Training built for your people — not pulled off a shelf.
I'm Shirah — a senior instructional designer with a Master's in Adult Education and over 20 years turning messy, undocumented processes into training your team actually uses. I've cut onboarding time in half at a Fortune 500 and by 30% at a major university. Every engagement starts with a real needs assessment — never a pre-programmed template.
Most training fails before the first slide is written
It isn't a content problem. It's a diagnosis problem. Here's the difference between buying a course and building a capability.
😕 Off-the-shelf training
- ✕Built for a generic learnerWritten for "anyone," so it lands with no one on your actual team.
- ✕No baseline, no proofYou can't show a funder or a board that anything changed.
- ✕Knowledge stays with one personWhen your best operator leaves, the process leaves with them.
- ✕Compliance box, checkedPeople click through it and forget it by Friday.
✨ The Learning Studio approach
- ✓Designed around your learnersI assess reading level, role, and context before a single objective is written.
- ✓Measured with KirkpatrickReaction, learning, behavior, results — evidence you can put in a report.
- ✓Your process, documentedJob aids and guides that outlive any one employee.
- ✓Trainers who can trainI build your internal people into true learning partners.
What the work has actually produced
I ask clients to measure results, so it would be strange not to publish my own. Every figure below comes from a specific engagement.
Faster new-hire onboarding
American Honda Motor Co. — without sacrificing quality
Onboarding time removed
University of Washington — via one operating manual
Call center agents retrained
Honda vendor training revamp — proficiency lifted
Saved with one class
A peer training program that streamlined the process
Four ways I help your team learn faster
E-Learning Modules
Self-paced digital courses your team can take on their own schedule, on any device.
- SCORM-ready builds
- Knowledge checks & scoring
- Accessible & mobile-friendly
Instructor-Led Training
Facilitator guides, participant workbooks, and live delivery — in person or virtual.
- Facilitator scripts
- Activities & role plays
- Train-the-trainer handoff
Job Aids & SOPs
One-page tools people keep at the workstation, plus documented standard operating procedures.
- Quick reference guides
- Checklists & workflows
- Process documentation
Needs Assessment
The diagnostic that tells you whether you have a training problem at all — before you spend a dollar.
- Stakeholder interviews
- Skill gap analysis
- Prioritized roadmap
The ADDIE model, run properly
The industry-standard framework — applied with discipline, so nothing gets designed before it gets diagnosed.
Analyze
Who are the learners, what's the actual gap, and what does success look like to leadership?
Design
Objectives, structure, and assessment strategy mapped to the gap — approved before build.
Develop
Modules, guides, and job aids built with your subject matter experts at the table.
Implement & Evaluate
Rollout support, then Kirkpatrick measurement to prove behavior actually changed.
Kirkpatrick evaluation
Every engagement includes a measurement plan, not just a satisfaction survey.
Partnership model
I'm not a subject matter expert in your field — I partner with yours and turn their expertise into training.
Custom, every time
No pre-programmed apps or recycled decks. Your content, your context, your learners.
Government agencies, contractors, and growing local businesses
If you're onboarding new crews, bidding public work, or finally writing down how your business actually runs — that's my lane.
Walkthroughs of these projects — including the actual screens and materials — are on the portfolio page.
Who the work has been for
Public agencies, higher education, community non-profits, and Fortune 500 enterprise — the methodology travels, the content never does.
Three tools you can use right now — free, no call required
Most consultants ask you to book a call to find out if they're any good. I'd rather just show you.
Take a sample module
A real four-screen micro-lesson with a scenario and a knowledge check. Two minutes. This is exactly what I build for clients.
Start the module →Cost of doing nothing
Slide four numbers and see what slow onboarding and repeat questions are costing you per year. Most people are surprised.
Run the numbers →Get a needs snapshot
Answer a few open questions and get a written read on what's actually going on — root cause, recommended path, first two weeks.
The Training Needs Assessment Checklist
The same 18-question diagnostic I run at the start of every project. Find out whether you have a training problem, a process problem, or a people problem — before you spend anything.
