Today, I’m chatting with Janelle Allen, the instructional design guru and founder of Zen Courses. Janelle is a learning designer at heart so she knows that the most important part of the online course creation process is the students’ transformation. We talk about Janelle’s career transformation including how she grew an agency, had employees, had to let them go, and then rebuilt her business into what it is today. 

 

Working for yourself is a learning experience in and of itself and it’s not always easy or fun, but there are certainly some upsides and personal growth to be had. Our chat today gives us some insight into understanding how online course creation is a lot like life. 

 

 


 

Some things we talk about in this episode:

 

  • Restructuring business
  • Getting out of your own way
  • Including assessments in your course

 

Key takeaways:

 

  • Committing to a new direction
  • Course design is not just about information
  • The three domains of learning
  • Redefining priorities

 

Tips for finding white space:

 

  • Block out “no meeting” days
  • Start the week on Sunday (rest and reflect, take time to outline upcoming week)
  • Daily meditation
  • Creating structure in your day and sticking with it

 

Questions for Janelle:

 

Q: What are you reading?

 

Q: What’s your superpower?

    • Fake: Teleport 
    • Real: Asking questions that people don’t ask

 

Q: What’s an exciting mission you/your team/your family is on now?

    • Accepting others as they are and being open to uncertainty.
    • When you commit to sharing your life with someone, it’s not just committing to the good, happy things.
    • Seeing people as whole human beings who are flawed.

 

Helpful links mentioned:

 

Zen Courses

Janelle on Twitter

 


 

 

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