Bring Out the Talent: A Learning and Development Podcast

The Great Career Pivot: From School Teacher to Corporate L&D

October 17, 2022 Maria Melfa & Jocelyn Allen Season 3 Episode 3
Bring Out the Talent: A Learning and Development Podcast
The Great Career Pivot: From School Teacher to Corporate L&D
Show Notes Transcript

Changing careers has become a growing movement among our current workforce. A recent poll has found that approximately 52% of American employees are considering making a career change, and 44% have already embarked on making the switch.

One area seeing tremendous change is teachers pivoting away from academia and moving toward corporate learning and development positions. In this episode of “Bring Out The Talent,” we speak with Cyndi Threatt, Manager of Learning and Development at American Credit Acceptance. Cyndi was a 4th-grade teacher who after 7 years, pivoted into the corporate L&D space. She has since built a successful L&D department from the ground up and hired two teachers turned L&D contractors.  Cyndi discusses why teachers have the right skills and background that can help them quickly transition into corporate America.

Tune in as we explore the career journey from a teacher to a learning and development professional!

Bring Out The Talent - Cyndi Threatt

Dave Yas: Welcome to bring up the talent. The podcast. Uh, learning and development experts, discussing innovative approaches and industry insights. Tune in to hear our talent help develop yours. Now, here are your hosts, TTA CEO, and President Maria Malfa and talent manager, Jocelyn Allen. 

Maria: Hi everybody. This is Maria. 

Jocelyn: Hi everybody. My name's Jocelyn. We're glad you are back here with us as always. Maria it is warm and sunny in New England. Finally summer is here. I'm so excited about it. 

Maria: Absolutely beautiful day. So I actually did a outside lunch meeting, so it worked out really nice, perfect day for us. So today we're talking about a very interesting topic that we have seen a big trend in. We have seen a whole lot of people who were in academia, specifically working in. K through 12, that have decided to make the change into the corporate learning and development world. So we are very excited to have our guest talk about how she made that change, why she made that change and any more information for anybody that is listening to this that might be thinking of making this change. 

And today's episode we speak with Cyndi Threatt. Who's the manager of learning and development at American Credit Acceptance. Cyndi was a fourth grade teacher who after seven years pivoted into the corporate learning and development space. She has gone on to establish a successful learning and development department from the ground up. And has even hired two teachers from the academia world. Tune in, as we explore the journey from teacher to instructional designer. Welcome Cyndi. 

Cyndi Threatt: Thanks for having me. 

Jocelyn: So we're really excited to talk to you about your specific journey, because I think that there are going to be a lot of people who are curious about this and can actually relate to what you went through or what you experienced. Right? 

Cyndi Threatt: Absolutely. Yeah. 

Jocelyn: Great. Well, your story is similar to, like I said, a lot of people right now who are pivoting from a school teacher to diving into the L and D corporate world. So after seven years, as a fourth grade teacher as you were, and what an age too. Right? So that adds a whole other thing to it. But what inspired you to leave your teaching position ultimately? 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah, that's a great question. So I just found out pretty quickly in my teaching career, that it was not going to be a sustainable career for me, for the future. Mainly because of the fulfillment that I was getting, and it was very dramatic swings of fulfillment, right. It was either really great things that I could see that those light bulb moments that were coming on. And then there was the very, very low of lows where you're never meeting all targets, you're never going to have a hundred percent of your students on or above grade level. And so that constant feedback of you're not doing enough when you feel like you're putting your heart and soul into everything, it can be really discouraging. So from a fulfillment standpoint, I knew that it just wasn't sustainable for me. And I, I knew that I was going to end up doing something else. 

Maria: Yeah, and we have been hearing that a lot, as we mentioned, I even have a niece who is a teacher and I know she is kind of thinking about that right now, too, about making a change. 

Jocelyn: I'm seeing it a lot on my TikTok not to be that person, but a lot of videos right now, are of people putting themselves out there and making that change. So, I mean, it's been a difficult last several years too for a lot of people. 

Cyndi Threatt: I could not imagine teaching through COVID. Like I could not have imagined. I knew the stress then, and kind of the, what I experienced, the lack of autonomy and stuff that I had. I couldn't imagine it another layer on top of that.

