Robbie Christian

In their words, designers who never diversify in learning and development risk losing the broader perspective that helps them build better, more creative, more human-centered training. Range of teaching experience feeds design quality, not just personal interest, so designers benefit from taking on material or formats they have not handled in a while.

Christian spent more than ten years as a full-time scuba diving instructor, mostly at an advanced level, before moving into instructional design after the pandemic.

• Returning to teach an introductory scuba course with a different training agency and an unfamiliar course structure, they found themselves rusty on sequence, flow, and logistics, even though the content and skills were familiar.
• They described the experience as both humbling and energizing.
• The experience shows how knowing a subject differs from relearning how to teach it.

The two posts describe a shift, not a reversal: years of advanced-level instruction, a long break, then a return to beginner-level teaching that Christian says refreshed their perspective as a designer.

Read original

Their approach combines self-study — reading books and articles, watching instructional videos, mastering software, analyzing e-learning projects, working through Devlin Peck's bootcamp, and learning web development — with a finished portfolio site as proof of that work. The priority is to be findable and hireable directly, not only through employers.

Christian wrote that they had left their job almost five months earlier and were transitioning into the field.

• They then announced their first website build, robbiechristian.com, and invited anyone seeking a freelance instructional designer, content creator, or e-learning designer and developer to get in touch.
• The post's tags name Articulate, Webflow, graphic design, and e-learning development as parts of the build.

Read original

They urge instructional design job seekers to test whether their offer matches current demand, using a hiring-manager survey as a reference point rather than personal impressions of the field.

Christian asked whether readers looking for instructional design jobs were sure they aligned with what employers value these days, and pointed them to a video on Devlin Peck's YouTube channel that previews a hiring-manager survey.

• The link was in the comments.
• The survey findings and video are Devlin Peck's; Christian framed the question and prompted job seekers to consider it.

Read original

They credit family, friends, colleagues, mentors, and a small number of people who opened doors with making the move possible. Their emphasis is on reciprocity: name the people who help and take part in the communities where that help circulates.

Christian praised John Hinchliffe for being supportive, committed, humorous, and welcoming, and for modeling work-life balance through his consistent presence at GLDC meetups. They also congratulated him on becoming Head of Engagement at Jam Pan.

Read original

They treat questions of how to start, price, and find clients as topics worth discussing openly with the same audience they want to reach as clients.

Christian shared a link to a recorded live chat with Devlin Peck about starting out as a freelancer in instructional design, framed for anyone who missed it. The conversation's contents and any commercial terms are Devlin Peck's and are not in the material reviewed here; what the post shows is Christian promoting the discussion.

Read original

A newcomer asking “what does this person actually do, and are they available?” gets the answer in one post.

Robbie Christian writes that they left their job almost five months earlier and had been transitioning into instructional design, filling the time with reading books and articles, watching instructional videos, mastering software, analyzing eLearning projects, working through Devlin Peck's bootcamp, and learning web development.

• The post announces the launch of their first website build, robbiechristian.com, and closes by asking anyone who needs a freelance instructional designer, content creator, or eLearning designer/developer to get in touch.
• It shows a self-directed transition into the field and a deliberate move into client-facing freelance work.

For brands planning a campaign

For a B2B e-learning company expanding its freelance bench, this is the clearest signal that Robbie Christian is open to custom corporate training work. The named bootcamp and self-study list give outreach a starting point: ask about portfolio pieces built during that transition and current capacity.

Robbie Christian says they taught scuba diving full time for more than ten years after finishing undergraduate study, before a post-pandemic move into instructional design.

• Most of that dive teaching was at an advanced level.
• Teaching an intro scuba course this spring, with a different training agency and an unfamiliar sequence and logistics, felt humbling and energizing even though the content and skills were familiar.
• The post argues that instructional designers should diversify sometimes, because never doing so risks losing the broader perspective that supports better, more creative, more human-centered training.

For brands planning a campaign

This is useful context for briefs involving induction, safety, or hands-on training, where a designer must handle an unfamiliar sequence and logistics for a new audience.

• It also supports a pitch angle around subject-matter range.
• Ask whether Robbie is currently taking on dive instruction work.