No spam. One email, plus an occasional note when I publish something useful.
Let's find out what your team actually needs
A free 30-minute consultation. No pitch deck — just questions about your team, your process, and where things break down.
Hi, I'm Shirah — I turn "how we do things around here" into training that lasts.
Pronounced Shy-rah.
I grew up in Los Angeles and have called the Washington area home for over six years. I've spent more than twenty years in contact center training, operations, and adult learning — and six years ago I left the corporate world to build something of my own: a studio focused entirely on adult learners.
I hold a Master's in Adult Education and Training with a focus on instructional design — and before that, a B.S. in Management Information Systems. That combination matters more than either piece alone: I can sit with your IT team and your frontline crew in the same week and understand both. But the degree matters less as a credential than as a habit: adults don't learn like students. They learn when the material respects their experience, connects to their actual job, and doesn't waste their time. That belief shapes everything I build — and it's why I refuse to sell pre-programmed courses. I do a needs assessment first, every time, even when a client swears they already know the answer. They usually don't. That's not a criticism; it's just hard to see your own process from the inside.
I'm not a subject matter expert in your field, and I'll never pretend to be. What I'm expert in is pulling knowledge out of the people who are — your best operators, your veteran supervisors — and structuring it so a brand-new hire can follow it on day one.
What I believe
The most expensive training is the training that solved the wrong problem. The assessment isn't a formality — it's the whole ballgame.
If we can't describe what "working" looks like before we start, we're not ready to start. Kirkpatrick gives us the language for that.
My best outcome is a client who needs me less over time because their internal trainers got good.
Reading level, language, shift schedule, device access. Training that ignores reality gets ignored back.
Custom learning solutions, built from the ground up
Every engagement is scoped from a needs assessment. Below is what I build once we know what the problem actually is.
Custom E-Learning Development
Self-paced digital modules designed for adult learners — built around your processes, your terminology, and your compliance requirements.
- Storyboarding & scripting from SME interviews
- Interactive knowledge checks and branching scenarios
- SCORM/xAPI packages for your LMS
- Accessibility and mobile review
- Source files handed over at close-out
Instructor-Led Training & Facilitation
Complete classroom or virtual programs — and I can deliver them, or train your people to deliver them.
- Facilitator guides with timing and scripts
- Participant workbooks and activity packs
- Live facilitation, on-site or virtual
- Train-the-trainer certification path
- Slide decks that support the talk, not replace it
Job Aids & Performance Support
The tools that live at the workstation. Often the highest-return deliverable in the whole engagement.
- One-page quick reference guides
- Step-by-step process checklists
- Decision trees and troubleshooting flows
- Standard operating procedure documentation
- Print-ready and digital formats
Learning Needs Assessment & Strategy
Start here. A structured diagnostic that tells you what to build, what to skip, and what isn't a training problem at all.
- Stakeholder and frontline interviews
- Task and skill gap analysis
- Learner audience profiling
- Prioritized recommendations with effort estimates
- Kirkpatrick measurement plan
Onboarding Program Design
A repeatable first-90-days experience so every new hire gets the same strong start — not whoever happened to train them.
- Role-based onboarding paths
- 30/60/90 milestone checkpoints
- Buddy and mentor program structure
- Manager onboarding checklists
Training Evaluation & Reporting
Proof that the investment worked — in a format you can hand to a board, a funder, or a contracting officer.
- Kirkpatrick Levels 1–4 instrumentation
- Pre/post assessment design
- Behavior observation rubrics
- Executive summary reporting
Ways to work together
Every engagement is scoped to the work in front of it. The consultation is where we size it.
Discovery Sprint
A focused needs assessment with a prioritized roadmap. Low-risk way to start.
- Stakeholder interviews
- Skill gap analysis
- Written recommendations
- Effort & sequence roadmap
- 2-week typical turnaround
Full Build
End-to-end ADDIE engagement — assessment through evaluation, with all source files handed over.