Jocelyn: Your's was considered in the normal world of teaching. Right. What would you say are some of the advantages that a teacher turned instructional designer or perhaps another role within L and D? Right. Cause there's a lot of them that a teacher could swing into. What are the benefits that being a teacher prior and then stepping into this role, adds to an organization? 

Cyndi Threatt: Oh, so, I mean, I feel like teachers just bring the fun and just a new perspective. So education is completely different from the corporate world. And I know like stepping in, I had, no, I didn't know how the corporate world worked. And so I would just throw out all my ideas right. And some were like grabbed and then some were like, Ooh, we should think about that you know, from a different perspective. And I think when you have somebody who doesn't know the norm, they can help shatter some certain rules or regulations or things that were in place that maybe weren't working. So having that outside perspective, and teachers are just fun and they're hard workers always. A teacher is always going to be a hard working individual that is very self-motivated. 

Maria: It must be exciting to have the availability to work on different tools that you probably didn't get to work on when you were a teacher. 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah. I think one big difference stepping in is that whatever I felt like I needed, I was given. And it wasn't a question of can we budget for this? It was like, oh, you need this to do your job, here you go. So I needed, you know, some specific software for video editing. Oh, okay. There was never a question of like, should I buy this? No it was just given to me. And then I get to work with people from multiple different backgrounds. So I've learned a little bit about design tools that I didn't know before. Like my company specifically uses. Venngage as our graphics tool, similar to Canvas. You've heard of that, but just having the ability to see different platforms and. And then get what I need without what 

Jocelyn: I was gonna say without the restriction, right? 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah. 

Jocelyn: Yeah. Another funny thing that I saw, cause I keep, you know, I relate everything to either a TikTok or a Family Guy episode. We'll see how many of each I get on this one. But I, another thing that I saw was a teacher who was like confused by the fact that she didn't have to pay anybody back for the lunch that was brought into the office and that she didn't have to tell anybody if she wanted to pop out for five minutes to go to Starbucks and get it approved. And it's just there, it's funny, you know, in a certain way, but also the realization of kind of like, I don't know, maybe some of the restriction that a smart and hard working and creative brain, like the ones that are educators in our system have, you know, That they have at least in a certain capacity when they're in these kinds of roles. And so branching out must've been like one of the most fulfilling things ever. 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah, absolutely. 

Jocelyn: Opened a lot of doors. What's the flip side of that though? What do you think, like, do you feel, was there any stifling of your creativity? Cause like I imagine, you know, the bulletin boards and the things like that, especially for fourth grade, right. There's gotta be a little bit of that still. Do you feel, is there any sort of stifling of that sort of creativity or like what sort of challenges were brought when you were making your transition? 

Cyndi Threatt: Oh, that's a great question. So I would say the biggest challenge in my transition doesn't really go along with creativity, but was just getting my foot in the door. Like that was the biggest challenge for me, is finding somebody who would take a chance. And I don't know why the stigma of teacher on the resume, like it's a stigma, but just trying to help people understand that those skillsets. They are cross-functional right. And they transition really well into the corporate world. I would say once I was here and I think it really depends on the company that you work for too. And the culture that they have, I was just really lucky. To be in a space where I felt like. I had a lot of autonomy and all of my voice was heard. And if I wanted to do something or create something, I was given that right. So I don't get to decorate bulletin boards and I have asked actually for some paper for some of our like freestanding bulletin boards in the break room and stuff like that. 

Jocelyn: Still comes back around. The bulletin boards are still a thing that's great.

Cyndi Threatt: I love doing bulletin boards. Like I love them. So there might be a little bit of that missing, but I feel like if anything, my creative side has really just been pushed because I get to discover ways to make adults have fun learning and, and that's really fulfilling as well. 

Maria: That's fantastic. I know, one big thing and actually a company value of TTA is that everybody has to have a growth mindset. And when you look at a teacher, you probably in most cases have a growth mindset. That's why you went into teaching because you loved learning and you love teaching people to learn. So that in itself makes teachers very strong candidates for like a learning and development, corporate role. Because you really need to have the growth mindset in any role, but especially in learning and development. 