Robbie Christian describes an unexpected journey into instructional design and learning experience design, shaped by family, friends, colleagues, and mentors.

• They note they had years of eLearning design and development experience but no network when they entered the industry, and credit two or three people with opening doors.
• The post is a shoutout to John Hinchliffe, praising his support, humor, commitment, and presence at GLDC meetups, and congratulating him on becoming Head of Engagement at Jam Pan.

For brands planning a campaign

Peer-network context matters when outreach depends on warm introductions in the instructional design community. Treat the named people and meetups as evidence of community participation, not as endorsements of Robbie Christian's work.

Robbie Christian asks whether readers looking for instructional design jobs are sure they align with what employers value, then points to a video on Devlin Peck's YouTube channel that gives a peek at a hiring-manager survey. The post says the video link is in the comments.

For brands planning a campaign

This supports the Devlin Peck connection for the relationships section. To cite the survey's findings, ask for the video.

Robbie Christian shares a link to a live chat with Devlin Peck about starting out as a freelancer in instructional design, framed as a pointer for anyone who missed it.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful background on Robbie Christian's visibility in freelance instructional design conversations. It does not show design or development work, so keep it secondary to the portfolio and teaching examples.

One post announces the launch of a personal portfolio site after five months of self-directed preparation and asks for freelance work focused on high-quality e-learning solutions.

• A later post points readers to a recorded live chat with Devlin Peck about starting out as a freelancer in instructional design.
• The offer spans design, development, and content creation for online learning, presented through a personal portfolio rather than an agency.

Portfolio-first approach: a self-built website, a public request for clients, and participation in a recorded freelancer discussion. The post's tags reference Articulate, Webflow, graphic design, and e-learning development as part of the build.

For brands planning a campaign

A training company building a freelance bench can consider Christian as a direct subcontractor rather than an agency contact.

• Assess their portfolio and experience managing a solo client pipeline.
• Their posts describe the offer and a public call for clients, but not completed engagements; ask for client references or examples of completed work.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The diving work included advanced-level courses.

• In one post, they return to teach an introductory scuba course after a long gap and describe feeling rusty with the sequence, flow, and logistics of that particular course and training agency, while still knowing the content and skills.
• They use the experience to argue that instructional designers benefit from stepping outside their specialist routines.

For brands planning a campaign

Christian’s background as a scuba diving instructor is relevant to corporate e-learning that depends on procedural sequencing and hands-on skill instruction. Ask how their classroom and field experience informs sequencing, scaffolding, and assessment decisions in a design sample.

Examples: Source 1

They argue that designers who never diversify risk losing the broader perspective that supports better, more creative, more human-centered training, illustrating the point with their return to teaching beginner divers from scratch. They present range of experience as an input to design quality, not as a project claim.

For brands planning a campaign

Frame briefs around variety and learner experience, not just templated production. Outreach can emphasize how cross-domain teaching experience may benefit a project, alongside any tool requirements.

Examples: Source 1

The content is aimed at candidates entering or repositioning in the field, and addresses the gap between applicant self-assessment and what hiring managers screen for.

For brands planning a campaign

Christian engages with the hiring side of the market, which is adjacent to but distinct from client-side production.

• For a training company building a freelance bench, this suggests market literacy and awareness of employer criteria.
• Ask directly if recruiting or hiring-management experience matters; their posts do not claim it.

Examples: Source 1

One post is a specific public recognition of John Hinchliffe for opening doors, modeling work-life balance, and consistently showing up at GLDC meetups, including congratulations on a new Head of Engagement role at Jam Pan. Community participation and visible support for others are part of Christian's public professional voice.

For brands planning a campaign

Christian’s industry learning communities and referral relationships may offer routes to connect beyond cold outreach. Their public collaborations and credit-sharing make partnership-led or co-marketing outreach a natural fit.

Examples: Source 1

They developed skills through structured courses and independent projects rather than a single credential, and name the bootcamp pathway directly.

Layered self-study: bootcamp work, project analysis, software practice, and a concrete build—the portfolio site—as proof of skill.

For brands planning a campaign

For a bench brief that values current tooling fluency, ask which software and project artifacts underpin these claims. The posts name the bootcamp pathway and tools in tags but do not detail project scope, deliverables, or client outcomes.