- Everything in Discovery
- Full course or program build
- Facilitator & participant materials
- Pilot & revision round
- Kirkpatrick measurement plan
- Train-the-trainer handoff
Retained Partner
Ongoing capacity for agencies and contractors with a rolling training calendar.
- Reserved monthly hours
- Priority scheduling
- Quarterly program review
- Materials refresh & updates
- RFP response support
No two training problems cost the same, so I don't publish a price list. Bring me the problem and you'll get a written scope and a fixed figure — free, and with no obligation.
You'll always know where your project stands
Every client gets a private project page. No "just checking in" emails, no wondering what happens next — milestones, deliverables, and what I need from you, in one place.
Full Build engagement • Started July 14, 2026
A sample project page, shown with example data. Yours replaces the “just checking in” emails entirely.
Common questions
I design for any industry, but I'm never the subject matter expert — you are, or your team is. My job is to run the interviews, structure the content, and build materials matched to your learners' roles and education levels. That partnership model is what makes the training accurate and usable.
A platform gives you generic content and a place to host it. I give you training built specifically for your process, your terminology, and your compliance context — plus documentation that keeps working after I'm gone. If a generic course genuinely solves your problem, I'll tell you that in the consult and save you the money.
Yes — it's a core part of the practice. I hold OMWBE certification through Washington State, and I've delivered for the Port of Seattle, the University of Washington, and American Honda Motor Co. See the Portfolio page for a capability statement you can forward to a contracting officer.
A discovery sprint usually runs about two weeks. A full course build typically runs six to twelve weeks depending on how many modules, how available your SMEs are, and how many review rounds your organization requires. You'll get a dated schedule at scoping.
That's often the best-value engagement. I built exactly this for American Honda — train-the-trainer packages with facilitator guides, participant guides, and decks, so their internal people could deliver consistently without me in the room. The ADDIE and Kirkpatrick tools come with it, so they can build and measure the next one themselves.
A 30-minute consult, access to two or three people who know the process well, and any existing documentation — even if it's messy handwritten notes. Messy is normal. Untangling it is the job.
Twenty years of work, and the numbers to go with it
Microsoft, a county housing authority, a port authority, a major public university, community non-profits, and one of the largest automotive companies in the world. Some of it is under NDA — but all of it can be explained, and most of it was measured.
Port of Seattle
Confined Space Awareness & Hot Work Permit compliance
Employees, contractors, and firefighters all needed to understand the risks of hazardous work environments — and the specific procedures required to mitigate them — across a large, distributed operation.
Developed comprehensive health and safety e-learning modules covering confined space awareness and hot work permitting, built for three distinct audiences working in genuinely dangerous conditions.
Increased health and safety awareness across employees, contractors, and fire personnel, with consistent procedural understanding regardless of who delivered the training.
Design decisions inside the module+
- An opening sequence with restrained animation — enough to hold attention, not enough to trivialize the subject
- Purpose and learning objectives presented identically in every module, so the experience is standardized across the whole safety program
- A real news broadcast embedded mid-module to show what actually happens when confined space procedure is ignored
- Animation used deliberately where words fail — showing that improper gas handling causes explosions, rather than stating it
- Interactive knowledge checks distributed through the module, not saved for the end
- Final assessment mixes multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank. 80% to pass, scores captured for accountability, unlimited retakes without forcing a full replay
University of Washington
School of Social Work — CWTAP program operating manual
Program knowledge was inconsistent across the department. The director wanted one authoritative source that would standardize information and shorten how long new staff took to become effective.
Built a complete operating manual through thorough research and staff interviews — capturing every process, workflow, staff responsibility, organizational chart, and process flow in accessible, user-friendly form.
Onboarding time reduced by 30%. A single reference that standardized information across the department, kept staff knowledge current, and no longer depends on any one person's memory.