Jocelyn: And then resourcefulness too, right. That's a huge part of being a team. When you think about like developing your own curriculums and et cetera, et cetera. You know, the resourcefulness that you have, I think is, you know, unmatchable especially. That's all learning and development is right as learning, and resources, and continuing to grow from there. I love seeing this transition, I think for a while it was like the stigma that you're talking about, the way that I look at it is that for so long, And not to say it in this way to make it sound a certain way, but it's like, if you're a teacher, that's what you are. So you'll always be a teacher, you'll retire after working at the same school for 30, 40, 50 years. Right. And we saw all of our own teachers do that. We continue to see teachers do that. So you see it on a resume. It's like, well, what else are you going to know? 

Cyndi Threatt: For a teacher you're either a teacher or you're an admin or that's it. Like there are no, there's no growth path there for you. 

Jocelyn: But you're right. It is about being, finding ways to make your skills work for other areas. For sure. And again, that's part of your own growth mindset is understanding that, that's what you needed to do, to kind of put yourself out there. 

Maria: So Cyndi, you mentioned that you hired two teachers to be part of your learning and development team. What kind of feedback do you provide to candidates who are not qualified? Like after the first round of interviews?

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah. So I am really passionate about giving feedback to candidates who are teachers especially, and who are just not ready. I just think of a when certain scenario, I interviewed a girl four our Learning Management systems for all that we had open and basically a learning management is a simple way to say, like how you send out like e-learning and document stuff. And teachers use this everyday. They have one, they use it, especially if you were a teacher during COVID like Google classroom is very prevalent in here. If you've went through grad school, you've done Moodle or Blackboard. You have touched the learning management system as an educator at some point in time in your life. 

But she didn't know that lingo, like she had no idea what an LMS was. And when I asked her the question, like, all right, tell me about some LMS systems that you've worked in. She was like well I haven't worked in an LMS before and I was like, you don't use the Google classroom right now? She was like, oh yeah, yeah I use that every day. So she had no clue about the job she was applying for. And so I was very intentional about sitting down with her and say, okay, You have a great personality. You have all these skills that transfer. And once I was able to, you know, coach you a little bit, you were like, oh, some light bulbs are coming on. You got to do your pre-work. And so that's the majority of my feedback is find somebody in the field that you want to be in, find them on LinkedIn, find them on Facebook, find them through word of mouth. However you find them. Find somebody. Sit down with them and just have a conversation. And have those light bulb moments for yourself about where your skills bring value. 

Maria: Important feedback. In your opinion, Cyndi, do you feel further education such as a master's degree is necessary in order to be successful in the corporate learning and development career? Especially as you have seen the transition.

Cyndi Threatt: So I would say definitely not. That's the route I went because I didn't know. I didn't know any better. Like I was like, all right, I've got to do something different. And so I went and got my master's in instructional technology, but now that I'm here and I see how cross-functional things are, there is no reason that a teacher would have to go out and get a master's degree. So many of the things that they are doing every day in the classroom are exactly what they would be doing in a corporate environment. 

 If anything, there are tutorials like online. To learn software like Articulate or Adobe Captivate or any kind of video editing software. And I would say that would be a very good resource. But I don't think by any stretch that someone would need a master's degree in order to make that transition. 

Maria: That's interesting to have you discuss that because I know that's been a very hot topic right now about what is a college education worth? What is a master's degree education worth? And, you know, there's a lot to say on that, especially like when you're looking in fields that are like specialized, where, like you mentioned, you could take like certification classes or go through some of these webinars or tutorials. Do you feel that you learned anything in your master's degree program that applied? And if so, like, would you say like very little so from a scale from 0 to 10, What do you think? How much of that information you learned actually applies to your job? 

Cyndi Threatt: So I would say my master's program was very beneficial. It was Instructional Technology. So it was very focused on the, there was a whole design section, which I found really valuable. I learned offering tools in that program. However, I will say that as a teacher, coming in like first, second, third year I had a lot of debt from my undergrad, that I just wasn't making any ground on because I didn't have a sustainable income. To really like hone in on that debt and if there was a way for me to go back now and do it cheaper than getting a master's degree. I totally would. 

