We recently connected with Dr. Kacey Warren and Rebecca Olson NA and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Kacey Warren and Rebecca Olson, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Kacey: We went out to dinner with our spouses one evening. I had just transitioned to a new job as an Instructional Designer– a person who designs curriculum for educational and/or professional settings– building out primarily soft skills courses for an edtech startup. Rebecca asked me about my role and responsibilities.

Rebecca: At the time, I was having a hard time finding experienced, reliable producers for projects. I felt that producers were not being offered proper training through their current positions and/or studios, and at one point I exclaimed “someone should really make a class to teach this stuff.”

Kacey: Fast forward five years, I was in transition with my current job, and I remembered Rebecca’s comment, and an idea smacked me on the head. I thought, “wait that’s what I do.” So, let’s do it.

You can see the story here:
https://www.deducers.com/whats-new/our-roots

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Kacey: My background is in higher education. I earned my doctorate in 2012 and I’ve taught college level courses at a range of institutions for years. I didn’t know anything about the creative industry until 2011. My first introduction came on an early date with my then boyfriend, now husband, who told me he would be late because he was rendering. I didn’t exactly know what that was, but being in my early thirties, I’d had enough of dating and waiting on people, and told him I didn’t care about his computer’s thought processes and to never make me wait again. Needless to say, we lived happily ever after, and I learned a fair bit about design and animation processes, including how long rendering can take.
Our students are really what brighten my day. So far, we’ve received very positive feedback, and it feels great to be doing something that really helps people advance in their careers. I also love being a part of the creative community. The people are welcoming and wonderful. Our own Deducer Community is growing and it’s great to see how people are engaging there.

Rebecca: I started my career in motion design and post production at Imagery Forces where I served as a resource manager. I worked with the producers to staff projects with both internal and external talent. It was a great introduction to the industry because I got to know the resources needed to complete different types of projects as well as the different roles each resource played and the software / programs each resource used for projects. From there, I moved on to be a Producer, Executive Producer, Managing Director and Consultant.
I love to see the light bulb go off as we go through our curriculum with our students. It is very rewarding to see our students grow and utilize the information and templates we share in our classes.

Products and services: We provide professional development for producers within motion and post production. We offer courses, bootcamps, custom workshops (for studios who want more customized training) and coaching. We also have a producer community.

What should clients know:
We take the curriculum very seriously. Anyone can create a class, but very few know how to create a good one. Teaching and learning isn’t just about listening to someone talk; it’s not about rambling conversations; it’s about structuring and framing information to maximize uptake. To design a good course, the information needs to be distilled into digestible components, it needs to be scaffolded appropriately, designed with clear objectives in mind and with activities to elicit the kind of engagement that will promote uptake and, importantly, retention. That’s what we do.

We not only offer courses but we also offer coaching and an online community so that students have support as they progress through their careers. It’s like having a career counselor and unofficial senior colleague to help them with their day to day career struggles but also a team to share and celebrate wins.

How’d you meet your business partner?

We met over a decade ago through Kacey’s husband, who, at that time was the CD at Spillt (he is now owner), and Rebecca was their Managing Director / EP.

Have you ever had to pivot?

We both pivoted to some extent when we decided to start this business. We didn’t have to do it, we chose to. Pivoting is really about learning how the knowledge you already have can be applied to new areas, and identifying gaps so you can anchor up as quickly as possible. In this way, our partnership works very well. Kacey has this extensive background in education and how to teach people effectively. Rebecca has this extensive background in producing. When we combine our knowledge and our skillsets, we fill in the gaps for each other in a way that enables us to create a very powerful product.

Kacey: I think the biggest pivot for me was when I moved away from designing and teaching courses exclusive to philosophy to designing soft-skills courses and professional development courses. I spent many years earning my degree in philosophy and, for the longest time, I could never imagine myself doing anything but teaching and research in a traditional college setting. I still enjoy that, but when I decided to branch out, I had this wonderful surprise of really finding a new passion and growing in how I develop curriculum and teach students. I love working with adult professionals who want to advance in their careers. It’s very fulfilling.

Rebecca: My personal pivot was when I decided to leave Spillt and pursue consulting. At the time, there was not a “next step” for me as a Managing Director…I had hit the top of my career there. I also felt that my role after 20 years in the business needed to be a role of mentor / coach. I thrive on helping people and studios work through everyday challenges, and create processes that promote efficiency and growth. I also have a passion for the business side of creative studios. I really enjoy working with financials, operations, and sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.deducers.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deducerspro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deducers/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deducers
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeducersPro

Image Credits

The images of Kacey and Rebecca can be attributed to Tatiana Grezeszak.