I was born and raised in Manchester, UK, but I didn't stay put for long. At 18, I moved to the United States, and by 1999, I was working for Carnival Cruise Lines.
That’s where I discovered I had a knack for training. The company noticed too, pulling me into their Corporate Training Department to manage crew centers and develop professional skills for staff at sea. I loved the challenge of helping people grow, and I’ve been in training ever since.
In 2005, I landed in Australia and took on a role with Victoria Police, developing training for recruits at the Academy. It was a crash course in high-stakes learning environments. I learned exactly what happens when projects are managed poorly, constant putting out fires and stop-start workflows. I knew there had to be a better way.
Later, as an Instructional Designer at a major digital agency (Learning Seat), I mastered the agency side of the business; pricing, tracking, and quality assurance. But I also saw the flaws. I was constantly told there was "no budget" for innovation or attending conferences. I felt boxed in.
So, in 2016, I bet on myself. I launched Cath Ellis Learning Design to build the kind of creative, high-quality eLearning I knew clients were craving but weren't getting from big, slow-moving agencies.