That doesn't negate from, I did find a lot of value in my program. It was, I would say on a scale of 0 of 10, it was probably about an eight in what I took away and it gave me, it provided me a lot of opportunity to have peer level feedback and, pushed me to be more of a leader within my school system. And be a teacher of teachers. Which I think prepared me for the role that I'm in now. But there are ways to do that without getting a master's degree for sure. 

Maria: It's interesting that you talk about the peer feedback, because that is something that's so invaluable. And I bet that there is a lot of need for that. Like you mentioned especially for teachers that are transferring. 

Jocelyn: Right. Kind of having that collaboration team, like little things like, specialized groups on, I don't know, LinkedIn or like meetings at your former college that you did go to of people who are making these transitions. I know that, TTA has groups that were like, we incorporate into our network so that there is a community around these areas. So talking about it and getting people active. What helped you? What, what did you do to make this move? I think it really is, it depends on when you figure out when, what your specialized thing is going to be, but there's nothing wrong with like starting somewhere else early on and changing your mind or nailing it on the first try. You know, it's just about understanding what like really is supposed to work for you. And what skills about what you're in now are your favorite so that you can catapult them into something else. 

Cyndi Threatt: Exactly like a teacher could walk into any kind of corporate training position right off the street and nail it. Yeah. We have on our front facing side of, I manage mainly the back facing side. So our designers and our learning management system operators. And, I have an operational development specialists to do like competency development, but we have another half of L and D that's very front facing, which is made up of all of our trainers right. And an onboarding specialist. And one of them is also a teacher that we hired. She was a teacher for 19 years in elementary school and came in and nailed it every day as a trainer.

Maria: It's great to hear what a great story. 

Jocelyn: Now you've said a couple of times, that there are several things that right off the bat can make teachers really great fits for the L and D world. So like what are 1, 2, 3 of those things that you see on a very regular basis that you're like, teachers do this. 

Cyndi Threatt: So I would say. One, they're really intentional about creating like movement and interaction into learning to make it hands-on and easily digestible. Especially if it's a really complicated topic. They work to understand how today, you know, teach this, how do I learn this? And then how can I teach this and, and have them apply that. Two, I would say that they're really data driven. So that's just something that's ingrained in teaching is constantly looking at data. And three, I would just say, like they are lifelong self-motivated learners. So there's never a, I haven't found a need to like push someone to continue their own personal growth and development and continue looking for new ways of doing things or new technologies or, more fun, like innovative things that we can put into training. Just because it's really natural. 

Maria: I love that, especially now when a lot of our training engagements have switched to the virtual environment. And you do have like a whole other element where a lot of our corporate trainers. We're not fully prepared on switching to the virtual environment because they didn't know fully how to like engage the students, how to chop things up into shorter, like learning sessions, having these hands-on exercises. So you could see all these things that teachers are doing to get the kids motivated, are really the same principles of what learning and development trainers have to do to get their audience trained. So it's, it's really interesting. I, for the first time, I realized about that like, aha, like wow. That's really interesting because that is another really strong skillset that would really make the transition to the corporate training world, like much easier. 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah. I'm really adaptable to whatever is going on, teachers are very adaptable in any scenario 

Jocelyn: Right. All the Tommy's and Timmy's, and Julia's of the world made them adaptable to situations. But I agree because even there's those things that you mentioned from engagement and data, like data, I think is a huge one too, because how often our clients in the corporate world, because if we're speaking from, you know, our perspective of a lot of our business being like custom solutions and contract deployment. And then the other being, you know, direct hire placement, which we know we worked with you on, but the two most important things are like, how do we keep our people engaged? Because this is incredibly important. And we're talking about adults who will absolutely find better things to do with their time while they're on the training and to how do we know that that actually happens? Like, what results are you going to give me? Where's my ROI? Where are my figures that tell me that this has been implemented properly? So like those two things, right aware, like right away, got me jazzed up. Well, look at that. 

