Monoline Sun Illustration

Dr. Heidi Kirby

Learning and Development Strategist

Co-Founder, Useful Stuff

Host, BLOC Podcast

Helping learning and development professionals and teams work better and show value to their organizations and clients.

About Me

Hi! I’m Heidi.

Hi, I’m Dr. Heidi Kirby, and I’ve spent the last decade helping people learn and work better.


I’ve built and launched learning programs, helped hundreds of new and aspiring instructional designers improve their skills and increase their knowledge and confidence, and consulted with organizations and award-winning L&D entrepreneurs to help them grow and scale.


I started a pandemic podcast for L&D folks that has over 20,000 downloads in 97 countries across the world. I hold a PhD in instructional design and technology, and I’ve been published in TD Magazine and appeared on a variety of brilliant L&D podcasts, talking about my work and expertise.


I think the best thing we can do in learning is be useful to our audience. I value authenticity and being kind yet honest. (And as evidenced by the photo collage, I went though an “all black” phase freshman year of high school). I’d love to create something amazing with you!

Consulting Services

Here are just some of the ways I can help you with your L&D teams. Want to meet? Reach out to me here.

Building Your Function

Whether you don’t have an L&D team yet or you’re looking to hire but don’t know the ideal makeup of your L&D team, I can help you look at your organization’s needs and team’s strength to determine how to best build your team.

Uncovering Your Needs

I can help you examine any performance or content gaps on your L&D team or throughout your organization, talking to the people, gathering data, and creating a plan and strategy for execution.

Measuring Your Impact

Most L&D teams skip evaluating their learning projects, making it hard to prove their impact. I can help look at your learning offerings and help you find and implement ways to measure their effectiveness and show value.

Coaching Your Team

Many of us find our way into L&D through “happy accidents,” but that can leave critical skill gaps. If your learning team needs upskilling, I can help create a plan and coach your team.

Creating Your Strategy

It can be hard to function as a team when everyone is doing their own thing. I can help you create processes for your L&D team and craft a long-term vision and strategy to help your team become more proactive.

Selecting Your Tools

Having helped build and implement different LMSs in my career, I can help you take a look at your L&D tech stack and work with you to select the best solutions that help you to work quickly and efficiently.

Resources

In addition to my work with the BLOC Podcast and Useful Stuff, here are some other collaborations I’ve done.

Presentations/Publications

  • TD Magazine, Fight the Allure of Seductive Details, May 2023
  • iDTX, Instructional Designers and Leading Projects, Mar. 2023
  • 7taps MicrolearningCONF, How to create scenario-based microlearning in 2023, Mar. 2023
  • T2LD, How To Gain Useful ID Experience Before You Get the Job, Sept. 2022
  • T2LD Panel, Inside the Mind of A Hiring Manager, Sept. 2022
  • iDTX, Building a Leadership Development Framework Using Core Values, Feb. 2022

Other Resources