have to say, because I absolutely love to collaborate as well.

Luis Malbas  
That's great. That's great. So let's talk about what it what might what you find challenging in your job right now, I love asking this question because typically, we always talk about all the fun and good stuff and why being an instructional designer is great, but what are the parts of it that maybe you know, are just difficult to get through sometimes

Leigh Ann Morgan  
you know, this is gonna sound really probably funny but Excel everything is excel in corporate and I'm like, no Excel that great. I mean, I'm learning and I'm learning fast, but that's challenging when you don't go from us I mean, in higher ed, it was non existent. So that didn't happen you know, and then in my previous corporate roles, not so much a little bit and then it just kind of depending on I think the organization they utilize different tools more so but I've noticed in corporate that Excel is a pool that I have not yet mastered. So it is a bit challenging for me.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah, especially I think my experience is especially once you get up to kind of the leadership areas like Excel is basically that's where everybody gets their information. And you know, my old CEO was pretty much the CFO and so it's like he communicated via Excel everything Yes. Everything and

Leigh Ann Morgan  
I'm messing up all sorts of formulas.

Luis Malbas  
Yeah, and I can't Yeah, I can actually getting good at Excel would be you know, that is a good thing. Like if you can actually spend same time and really try to learn some of the, you know, just that tool. It'll do you it'll do well. Let's see. Yeah, Kim saying I agree with you 1,000% When they use it for tables of text and not math at all, it can be really challenging. Yeah. Yeah. It's i Yeah, Kim, that's funny. Um, now I'm starting to get flashbacks a little bit. So, sorry. Let's talk about how about a training project that you're especially proud of that maybe you can share with everybody, it sounds like you'd like to have fun. And so is there something I did that was like, This is awesome. I love doing this and want to do it again.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Um, you know, back kind of maybe, as the one big project I loved whenever I was still a master student. I presented at a tech day conference that we had at the university, and it was on infographics. And I was teaching mostly faculty, but other professionals from the area were able to join that day. So mostly, you know, K through 12, teachers, that sort of thing. But I presented on all the different sorts of ways you can incorporate infographics into the classroom. And that was a really fun moment, for me proud moment for me, because I had professors and teachers and professionals coming to me afterwards and saying, I had no idea. And what you showed was really visually cool, because of course, infographics, you know, you have that the visual aspect of that, that really pulls people in as engaging as well, but it was just, you know, Hey, can I have your contact information, I'd love to collaborate further on this topic with you. So that was a proud moment for me to really be able to put that information out there and share with people and then taking it a step further. And guest I still stay in contact with with a couple people from that, that I didn't know that had kind of that passion in the infographics world at that time. And so I'm pretty proud of that.

Luis Malbas  
That's awesome. That's really cool. I that is something is particularly challenging for me, you know, for me, just the whole visual design thing is, has always been kind of, you know, something that I really have to stretch myself to do. And I think I was just who was it my friend, Crystal from the eLearning Guild? I think she has an event away. This is probably a past event. Oh, yeah, it's from September 2021. I know, the guild did a visual design event. So I don't know. I guess if you're a guild member, you can click on that and check it out and see if you can get access to that content. Very cool. Okay, so I'm gonna have to keep that in mind about us. I will, I'll have to make a note to myself. So how do you stay on top of your professional development? What are some of the things that you do to, you know, to, to stay wise to the ways of l&d?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Well, I am a nerd. So what I really am, you know, truly any, my library is growing. So lots of, you know, books, I subscribe to a bunch of different blogs, newsletters, podcasts. So what I do every morning, before I start the day is I set aside a half hour to kind of just go through the, you know, email, feed newsletters, get my daily dose of things, you know, whether I'm in one or two different books, usually it's two at the same time, you know, read a chapter there, listen to podcasts, I travel back and forth. Right now I'm in suburban Philadelphia, but my hometown is suburban Pittsburgh. So I do travel across the state quite a bit. So it gives me about five hours, that I get to listen to podcasts, which is really a good thing. So just really, networking as much as possible. LinkedIn is a really great tool to use to really learn about what's going on too. So I do LinkedIn, check out those things, webinars, you name it, I'm, I'm on it.