Cyndi Threatt: When I started here, we had no way to measure if training was effective. And that was like my first big red flag. I'm like, oh, how do you know if what you're doing is, is good. Right? And I feel like the more we add teachers to our team the better we just get at proving the value. And so we've gotten, when I started, at ACA, we were a team of four, we're a team of 11 learning and development now because we've proved our value and our worth through data driven stuff. 

Jocelyn: That's the teacher speak it stuff, right? 

Cyndi Threatt: All the stuff we. All the things. 

Maria: So before we get to our direct hire department Brian. And I know you worked with Brian. How do you find your teachers? Where do you go to find them? 

Cyndi Threatt: So I have lots of very personal connections. It's just people that I have worked with throughout the years. LinkedIn is also a really great place. I would say those are probably the two. The biggest yep. 

Jocelyn: So as we have been talking about, just here in there, we did work with you for direct hire placements. We know we have two people or two elementary school teachers that you now have working with you in corporate L and D roles. So why can you tell us, do you feel that those candidates have been working out so well for you and how do you think their past experiences have made them a really great fit for ACA and your team in general? Cause we're talking about like something really specific here where it's a culture fit too. 

Cyndi Threatt: Yeah, I would say, just in general, we are a very agile Company. And I've like I've mentioned before, I feel like teachers are really adaptable. So both individuals, one of them is an instructional designer and one of them is an LMS admin. And both of them have come in and just given a really fresh perspective to what we're doing. Already I have just been really impressed. Both of them are relatively new but I've been just very impressed by the initiative that they are taking to, take our training to like a next level, or just take ownership of different procedures. So our designer that was hired, her name is Rachel. She came in and quickly was like, Hey, I think we could make our onboarding experience just a little bit better. And here's some ideas I have around, you know, the guide that we give out on onboarding. And here's some ideas about some activity that we could incorporate throughout the day. And just, she was like on fire, ready to go, and wasn't afraid to share those things. And so she picked that project up, we were like, all right, here you go. There's a project for you and she's running with it. I absolutely loved that. Did I answer your question? 

Jocelyn: Yes, of course you did. Absolutely. And it's just another, I know kind of, some of these have been layered on each other, but really it's about diving into what resources are available to you. What skills can you use today in your career? Teacher or not really, that will help you propel yourself to the next level of what you're capable of? What organizations are looking for? These type of people in order for their own growth and success. So pinpointing specific things, whether it comes from your prior experience and as you transitioned into your new role or things that you see on the day-to-day that are just call-outs for you about why teachers are a great fit. 

Or your specific experience hiring these people and why they are doing what they do successfully are all different reasons. Why you can look at yourself differently and propel your skills to do something better. So I think everything that you've given us today is Grade a top choice meat. Love it. 

Cyndi Threatt: I've always said that there's a lot of coaching on that. You can go to the bathroom whenever you want to. I mean, you don't have to. 

Maria: Oh, that's, that's funny. My niece is actually getting married. The one who I told you as a teacher, she's getting married in October. And I saw Sarah last week and I'm like, so what are you guys doing for your honeymoon? She's just like we can't 'cause I can't take time off. I'm like, of course you can take time off. She was like, no, I can't. I think we're going to try to do something you know, during Christmas vacation or, you know, February or April. So, I was talking to her all about maybe she should join the corporate learning and development world. I'm sorry to her school if they're listening. But we can't just knock down our school system because it is a very important job, and there's a lot of, you know, benefits. There's a lot of people that do have a lifelong, very fulfilling career, but right, there are options. And that's what we're talking about. As Jocelyn said, it's not that you know, like any other career, you don't just have to stay in one lane for your whole life right. 

Cyndi Threatt: Absolutely. And I think, speaking for myself as a former teacher and just knowing the teachers that are on my team, we are all very big advocates for education and constantly are floating and sending all of our thoughts, to whoever needs to hear them. I'm a very big advocate for the public education system. I have children that go through that. 

Maria: Absolutely. 

Cyndi Threatt: There are options and teachers are not just limited to the one thing. And I think that they should know that. And a lot of times they don't. 

Maria: So Cyndi, as we wrap up, what advice can you share with our listeners who are in the academic space, but might want to make a move into the corporate learning and development world? 