Inside the operating manual+
- A cover using a blurred team photo and a plain statement of purpose — collaboration signaled before a word is read
- Standard operating-manual structure (About, Mission, Goals) so anyone who has used one before knows where to look
- The department's organizational chart redesigned to be genuinely readable without losing professionalism
- Process flows rendered as color diagrams, so complex multi-step workflows can be followed rather than deciphered
- Imagery throughout that gives readers a sense of the program's identity, not just its procedures
Rainier Beach Action Coalition
Leadership development for new and existing leaders
Newly onboarded leaders — and existing ones who had never received formal leadership training — needed a shared foundation for leading in a community organization.
Researched and developed a cohesive training series including Generations in the Workplace, which addressed generational difference directly while keeping the focus on shared goals.
Built confidence in new leaders, fostered collaboration, improved communication, and established a foundation the organization can keep building on.
What the program covers+
- Built around leaders finding their "Why" — connecting purpose to action so engagement is driven rather than demanded
- A "Truth or Myth" segment on generations that surfaces assumptions before correcting them, instead of lecturing
- A generational timeline — birth years and workforce entry — framing values and communication styles in the historical context that produced them
- Three dedicated segments on the generations most present in that specific workforce
- Challenges and benefits of multigenerational teams handled honestly, including the friction points
- Practical gap-closing strategies, followed by reflection questions participants answer alone and then compare with their team
Grace & Truth Apostolic
Workshop converted to self-paced module — built entirely in PowerPoint
A live workshop needed to become something people could take on their own time — with no budget for authoring software or a development platform.
Rebuilt the workshop as a fully self-paced module using animations, visuals, integrated audio, and intuitive user controls — all constructed from scratch in PowerPoint, chosen deliberately as a cost-saving approach for a non-profit.
A genuinely interactive learning experience delivered at effectively zero tooling cost. Proof that constraint is a design problem, not a barrier.
How it works without authoring software+
- The organization's own logos and colors throughout, so it reads as theirs rather than as a template
- Full learner control — non-linear navigation, a Home button on every slide, and a menu that stays accessible from anywhere
- A guidelines page setting module expectations and estimated timing up front
- Scripture links embedded inline so learners never have to leave the module to look something up
- A notes page after every section, transferable into the participant guide — because writing takeaways down is what makes them stick
- Completion recorded and certification captured by the organization at the end
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Multi-level contact center training — built, revised, and handed over
Multiple levels of call center employees needed training — some programs built from the ground up, others revised for effectiveness — with several projects running at once against business timelines.
Designed and delivered a full suite: learning videos, simulations, job aids, performance-based training modules, and train-the-trainer packages complete with facilitator guides, participant guides, and decks. Both synchronous and asynchronous experiences.
New-hire onboarding time cut by 50% without sacrificing quality. Revamped vendor training lifted proficiency across 700 call center agents. A case management program reduced caseloads 10%, and a peer training class saved $10,000. Junior designers mentored along the way.
Due to confidentiality and NDA restrictions, the actual content can't be shared — it contains proprietary logos and sensitive information. Happy to walk through the approach and design decisions on a call.
What I bring to an engagement
Technical & core competencies
Tools I build with
Chosen per project — including, deliberately, the cheap ones when a client's budget calls for it.
- SCORM and xAPI packaging for your LMS
- Modern collaboration platforms for distributed teams
- Source files handed over at close-out
Twenty years, four sectors
Fortune 500 automotive, a major public university, a port authority, and community non-profits. The methodology travels; the content never does.
Education & certifications
M.A., Adult Education & Training
Instructional Design • University of Phoenix
B.S., Management Information Systems
IT Project Management • University of Redlands
Children's Ministry Lead • Flocknote Systems Administrator • Community Events Coordinator
Capability Statement
Everything a prime contractor or public buyer needs on one screen. Print this page to PDF and attach it to any bid package.
Instructional design • Learning needs assessment • E-learning development • Instructor-led curriculum • Train-the-trainer • Job aids & SOP documentation • Operating manuals & process documentation • Health & safety compliance training • Leadership development • Training evaluation (Kirkpatrick L1–L4)
Over twenty years in contact center training, operations, and adult learning; M.A. in Adult Education & Training plus a B.S. in Management Information Systems; six specialized certifications (ATD, Robert Mager, Sententia); documented results including 50% and 30% onboarding-time reductions; every solution custom-built from a needs assessment; ADDIE end to end with a Kirkpatrick measurement plan in every engagement.