Luis Malbas  
So just curious, but do you just listen to lnd podcasts and and take in l&d content, or do you do listen to other stuff, too? No.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
It's just dandy. Really? Yeah. Wow.

Luis Malbas  
Okay. All right. No, that's great. Because I do think that it is totally beneficial to somebody that is really focused on their career to just stay, you know, because I'm terrible at that. I started listening to sports, and I started, you know, like, all of a sudden, I've got Saturday, I live episodes coming on YouTube and stuff. And I really need to keep an eye on that. Because, yeah, I can get distracted really, really quickly. Okay, that's great. That's, that's excellent. So I'm just a fan. Anything in particular, anything anyone else that you can recommend for? For the audience, like outside of TLD See, that, you know, is helpful for you.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Um, you know, I have honestly have you used I'll recommend a toll if you don't mind that way. Um, you Have you used bubble up?

Luis Malbas  
bubble up now? What is that you?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
ll let me see because they smell different turning in my head be you ll be people up, you beat up. Anybody? I don't know if anybody's heard of it bubble up being UL, the bubble up bubble? Yeah, so I absolutely love it. And it's kind of similar to say Pinterest, but yet Dropbox and OneNote. It's like all combined. So you can take and visually organize categories. And so like they're say, there's a link that comes across an article and I'm like, I don't have time to read this right now. But I want to, I just take it and put it into one of the blocks or topic areas and bubble up. Put it in there. Let's say it's on, I don't know, action mapping. So I can drop that article in. I can upload a video I can you know, you instead of having a favorites. It kind of so anything and everything you put in this one space. And so I have a whole list of podcasts somewhere upwards of probably 30 different podcasts and different newsletters that I follow. So there's a whole list out there. Um, I would say that I also get some cool emails once a week from Feedly. I don't know if you use Feedly at all. Sure. Mike Taylor put some stuff out. Yeah, yeah. Like that I go to. So I just have a whole bunch, a whole list. So I can share that with you after the fact.

Luis Malbas  
No, that's greatly and that's great. That's great. Yeah, Mike Taylor definitely has a an excellent newsletter. I subscribe to it. It's, it's always has so much content. Yeah. A lot of stuff in there. No, that's great. Thank you for sharing it. And that I did put a link for bubbleup up in the in the chat. So

Leigh Ann Morgan  
check it out. I'm telling you, you'll get

Luis Malbas  
it looks. It looks really really cool. I'm looking forward to checking it. It's free. Yeah. Awesome. So um, it seems like you're really focused, you're really, like, you're one of those go getters. It looks like in l&d, what keeps you inspired.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Um, you know, I would probably say the learner, the learner keeps me inspired. Because, you know, I don't want I want everybody to have a great learning experience. I want people to be as excited about learning as I am. So I don't want people saying, oh, not another training, or oh, you know, like, Oh, I just got assigned another boring. I want them to say, Wow, I just got another training, you know, so it, take it. So I'm always kind of that's always inspire me keeping that in the back of my mind that this is for them. Whatever I'm doing whatever I'm creating, putting it out there to really get them engaged and fun and really want to learn. So that's what keeps me kind of going and inspired.

Luis Malbas  
Wow, that's great. How many learners do you have right now, like in your in your current job? Um,

Leigh Ann Morgan  
well, there's two, kind of two sides to it. So we have a manufacturing side, which is about 1000. And then we have a professional side, which is about 1000. So the different types of learning that go on, so about 2000 total.