Examples: Source 1

They have no dates, and none describes a completed client project, deliverable, or measurable training outcome. Ask for examples that show production methods, industries served, and commercial arrangements.

The posts do not describe completed projects. Evaluate fit through portfolio inspection and follow-up questions; ask for examples of completed work.

For brands planning a campaign

Use this section as a map of what can be evaluated now and what needs to be requested next: portfolio samples, client references, and project scope evidence. Do not read the short-post corpus as a full picture of Christian's commercial history.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5

View example

Ask whether these appearances involved payment or a formal contract.

View example

Readers following Christian’s career transition and tool-building will find similar themes, viewed from a different working situation.

Ly works in-house as a senior curriculum instructional design specialist at VSP Vision and reviews specific authoring and animation courses. Christian presents themselves as a freelance designer and developer, selling e-learning production directly to clients.

Read original · Original 2

Design choices, both argue, should be judged by whether they make thinking and learning visible. They see range and teaching judgment—not software—as what improves training.

Valenzuela’s work targets K-12 schools and district leaders, covering project-based learning, AI literacy, and instructional innovation.

• He also hosts a podcast with school practitioners.
• Christian’s posts focus on corporate e-learning and freelance work rather than school leadership.

Read original · Original 2

Both write for people who commission and build corporate and educational courses.

White is a British voice actor who narrates K-12, corporate, and e-learning content and markets narration services.

• Christian designs and develops the courses themselves.
• Readers seeking a narrator rather than a designer are choosing between two distinct roles on the same project.

Read original · Original 2

Sue Ly writes about leaving high school art teaching for a Senior Curriculum Instructional Design Specialist role at VSP Vision and about the first year there, describing projects at organizational scale, a supportive team, and professional development.

• A second post reviews a Vyond 2D character animation course specifically to answer what tools transitioning teachers should learn.
• For a buyer hiring a designer to work alongside an internal L&D department, that employer-side, tool-selection view is closer to the job than a portfolio-and-clients pitch.

The tradeoff is availability and proof.

• Sue Ly's posts read as an employee's account of one employer, not an offer of outside work: no rate, capacity, client list, or portfolio link appears.
• A buyer would have to confirm directly whether Sue Ly takes contract work at all.
• By contrast, Robbie Christian makes an explicit freelance offer and includes a portfolio site, making them the simpler starting point for bench-building, even though Sue Ly's current curriculum work is more recent and more corporate.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Jorge Valenzuela over Robbie Christian when the project is school-facing.

• Jorge Valenzuela writes about instructional leadership, project-based learning, and AI literacy for schools and districts; argues that AI makes strong instruction more important, not less; offers a single-point rubric that makes student thinking visible; and hosts a Lifelong Learning Defined podcast, including an episode with a school director of technology and innovation.
• Buyers whose learners are teachers, school leaders, or K-12 students—or who need a credible outside voice on AI policy and assessment—get direct domain fit here.

The tradeoff is transfer to corporate training.

• Jorge Valenzuela's work focuses on school and district improvement: assessment structures, visible thinking, and innovation culture among educators.
• Those ideas can inform corporate learning, but the credibility is in K-12, not compliance, onboarding, or frontline procedure training; the posts show frameworks and commentary rather than evidence of building corporate e-learning courses.
• For a custom corporate module, Robbie Christian's stated e-learning production work and tool list are the closer match.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Galena White is a British voiceover talent who writes directly to e-learning developers and instructional designers, covers corporate and K-12 narration, and argues that professional voice work protects learner engagement, brand credibility, and rework costs compared with do-it-yourself audio.

• The posts also describe expanding a website with a page for STEM education narration.
• Buyers who already have a designed and built module and want a finished, on-brand narration layer are buying exactly the service on offer.

The tradeoff is scope.

• Galena White supplies narration, one production line item; the posts do not show course design, storyboarding, or instructional sequencing.
• This is usually a complement to a designer rather than a replacement, so hiring Galena White does not fill a freelance instructional design bench slot.
• The posts are promotional and include no pricing or sample reel, so buyers should confirm the rate and turnaround.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2