I didn't set out to be an instructional designer. I started on the phones at a telehealth startup in 2019, answering patient and prescriber questions all day, and I kept noticing the same thing: most mistakes weren't people problems; they were training problems. So I started fixing the training, and then turned it into building it, and then into designing it full-time.

Today, I’ve built 8 training programs from the ground up: including a pharmacy onboarding bootcamp that evolved into a full rotational training curriculum, plus several role-specific onboarding programs, comprising 500+ trainings, modules, and support materials. I’ve also reorganized a knowledge base of 1,800+ articles, run train-the-trainer sessions, and measured what actually worked through end-of-training surveys and 30/60/90-day check-ins. I learned the craft on the job first and the theory second; in 2026 I completed the ATD Instructional Design Certificate, which put formal names on things I’d been doing for years and sharpened the parts I hadn’t.

What I care about: training built for real work, not just completion rates. Scenarios people recognize. Clear enough for a bilingual agent in their second week to use. I design in Articulate 360, Camtasia, and Canva, and I'll happily prototype with AI to get to a first draft faster and create materials that could supplement the training experience.

When I'm not creating courses, I'm usually creating something in the kitchen.

If you're hiring or want to talk shop, I'm at monica.isabel.alvarez@gmail.com and on LinkedIn.