ABOUT ME
It's pronounced "Care-uh" like I care a lot about you.
From Amazon to silicon components, medical insurance to adult education: I've had a dynamic learning and development career. All of these experiences have shaped my approach to helping people do their jobs better.
Cara with her doctoral advisor Dr. Kui Xie.
My Career Journey
I don't take myself too seriously but I'm serious about my love of learning design. I found this career path early on.
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I actually went to school for journalism and graduated from the University of Kentucky. After I graduated, I moved back home to northeastern KY and started working in a call center. I was quickly promoted into a role that was in charge of training new hires about quality procedures. After my first training class, I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life. My next role took me to Amazon where I eventually became an instructional designer. At Amazon, I was a LMS administrator, conducted train-the-trainer sessions, and built eLearning. I also worked for an adult education center teaching resume building and basic computer skills. Then, in 2013, I moved to Columbus, Ohio where I've been ever since.
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My first job in Columbus was at The Ohio State University. During my time at Ohio State I worked in many departments including facilities maintenance and logistics, Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE), and the College of Education and Human Ecology. A benefit of working at Ohio State is that employees receive free tuition. I completed my masters in the nationally top ranked Workforce Development program advised by the prolific Dr. David Stein.
I completed my doctoral coursework in Educational Studies with an emphasis in learning technologies, advised by Cyphert Distinguished Professor Dr. Kui Xie. I conduct research about instructional design as a member of Dr. Xie's Research Lab for Digital Learning.
In 2020, I knew I wanted to get back into corporate learning and I left Ohio State in May of 2020 to lead the operations training department at Silfex. Silfex is the world's leading provider of precision silicon components used to make and operate semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The role is challenging and I love what I do. As the leader of the department, I implemented process changes such as aligning our learning experience development process to Cathy Moore's action mapping and I've made collecting evaluative data a priority. The team's work includes onboarding and supporting various departments across the business. This includes architecting a CNC mechanic boot camp to empower those without a manufacturing background an opportunity to join our organization.
Ohio State's Innovate Conference (L:R Anna Leach, Cara North, Jonathan Rock, Sean Hickey, & Jacob Crum)
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With my formal education and work background, I have a unique perspective on learning and development. I've worked in both higher education and corporate and I also have my own consulting business, The Learning Camel, that I launched in 2017. Some of the clients The Learning Camel has served includes Universal Records, WesBanco, NASA, Daisy and national Association for Talent and Development (ATD). I also enjoy being involved with formal education about instructional design. Some of the universities that I've been a guest speaker at include Franklin University, Ohio Christian University, Penn State, University of Northern Florida, University of Tampa, Iowa State University, Sam Houston University, Emporia State University, and University of Alabama-Birmingham. If you are interested in providing your students with practitioner perspectives, I'm happy to talk.