my personal story - from corporate to XelPlus

I usually speed up the tutorials I watch to 1.5x speed - (Yes - including my own if I ever need to rewatch something 🙂).

What annoys me the most though is when it takes the presenter too long to get to the point.

I do my best to avoid that and jump in as fast as I can. We also spend a good chunk of time editing anything out that doesn't bring value.

But I've realized there needs to be a balance.

You see, I left my corporate job in 2015. At the beginning, I spent a good portion of my time delivering customized workshops to different companies.

One of the first jobs I got hired to do was to deliver a 2-day Excel Dashboards on-site training to a group of Finance experts. At the end of the session, I handed out a questionnaire to ask for feedback.

I was embarrassed when I read:

"You never told us about your background. It would have been nice to know more about you and your journey!"

I realized then that I'd been so focused on delivering the content, I'd forgotten to introduce myself properly and share my story.

In case you're interested how I got here:

No straight line

My journey to becoming an online trainer was full of twists and turns.

I started out with a passion for journalism, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

I studied Economics instead.

And then later pursued a master's degree in Economics from the University of Toronto in Canada.

After graduating, I landed a job at a non-profit organization in Ottawa, where I researched various aspects of Canada's economy and well-being. Writing papers was not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed solving problems and analyzing data. Overall it was a rewarding experience, but after a year I felt the urge to return to Vienna, Austria, where I'd lived before.

I landed a job as an in-house consultant for an international paper & packaging company.

During the first couple of years, I spent most of my time travelling from one subsidiary to another and developing management information systems in Excel. It was then that l learnt how to create automations using VBA.

For the next 12 years, I was involved in Oracle and SAP projects, implementing new financial and reporting systems for the company.

Excel was my go-to tool for creating reports, reconciling data and mapping information from one system to another.

One of the things I enjoyed most about my job was training people how to use the systems we implemented. That's why I decided to start my own company and explore the possibilities of online teaching.

It was the best decision I ever made.

Challenges I faced when I enrolled in tech training

Since I've worked in tech, one thing that bugged me was the way tech training was delivered.

It was usually boring and too techy that it made me lose interest.

I wished they could explain things in simple words - like I was a human being, not a robot.

Another thing that bugged me was the examples the trainers used. They made sense during the training, but when I got to my desk, I had no idea how to apply what I learnt to my own work.

That's why when I founded XelPlus, I knew what I had to do differently. I share more details in the first video on the page.

Now it's your turn 🙂

Now that you've heard my story, I'd love to know more about you:

I've put together this quick form. What you share, will help me create more relevant content for you - I've added more details to the top of the form.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Leila