Happy New Year
As 2020 rings in, I feel blessed to be back in my hometown (Manchester) spending the holidays with my Wife, Mum, Sister and my Brothers gorgeous family.
You see...we decided last minute to fly home and surprise my Mum. It's been 20 years since I've been home for Christmas. There was no snow, but we had a blast!
What's happened over the last ten years?
The last ten years have been a blur...I've accomplished so much and I've grown the most professionally.
I can honestly say I'm living the dream, working for myself, choosing what projects I want to work on and having the time to speak at conferences across the globe.
2010 - 2011
I started the decade working for Victoria Police at the Police Academy.
My boss (Teresa) was incredibly supportive and encouraged me to work on a variety of different projects.
It was here that my skills grew and I found my passion for Problem Based Learning, Evaluation and eLearning.
2012
This was the year that I started to doubt my academic skill!
My work meant everything to me and I was disheartened when a peer embarrassed me in front of the team saying I wouldn't understand a concept "because I didn't have a degree"!
Looking back at it now, I know he was just a grumpy old man who was jealous of the exciting projects I was working on!
I did some research and found a great course at Monash University which was for people like me who had lots of experience in the industry but didn't have a degree.
I was thrilled to get stuck into my Bachelor of Adult Learning and Development and my research allowed me to flourish!
2013
As you do when you start to research different concepts, I started to get itchy feet!
I started applying for other jobs and was offered a position with an amazing creative learning team in Melbourne.
I loved their creative writing, design skills and the camaraderie that they shared. It felt like home.
The thing I learnt the most this year was how to run a successful eLearning project and to stay on budget.
2014
This was a big academic year for me!
I graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Adult Learning and Development and straight away was accepted at the University of Melbourne on the Master of Education (specialising in Digital Technologies in Education).
I also went home for my Dad's 70th Birthday, which was wonderful.
2015
Without a doubt, this was my favourite year this decade!
It started with me shaving my head, in which I've kept on and off for the last five years!
I bought my first house and I met my wife in the same month.
The year was a total blur and it was topped off with us getting married.
2016
This was a year of change.
Sick and tired of the commute, I quit my job and went back to work for another government agency.
We travelled non-stop, including a trip back to Manchester to spend time with my family!
We bought a new house and after being inundated with freelance work jobs all year I took the plunge and quit my job to start my own business.
2017
This was a year of highs and lows.
It started with us cruising from Sydney to San Francisco, which was an amazing experience.
Not long after we got home my Dad passed away!
I was inundated with work which kept me busy and we got our puppy Ziggy who distracted me from my sadness.
I won a iDesignX Impact Award and went to LasVegas to attend DevLearn...which was life-changing.
The year ended with me encouraging my wife to start her own business...which grew exponentially!
2018
This was a year full of success! Not only for me, but also for my wife's business CoAbility.
The induction that I built for her business won multiple LearnX Impact Awards.
I was asked to speak at iDesignX in Brisbane on creating interactive videos and spent significant time learning how to create Amazon Alexa Skills.
I graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Education (specialising in Digital Technologies in Education).
At the end of the year I was chosen to facilitate a BYOD session at DevLearn in Las Vegas.
CoAbility's induction ended up winning 'Best Induction' at DemoFest.
2019
This has been my busiest year yet!
I worked with amazing brands all over the world and was able to travel doing so.
I created a really great piece of work for the Transport Accident Commission called 'The Fallout' and was honoured to present a session at LearnX with the SME walking through our process.
I was offered another spot at DevLearn to facilitate a session on designing learning apps in Adapt and also a Morning Buzz session on pricing eLearning.
I was thrilled that the eLearning Guild chose my t-shirt design to use as the official DevLearn shirt this year and to win best Business Process Solution at DemoFest.
My year was topped off with an invite from the eLearning Guild to be a member of their Advisory Board.
I'm not sure how the next decade will top the last!
