Suzanne Petty, Learning Design

The work itself

Nine live pieces. Every tile opens the real module, video or guide, not a description of it.

Rise 360

Rise 360With Bailey Petty

Building Trust through Tough Talks

A leadership module on opening the conversations managers avoid, built as part of a six-course curriculum.

Open the module →

Storyline

Title screen of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion module

StorylineVitalant

Unveiling Unconscious Bias & Microaggressions

Inclusion training written for a volunteer workforce rather than an office one, so the scenarios match the room people actually work in.

Open the module →

Title screen of the People Systems Introduction module

StorylineWith Bailey Petty

People Systems: Right People, Right Seats

Takes a hiring manager through selection end to end, with the decision points called out where people usually get them wrong.

Open the module →

The Game
of Life

Storyline · game

The Game of Life: Workforce Dimensions Edition

A board-game format turned into software training, so learners meet the system through decisions rather than a click-path tour.

Open in Review 360 →

Vyond animation

VyondWith Bailey Petty

Meet the Cohort

Animated introductions to the characters a leadership cohort follows across an entire programme.

Play the video →

Still frame from the Setting the Stage podcast animation

VyondWith Bailey Petty

Podcast: Setting the Stage

A podcast-format animation used to open a programme, because a conversation lands better than a welcome slide.

Play the video →

Video

Everyday
Leadership

VideoWith Bailey Petty

Everyday Leadership

The anchor film for a leadership programme: what the role looks like on an ordinary Tuesday, not in a crisis.

Play the video →

Guides & handouts

Donor Care
Facilitator's Guide

Facilitator guideVitalant

Donor Care Facilitator's Guide

The document a trainer actually runs a session from, written for donor care staff in an FDA-regulated environment.

Open the PDF →

HandoutWith Bailey Petty

Prioritize Skill Development

A one-page tool for leaders deciding which of their people to develop next, and in what order.

Open the handout →

Three problems worth explaining

The programmes where the hard part was not building the course.

Vitalant · FDA-regulated blood banking

Four system migrations, 800 people, and an auditor at the end of it

You cannot train people on a system that is still being configured. You also cannot wait.

Context

Newly acquired divisions were being folded into the parent organisation across four enterprise software integrations, each affecting a different set of roles under a different licensure deadline.

The problem

Nobody could say what training already existed, what was compliant, or what would stop being true after cutover. The audiences were non-desk: lab technicians, phlebotomists, manufacturing staff, delivery drivers, schedulers and phone support.

What I did

Ran current-state against future-state gap analyses function by function, so the training plan tracked the system cutover instead of trailing it. Partnered with the Integration Management Office to sequence delivery, then built role-based curricula to audit standard rather than to a generic template.

223Training assets built and verified against audit standard

800+Employees carried through the transitions

P.A.C.E.Approved CEU course for nurses and physicians

Macy's Credit & Customer Service

New hires took four weeks to become useful. The content was not the problem.

People were being taught the job rather than being allowed to do it.

Context

A four-week new hire programme for credit and customer service, covering technical systems, fraud risk, compliance and customer handling, delivered to a continuous intake.

The problem

Time to proficiency was slow and seat time was expensive, but every topic in the curriculum was genuinely required. Cutting content was not available as an option.

What I did

Rebuilt the programme around 80% active learning instead of presentation, keeping the full scope and changing how it was practised. Led the ten designers and developers who produced it across Credit, Customer Service and Retail Services.

25%Faster new hire speed-to-proficiency

4→3Weeks of training, with no loss of coverage

10Designers and developers led

Talent Plus · talent consulting

There was no learning function. By the end it was a service line.

The brief was a curriculum. The actual need was a department that could keep producing one.

Context

A talent consultancy with a proprietary development framework, strong subject expertise, and no internal Learning and Development capability to turn either into something clients could use.

The problem

A proprietary framework is not a curriculum. It had to be translated into something people leaders could act on, and the organisation had no authoring standards, no asset library and no platform to deliver it.

What I did

Built the L&D function from nothing, designed a six-course curriculum from the framework, and ran the LearnWorlds LMS rollout: learning paths, content library, platform administration and reporting, alongside the platform administrator.

100+Learning assets across Storyline, Rise, Vyond and Synthesia

6Courses designed from a proprietary framework

NewClient-facing leadership service line created

Where the work happened

Four employers, one through-line: training for work where getting it wrong carries a cost.

Jul 2024 – present

Journey Quest Academy, LLC

Learning Experience Designer & Instructional Designer

SweetRush, Jul 2024 – present · Ninja Tropic, Jan 2025 – present

Storyboarded courses for nonprofit foundations on Principle-Based Management, economic decision-making, Job Readiness Assessment, SNAP Employment and Training, Business Canvas and Venture Criteria.
Led design end to end on a client's pilot course and the keystone programme that followed, producing storyboards for talking-head video, Rise 360 and Storyline, and authoring the participant workbooks directly.
Delivered client-ready work across concurrent engagements in a remote contracting environment.

Jun 2024 – Nov 2025

Talent Plus

Instructional Designer

Built the internal Learning and Development function from nothing and turned it into a client-facing leadership development service line.
Designed a six-course curriculum from a proprietary talent framework, producing 100+ assets across Storyline, Rise 360, Vyond, Synthesia, handouts, reflection guides and job aids.
Ran the LearnWorlds LMS rollout, building learning paths and managing the content library with the platform administrator.

Apr 2019 – Jun 2024

Vitalant

Interim L&D Manager, then Instructional Designer

Interim Manager, Feb – Jun 2024 · Instructional Designer, Apr 2019 – Feb 2024

Directed learning strategy for four enterprise software integrations affecting 800+ employees across newly acquired divisions.
Ran gap analyses across every function in an FDA-regulated environment, then built 223 training assets aligned to audit standard.
Designed role-based curricula for lab technicians, phlebotomists, manufacturing staff, delivery drivers, schedulers and phone support.
Developed a P.A.C.E.-approved continuing education course for nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Managed a team of five as interim manager: priorities, timelines, stakeholder reviews, deliverables.

May 2011 – Apr 2019

Macy's Credit & Customer Service

Senior Manager, then Manager, Instructional Design

Senior Manager, Apr 2015 – Apr 2019 · Manager, May 2011 – Apr 2015

Led and mentored a team of ten instructional designers and eLearning developers across Credit, Customer Service and Retail Services.
Lifted new hire speed-to-proficiency by 25% by rebuilding the programme to 80% active learning, cutting training from four weeks to three.
Ran the full design lifecycle for technical, procedural, compliance and client-facing learning, including software simulations, SOPs and job aids.
Facilitated instructor-led and virtual sessions for Credit and Retail Services audiences.

I make complicated work learnable.

The work itself

Rise 360

Building Trust through Tough Talks

Storyline

Unveiling Unconscious Bias & Microaggressions

People Systems: Right People, Right Seats

The Game of Life: Workforce Dimensions Edition

Vyond animation

Meet the Cohort

Podcast: Setting the Stage

Video

Everyday Leadership

Guides & handouts

Donor Care Facilitator's Guide

Prioritize Skill Development

Three problems worth explaining

Four system migrations, 800 people, and an auditor at the end of it

Context

The problem

What I did

New hires took four weeks to become useful. The content was not the problem.

Context

The problem

What I did

There was no learning function. By the end it was a service line.

Context

The problem

What I did

Where the work happened

Learning Experience Designer & Instructional Designer

Instructional Designer

Interim L&D Manager, then Instructional Designer

Senior Manager, then Manager, Instructional Design

About

Authoring

Creative

Platforms

Credentials

Let's talk

Email

Phone

Based in