About Me

I'm a constant learner, an experience seeker, a traveler, and most important, a dad.

I'm originally from Costa Rica, but I've made homes in many different countries across several continents. I dropped out of college when I was young to become a voluntary, doing humanitarian work across the globe for seven years. This precious experience helped shape my character, discipline and belief system, my instinct for cultural empathy and adaptability, which I am now passing on to my teenage son.

During those years I learned to work on many different roles on the go, from being a farmer to working in logistics and many other things in between; but most importantly,  how to think on my feet. Passing the torch to others and training them to take my place as I moved to a different role was my daily bread.

Instructional design isn't just a career or a skill for me. It's the same calling I've always had: helping people succeed.

After returning to my country I eventually opened my own business as a photographer (one of the skills I learned during my travels), and also became a family man. Several years went by, and I decided to close my business and develop new skills in a new career: HR.

 I didn't start in instructional design, I started on the phones

Over the years I've been a frontline agent, peer coach, SME, QA auditor, Trainer and Instructional Designer. 

My first serious ID work came when I was tasked with revamping a full 30-day HR training program comprehending instructor-led sessions, presentations, eLearning, and simulations. This was done with the help, guidance and heavy involvement by the L&D department, but largely driven by me. That experience made me fall in love with Instructional Design, and it helped me understand how design decisions made at the beginning of a learning process ripple all the way to the end customer. 

That path also gave me a firsthand understanding of what learning looks like from every angle; as the person who needed it, the one delivering it, and eventually the one building it. 

I design with that full picture in mind. I take the learner's struggle seriously because I've lived it. I understand what stakeholders actually need because I've been one myself. And I care about the end customer's experience because I know good design impacts that far.

If that sounds like the kind of designer you're looking for, I'd love to connect!