We are the alternative learning and development company…

…built for impact-driven leaders, knowledge workers, artists, and their organizations.

Is this you?

Did you know?

So we help folks better understand how learning operates (or doesn’t) in their organzations, specifically around attrition, burnout, engagement, and creativity.

And do something meaningful about it.

Still with me?

Let’s groove as you scroll.

Advice: set to shuffle.

Yes. There are explicit lyrics. Make a good decision for yourself to hit play or not.

Hey y’all, my name is Beth. I am the Founder x CEO of Custom Learning Atelier.

Here’s a little bit about CLA…

We exist because we are fed up with the difference between the promise & potential of learning design and its experienced reality. We are here to elevate the good and disrupt the bad in organized learning design.

The personal bit: CLA has been emotionally curated since 1984 when I first traveled abroad, cognitively curated since 1998 when I changed my major from music to English education, and structurally curated since 2008 when I was told by a doctor that I had debilitating depression and should find a career other than classroom teaching…but I couldn’t let it go. I went on to earn my PhD. in curriculum & instruction so I could understand, articulate, research, and change how learning functions in our lives, at work, and in schools. And throughout, I continue to meet and work with the smartest, coolest, and best humans.

The company was formally established in 2020 after my sister-in-law quoted “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor during one of those fork in the road moments…

“So many times it happens too fast. You trade your passion for glory.

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past. You must fight just to keep them alive.”

“Solid point. Did you just quote Eye of the Tiger? I replied.

“Yes. You’ve come this far. See it through.”

So that’s what I’m doing. Welcome to our Atelier (‘workshop’ in French).

And I cannot do this alone, nor would I want to… Let me introduce you to some of my fabulous colleagues and supporters in this work. Please support them and their work. Cheers,

About you…

‘Cause we’re not for everyone.

  1. You are passion in your purpose.

  2. you believe in the positive impact of human potential and advocate for its prerequisite of protected human rights.

  3. You know that there’s not a scarcity issue on the planet, but a distribution-access-respect-humanity issue.

  4. You’re in a space where you can engage with alternative ways of doing learning and development.

2024 Current Offerings

  • Advisory

    We answer questions, provide guidance, and help you better navigate all things professional learning.

  • Audit

    In 4 weeks, we find out how learning is working (and not working) in your company and what potential is being missed.

  • Map & Trail

    In 4 weeks, get a custom map of your company’s optimal learning terrain and viable trails for your folks to traverse towards individual and collective goals.

  • Project

    We help you elevate your next program, event, or initiative through better learning design.

Benefits of Working with CLA

What does someone get when they work with CLA?

In short? Data, clarity, insights, direction, and guidance.

What kind of data?

Data from interviews, surveys, document analysis, questionnaires, observations, & social media content.

Clarity around what?

Clarity around what’s working and what’s not working in how your folks are learning individually and collectively at work and in their careers.

What kind of insights?

How to meet folks’ career development goals, individual and collective cognitive load capacities, how equitably folks are experiencing professional learning, opportunities to increase learning in the flow of work…

What kind of direction?

What to start doing, what to continue doing, and what to stop doing when it comes to professional learning.

What kind of guidance?

How to equitably and sustainably engage folks in their own professional learning to reach stated individual and collective goals.

21st Century Learning (re)Design

Most learning design - whether formal or informal - corporate or schooling - still has its foundational structures and values in industrialism.

However we’re almost a quarter of the way into the 21st century with contexts, realities, and pressing concerns that were unfathomable during the industrial age.

We are all programmed or conditioned to relate to, use, and engage with learning in a certain way. A way that does not align with values of equity, inclusivity, stakeholder economy, human potential, and using business as a force for good here in the 21st century.

CLA exists to help folks unlearn these conditionalities and redesign learning within their organization and with their external stakeholders in order to uncover the latent potential we have as humans to make the world a better place for humans and the planet.

Ready to talk?

Connect

Our Values.