Luis Malbas  
Wow. Okay. That's great. That's great. So now we're going to go back a little bit. Um, you know, you were you have that that master's in dietetics. Yeah. What other kinds of jobs did you work is there's anything that led you in that direction? And like, did you have other forays into education prior to, you know, taking l&d as seriously as you have?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
You know, it's funny that you asked that because in between the two, remember, I said I was teaching at the university and, you know, dietetics, the food nutrition, I moved away. And then a few years had passed, and then I moved back and went to teaching again. But in that few years, I actually owned a hair salon. And I was an educator for Paul Mitchell, which is a big, you know, hair company. So I was educating still then I have my license in cosmetology. So I decided to I decided to kind of go for it when I moved on to the area, and I did open my own salon, and I got together with the Paul Mitchell organization and was able to be one of their trainers. So going and being able to teach classes at different ones and, and that sort of thing. So I never gave up that training was still you know, I enjoyed doing, you know, the, all the things that come with having us along and cutting and coloring and all sorts of that kind of fun stuff. But you know, ultimately, I really liked to traveling, going to different salons and teaching them new techniques or, you know, whatever I was going to do for them that day.

Luis Malbas  
Wow. I mean, was that enough? Why don't you stick with that?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Um, you know, because I moved back. So whenever you move, you're losing all your clients and they were too far. And I was a single mom at the time. So I needed to support and I didn't have the time to build up the clientele again. So that's when I went in, stuck in the direction of going back to teach at the Business College, but yeah, I did. I loved it.

Luis Malbas  
That's great. Yeah, I like Kim's point here. She says science is another continuing theme for you, Leanne. Cuz, yeah, I mean, even with cosmetology, right, you've got Yeah, you're definitely dealing with with some scientific principles there. And then you got Yeah, so, so that's fantastic. Good call there, Kim. Um, so what do you think if you weren't an l&d professional, what would you be?

Leigh Ann Morgan  
I honestly would be a fashion designer. I know. There was little I wanted to be a fashion designers just a, you know, a dream that will never happen. But truly, I would love to be a fashion designer.

Luis Malbas  
That is Yeah, that's amazing. That's great. Because that's your that's, that's number four, right? Because you had cosmetology. Right. You have diabetic

Leigh Ann Morgan  
diet. Yeah. Yeah. process, it's, you know, I love to do to sketch so I love to sketch the clothes, and then take that sketch and go choose the fabric. And then from the fabric, try to make a pattern or drape it. And then there you have the final garment. So it's kind of the same process as ID or for hair, somebody comes in, they sit down, you have this initial, you have your console, right, your needs analysis. Okay, so now we change it, fix it, and then you have the final result. So there is that kind of path? I guess, that same process with me that seems to be now that I have to say this out? Wow.

Luis Malbas  
Well, you have, you actually have like this side hustle that you could totally like, you know, generate tons of income on you could be you could read courses for fashion design courses on dietetics. You know, cosmetology and here you go. You just like, opened up a an online academy selling all right. Oh, there you go all these days? No, that's, that's great. That's great to know. Um, so speaking of good to know, what is one thing that people should know about you? And this is the last question.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
Okay. I would say that I trust my gut. Hmm. So that is one thing. And I can, you know, recommend to people is to trust your gut, because so many times people are second guessing themselves. And that's one thing about me that I don't do. I trust it. I trust the gut. So if something's not looking right to me, and I say, you know, should I put that out? And my gut saying, Don't do it? I don't do it. And so it's just trusting in yourself. Trust that gut.

Luis Malbas  
That's a good one, Leanne. I mean, and you have sort of the, the background to prove it, you've gone look for careers we've talked about so. Yeah, that's amazing. I really respect that. I think it's really, really cool. All right, so it looks like we're we've got some folks wanting you to make some lnd related merch for everybody. So there's another side hustles that you can and yeah, there you go. Yeah, thank you so much for doing this really enjoyed talking to you. Thanks for being patient with the technical problems in the beginning.

Leigh Ann Morgan  
We got I'm sorry if it was my end.

Luis Malbas  
Okay, we got we got through it. We got through it. And everybody, thanks for joining us. And don't forget on Friday, which is I guess, day after tomorrow, exploring freelancing, free event that one, go to the to dc.com you can find out more information there. It's It's a free event. And I think it's gonna be absolutely fantastic. You don't have to be a freelancer to enjoy this one. I can tell because I've been talking to the speakers and I think it's just going to be a great day of just hanging out and talking about your career. So exploring freelancing is happening on Friday. And with that, I'm going to go ahead and sign off. Thanks again, Leanne. Thanks. Bye, everybody. Thanks. Bye bye.

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