King County Housing Authority • Port of Seattle • University of Washington (School of Social Work) • Microsoft • American Honda Motor Co., Inc. • American Honda Financial Services • Rainier Beach Action Coalition • Grace & Truth Apostolic
The Learning Studio by Shirah
Sole proprietor / small business
Seattle–Tacoma metro, Washington
learnwithshirah.com
UEI, CAGE & NAICS available on request
Shirah Miller, Principal
shirah.miller@learnwithshirah.com
Serving King, Pierce & Snohomish counties + remote nationwide
Everything a buyer or prime needs to qualify me
Public buyers ask the same eight questions every time. Rather than make them email for answers, they're published here.
OMWBE-certified Minority & Women's Business Enterprise (Washington State). Eligible for MWBE participation goals on state, county, and municipal contracts.
611430611710541611541612
UEI, SAM.gov status, WA UBI, and county vendor numbers provided on request — usually the same day you ask.
General liability coverage carried; certificate of insurance furnished on request, and additional-insured endorsements can be issued where a contract requires one. Bonding is not typically required for training and instructional-design scopes.
On-site across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Virtual delivery and asynchronous development nationwide.
Available as a training/instructional-design subcontractor on larger service contracts. I can supply scope language, methodology narrative, and evaluation plans for your proposal.
Deliverables built toward WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 expectations — captioned media, keyboard navigation, and screen-reader-compatible documents.
Client materials kept on access-controlled storage, never used to train third-party systems, and returned or destroyed at close-out on request.
Past-performance references from King County Housing Authority, the Port of Seattle, the University of Washington, American Honda, and Microsoft consulting engagements available to qualified buyers on request.
Need a subcontractor on a training scope?
I partner with primes on public contracts and can support RFP responses with scope language, methodology, and evaluation plans.
Book a free 30-minute consultation
Pick a time that works. You'll get an instant confirmation, a calendar invite, and a short questionnaire so our call starts with substance instead of small talk.
What to expect
Requests go straight to shirah.miller@learnwithshirah.com. You’ll have a confirmation within one business day.
Useful before you ever hire me
A sample lesson, a cost calculator, and the templates I actually use. No email wall on the first two — take what's useful.
Take a two-minute module
Reading about instructional design is a poor substitute for experiencing it. This is a real micro-lesson, built the way I build client work — objective first, scenario-based practice, immediate feedback.
What is doing nothing costing you?
Untrained teams aren't free — the cost just hides inside slow ramp-up and senior staff answering the same question forty times. Move the sliders to see your number.
The templates I use on real projects
Not repackaged blog posts. These are working documents from actual engagements, stripped of client detail.
Training Needs Assessment Checklist
The 18-question diagnostic I run before scoping anything. Tells you whether you have a training problem at all.
ADDIE Project Planner
A phase-by-phase worksheet with the decisions and sign-offs that belong at each stage, so nothing gets built early.
Kirkpatrick Measurement Planner
Define what Levels 1 through 4 look like for your program before you build it — the part almost everyone skips.
Job Aid Template Pack
Three layouts that work at a workstation — quick reference, decision tree, and step checklist.
Each download is an email capture — that's how the mailing list gets built without buying a list.
Tell me about your project
These questions are the opening moves of a needs assessment. Answer them and I'll arrive at our first call already understanding your situation.
First, the basics
What are you trying to solve?
Pick everything that applies — this shapes what we talk about.
Role, headcount, and anything about how they learn best.
Timeline and scope
This becomes our measurement target.
Thank you — your brief is in.
I read every submission personally and reply within one business day. If you'd rather lock in a time right now, grab a slot on the calendar.
Book a consultation →Prefer to just talk?
Skip the form and take a slot on the calendar. Thirty minutes, no obligation.
See availability