The work bit
After studying for a degree in Communication Studies, I began my training career over 20 years ago with TNT UK Ltd. My passion for helping others learn soon saw me progress to a role as Regional Training Officer, where I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Learning and Development (MCIPD). My experience within both a multi-national and a family run logistics business have given me experience of the full training cycle from training needs analysis to delivery and evaluation. During my maternity leave from my role as Commercial Training Manager, I continued my love of learning by qualifying as an Antenatal Teacher. It enabled me to keep my training skills fresh and my mind active whilst dealing with 2 small children! Since taking up my current role, I have continued my development as a trainer by becoming an accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor.
More than just my CV, I hope I bring a vibrancy and exuberance for what I do. This is often reflected in the feedback I get:
‘Annie was fantastic at delivering the presentation with great content which I will personally find very useful.’
‘Annie’s delivery style and enthusiasm were brilliant – she’s very engaging.’
I am super chatty and can engage with everyone. My straight-talking, down to earth nature offer a refreshing approach in a training world that can be filled with jargon!
Please give me a call if you want to discuss any training needs you might have. I am always happy to chat! With my knowledge and enthusiasm, I am ideally positioned to advise you on your training and development needs.
The personal bit
I live in Nottinghamshire with my two children and our cute rescue dog, Anna. I bring a love for vintage clothes and often a flash of bright pink hair to the office. Who knows what the next outfit or hair colour will be! 1980’s batwings seem to be making quite an appearance at the moment! When I can, I will often help my friend out in his hair salon to feed my love of chatting and of course get the next bright colour or cut in exchange!
I love to hit the gym and lift some heavy weights – dodgy back allowing! This is to offset my love of all things sweet. I also love Star Wars and Marvel. Yes, I am a bit of a film geek! At weekends I am often seen chilling wearing my Star Wars jumper, jeans and trainers in sharp contrast to ‘Office Annie’. I love to read a variety of non-fiction books as I have a real passion for not only helping others learn but also for my own. You will often see articles on our website where I discuss my thoughts on the books I have read or those that have particularly influenced my thinking. Take a look!
My thoughts on training bit
My love of helping others learn first came when I was training new members of my customer service team. It was mostly on-the-job training that had to be delivered, so I created helpful reminder and knowledge sheets that I would laminate (got to love a laminator!). I really enjoyed seeing the development in people and how they would progress. Even better was seeing those same people getting promoted or moving sideways into roles they loved. Training then became my focus and over 20 years later I am still enjoying it.
Working in training has so many facets to it – working with the client to uncover exactly what their needs are, scoping the project to get the detail of what improvements are needed, researching and designing the session, the actual delivery, evaluating its success, and working with the client to follow-up.
I love the creativity of the design work but even after all this time, I always seem to underestimate how long this takes! I love the feeling of creating something new that will ultimately enable others to develop or improve. The delivery part enables me to meet some great new people. My style is very facilitative so I actively encourage my delegates to share their thoughts and best practice. Surely many heads are better than one!
Whilst I am more than happy to waffle on about the theory behind a lot of topics as I am a bit of a book worm, my focus always has to be on the practical application of the sessions I design and run. What will the delegates be able to do differently as a result? What will they be able to take back to their workplace to implement? When time and resources are short, clients want the best bang for their buck and this means being very clear from the outset what the result of the training will be and using the time wisely when I design and deliver.
Online learning has opened up a whole new amazing world of opportunities for both me as a trainer and for my clients. We are not constrained by location or by training room provision. One session I delivered recently had a delegate who was in his living room in Amsterdam. Awesome! Whilst I am sure online learning has established itself firmly in the lives of many organisations I very much look forward to the time when I can get back out there face-to-face with some of you fabulous people.
Training rocks!
What people say about Annie
Annie in action!
