Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Patricia Regier. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Patricia, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

Part of me wishes I had started earlier for various reasons, but I believe that every experience I have had has led me to this point. I started my business 5 & 1/2 years ago, which was the perfect time. However, this journey requires a lot of believing that what is around the corner, even though I can’t always see it, will be amazing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Patricia Regier, and I support speakers, facilitators, and leaders in creating engaging learning experience journeys. For over twenty years, I have been facilitating workplace and community learning. Over ten years ago, while working in a leadership role, I returned to school for a Master of Adult Education. It wasn’t easy working full time and attending school full time with a family and life challenges. However, in leadership roles and program development, I found that the most crucial aspect was training and learning, which was part of excellent communication or implementation. As a leader, a lot of time is spent reacting to issues and solving problems. I wanted to focus more on setting people and programs up for success.

Helping speakers, facilitators, and leaders shift online during the pandemic have been very rewarding. I like to see people thrive as they set up their learners or team to succeed. I believe we don’t need to be perfect; we just need to try something we have never done before. The learning experience should ignite sparks where you almost see those lightbulbs when people are connecting with the content.

Especially when learning how to evolve as a facilitator or workplace leader, with different ways to engage our groups, elements of courage and curiosity are required. I provide tips, tutorials and ways that people can implement or adapt something right away to what they are already doing. People get excited about growing in their craft when they have support. The more you learn to play with a new engagement tool, the more you can get past the uncomfortable zone and get into the creative zone.

I am thrilled to share my first book, The Online Shift, 101 Pro Tips for Online Facilitators, Workplace Trainers and Virtual Speakers. I have shared many of these tips over the last five years on my YouTube channel, in blogs/articles, within my virtual course, in my workshops and in conversations with colleagues and clients. I wrote this book, so you don’t have to read it cover to cover; instead, you can select a chapter topic and pick one or two tips to implement. This book can be a resource you keep returning to, but you pick the adventure or experience you want to facilitate.

I like connecting with my clients or followers on various platforms because people like to receive information in a variety of ways. It may be through the free content I share online to add value, through the workshops I facilitate, through speaking events, or by working with me directly as a learning and development consultant. People are looking for a solution to connect with content in a way that turns an audience into participants. The event or training also requires considering the learning journey before, during and after the experience. I support facilitators to enjoy adding elements to their learning and training events. Live virtual training can be just as meaningful and impactful as in-person.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started this journey with three leaps of faith and courage. I first left a job before having something else lined up, something I have never done before. But it was the right time to take that leap. I then went solo travelling in Europe for the first time. This was the trip I had never taken in my 20s but always wished I had, so instead, I took the trip in my early 40s. I backpacked my way through this adventure. Staying in hostels, learning how to navigate transportation and being able to have this experience without the roles of a mom, wife or leader of a team. This was the perfect way to shift between major chapters in my life. When I came back home, we decided that it was time for me to start my own business. I began with an idea, but no funding or plan. I was open to what the future offered and began my learning journey. I had a lot of skills and knowledge but was not fully clear on how to best serve or who I would be serving. I always stressed at a networking event when I would get the question, “What problem do you solve, and who do you serve/” I grew through the growth of my business, finding out that what made me unique was my skills as a facilitator, my knowledge about adult learning and my abilities plus excitement about the ever-changing technology. However, some of the discoveries of what made me who I am, had to happen through experience and connections, not through a pre-conceived plan. This was my journey, and it took a lot of believing I could be successful before it happened.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Besides writing a book, one goal was to grow my YouTube channel and reach 1000 subscribers. I do hope it continues to grow. Reaching that number of subscribers opened up other options on my channel. It may be a goal that most business owners do not have. I give away a lot of information and expertise for free. However, I think it’s a way for me to continue to give back and add value to clients, plus it’s a way for people to get to know me and my expertise. Creating videos was an important part of my creative journey as I began to build my business. It was also a way to stretch my speaking skills differently. The channel is also a great way to directly connect with a community of facilitators online. A lot of my videos are a direct response to a question someone asks me (often a quick question from a client via email). However, it does take time to film and edit my videos. I keep doing it because it serves others and it’s a creative outlet for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.regiereducation.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regiereducation/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RegierEducation
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pregier/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/regiereducation
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/patriciaregier
• Other: https://www.regiereducation.com/the-online-shift/

Image Credits
Matt Braun for the professional photos, Tabitha Rose for one of the photos