Cyndi Threatt: So I have two things. I think that I would say one, on the tactical side, just to apply for everything and apply at all times of the year. So companies don't hire just in the summer, you can't wait for the summer to come around and decide, am I going to sign my contract or not? Choose to make that leap and go for it and just put as many applications as you can out there and be ready to make the jump. If that's what you want to do. And then the second thing would to be just to know your worth and I think that we've talked about that a little bit, that teachers are smart, capable, you know, highly educated, lifelong learners. With a lot of passion and a lot of skill and they bring a lot of value to more than just the classroom and they should know that. 

Jocelyn: What a great way to end. Yeah, but we do have one final thing for you as we discuss Cyndi it's time for the TTA 10. 

Dave Yas: The TTA 10, 10 final questions. 

Jocelyn: All right, Cyndi. So as we discussed briefly, before the show started, we have the TTA 10 segment. So I have 10 really fun questions to ask you. We're going to put 90 seconds on the clock. The goal is to get whatever answers you have out of your system in 90 seconds or less, and we will celebrate you. And if we do not make it in 90 seconds, then we will do something else instead. But all in good fun. 

So Cyndi, are you ready? 

Cyndi Threatt: I am ready. 

Jocelyn: Fantastic, David, please give me 90 seconds on the clock. 

Dave Yas: Jocelyn beginning right now.

Jocelyn: All right appropriately so what was your least favorite subject in school? 

Cyndi Threatt: To do or to teach?

Jocelyn: Either one. 

Cyndi Threatt: Math to do writing to teach. 

Jocelyn: What was the last book you finished? 

Cyndi Threatt: The things we cannot say. 

Jocelyn: Name any green fruit. 

Cyndi Threatt: An apple. 

Jocelyn: What is the 10th letter of the alphabet? 

Cyndi Threatt: J. 

Jocelyn: What is your go-to karaoke song? 

Cyndi Threatt: Oh, I don't sing karaoke. How about Getting Jiggy With it by Will Smith. 

Jocelyn: Oh, what's your favorite place that you've ever traveled to? 

Cyndi Threatt: Seattle Washington. 

Jocelyn: In the little mermaid. What is the name of Ariel's pet fish? 

Cyndi Threatt: Flounder. My favorite! 

Jocelyn: If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would you choose? 

Cyndi Threatt: Sushi. 

Jocelyn: What's your favorite reality TV show? 

Cyndi Threatt: The Circle. 

Jocelyn: And what is your favorite movie? 

Cyndi Threatt: The Little Mermaid. Ironically. 

Jocelyn: Wow. All right. We've completed our 10 questions. Let's get the time please. 

Dave Yas: Jocelyn, you will not be surprised to hear that Cyndi has completed the TTA 10 in just one minute and 15 seconds. Well, under the threshold. 

So now as a result. We will celebrate. Cyndi style. 

The pride of North Carolina, we're told, and you are a TTA 10 Champion. You may therefore shout this news from the top of the Appalachian mountains. Amaze your friends and include it on your resume. Now that you have achieved this covenant honor, you'll be respected and loved by captains of industry, heads of state and fellow North Carolinians, Ava Gardner, Cathy Griffith and Zach Galifianakis. The sun will shine brighter for you. Food will taste better. And life will have new meaning. First the Wright brothers famously took off from Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. And now the state will be just as proud of you, Cyndi, because you are a GTA 10 champion! 

Jocelyn: Cyndi you will be very surprised to know that I've asked the Flounder question seven times, and I think only one other person has answered it correctly. It blows my mind too I'm like, there's one fish. There's one fish in Disney. Well, no, there's no, cause there's not there's two cause most people say Nimo. 

Well all right that was fabulous. Cyndi and David, another rock star performance on the sound effects. And Cyndi, you were a delight. 

Maria: We really loved hearing your journey. Fantastic information. And I think it will be very helpful. I'm sorry. 

Cyndi Threatt: No, I just want to say thank you for having me. This is a lot of fun. 

Maria: Fantastic information. I think that it will really help a lot of other people looking to possibly switch into this career. Thank you. Thank you very much. 

Jocelyn: If you're an educator looking to become an independent professional register with our talent network on TTA Connect by visiting us @thetrainingassociates.com. We'll see you later.