Meet
Kimberly Lirette – Mentor
Zones of Genius
- Storyline
- Wellsaid Labs
- Rise
- Zoom/Teams Skills
- Camtasia
- Vyond
What job/career did you transition from?
Before becoming an instructional designer, I was a classroom teacher. I taught high school math for 6 years, 5 of which was 9th grade. I taught 11th grade for my first year of teaching. In addition to teaching my classes, I also co-advised the Math Team, which was our version of Mathletes. Prior to my career in teaching, I worked as an actuarial assistant at a life insurance company, and was studying to become an actuary.
Why did you join AIDA?
I joined AIDA because I knew I wanted to leave teaching and enter the L&D field, but I wanted to make sure I had the skills and knowledge to find a job quickly and be successful. AIDA offered a robust program and was more affordable than some of the other instructional design programs available. I ended up doing Jill’s week-long free workshop, and was sold on her program very quickly because the program was very structured, clear and supportive.
How did AIDA set you up for Success?
AIDA helped me gain the technical skills I needed to be successful in my role, as well as all of the knowledge and skills needed in the design phase of instructional design. One thing that I felt was particularly helpful was the all of the job preparation support. AIDA mentors helped me get my resume, portfolio and LinkedIn tailored to my new role as an instructional designer. The support system that AIDA provides helped me keep momentum as I was going through this program and working full-time as a teacher, and also helped me overcome my self-doubts. I was well-equipped right away when I was hired for my current role.
What do you love about AIDA?
I love the support and sense of community. I feel like mentors were very quick to answer my questions and help me along my way. I also really appreciate how this program was designed with full-time workers in mind. I was able to attend mentor-led trainings and coaching calls on top of working full-time as a teacher since the calls took place in the evenings and weekends. I also loved the pod system. I still keep in touch with my pod family! (January 2022, pod 4 shoutout!)
What are you doing now?
I’m currently working full-time for for a property and casualty insurance company. My roles is hybrid, so I work in-office part of the week and work from home the rest of the week. I help design and develop training to support the business insurance unit. I love it!
