From FSU grad to founder, Carolyn Greiner is transforming corporate learning through immersive tech and entrepreneurial grit, earning national recognition and reshaping how businesses train and thrive.
Carolyn Greiner earned her master’s in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies (ISLT) in 2022. A year after graduating, she took the knowledge that she acquired during the program and her experience as an instructional designer to start OWLS Consulting, which stands for Optimize with Learning Solutions. Her business works with corporate partners to identify gaps in their internal learning and development programs, and provide solutions such as eLearning, VR, AR, branching video, and more.
Recently, Greiner and OWLS Consulting were chosen to appear in an upcoming season of The Blox, an entrepreneurial competition that airs on Amazon Prime. Through the experience, Greiner honed her pitch, improved her business acumen, and helped spread the word about the importance of learning and development in the corporate world.
Instructional designers and learning technologists practice a systematic approach to learning and education. A core belief is that learning shouldn’t be a haphazard experience but one that is carefully designed to achieve specific goals. Drawing on concepts from psychology, communication, education, and human performance, ISLT and its practitioners work in dynamic settings, from classrooms and government agencies to military institutions and private industries.
It's the latter sector that Greiner focuses on. Through OWLS Consulting, Greiner and her team contract with companies of all sizes to create content that address unique business needs. With her Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies background, Greiner goes far beyond typical training books and incorporates cutting-edge technologies into her content offerings.
“I got into immersive learning specifically because I feel it has the highest rate of learning transfer when it comes to those deliverables that we provide. We utilize AR [augmented reality], VR [virtual reality], branching videos, and well-thought-out e-learning that includes scenarios,” said Greiner.
These training and development programs are crucial to the longevity and success of a business, but Greiner says that businesses often cut these first. “What we need people to see and really realize is that learning and development initiatives are not just fluff. We can actually link what we do and how we train directly to increasing profits and decreasing employee turnover, which is extremely costly for an organization.”
Training programs and learning resources like the ones OWLS Consulting creates can provide a short-term benefit to concepts like employee and organizational efficiency and competency, but they can also make a huge difference in the long run.
“For around every $40,000 a company spends on an annual salary, it’s about $15,000 to replace that employee,” Greiner added. “What we really want to do with learning is build out that internal branding as I refer to it and that pathway towards promotion, so that your employees are not as likely to leave your organization.”
For around every $40,000 a company spends on an annual salary, it’s about $15,000 to replace that employee. What we really want to do with learning is build out that internal branding as I refer to it and that pathway towards promotion, so that your employees are not as likely to leave your organization.
Greiner became interested in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies when she taught at International Baccalaureate programs. “Overseas, technology was integrated into our curricula, and I saw how my experience could transfer into the corporate learning world,” said Greiner.
Of particular interest to Greiner is the way that instructional designers incorporate data and research into what they do. That desire to bring data and teaching together eventually drew her to the FSU Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program.
A few classes during her master’s degree in ISLT stood out for her and still help her to this day. “The graphic design course I took really gave me a solid background on learning design and designing content for the online environment,” she said.
Another fundamental class she took taught her about change management. In her opinion, change management “is crucial for instructional design because we are introducing new initiatives into companies, and we are in charge of creating that buy-in, motivating the head and the heart of employees and leadership.”
As she progressed through the master’s program, she applied what she learned to an internship at Tesla. “I’m really grateful not only for FSU for providing that educational foundation, but Tesla as well for allowing me the freedom to conduct things like site analysis,” she said.
As Greiner has worked with businesses, she has noticed a few common areas of improvement. “I think one aspect that needs to be addressed overall is leadership training,” she said. She envisions leadership development “focusing on empathy-based training, and really just instilling how to be an empathetic and effective leader.”
Her work at companies has provided her great perspective but also an understanding of the multigenerational shifts in the workforce. “What I’ve found especially is that Gen Z responds well to the term leader rather than manager,” Greiner said. “That’s because the idea of leader means that you’re leading and inspiring a team to be the best versions of themselves rather than being so hands-on and managing them or micromanaging them, which is what employees don’t want.” Greiner says that the subtle shift from managing to leading a team can create tremendous positive energy in an organization.
Greiner sees her role and the role of other instructional designers as key to creating forward-thinking companies. “We can build companies so they’re sustainable and so everyone is a winner. The key to unlock that is learning and development; it’s truly training.”
Carolyn Greiner will represent OWLS Consulting in season 22 of The Blox. Greiner said that the experience was “intense but extremely transformative.” Contestants attend a week-long bootcamp to improve their pitch, attend intensive learning sessions, and market their business. By the end of it, Greiner says she was able to position OWLS Consulting better while also representing the field of learning and development.
(Photo depicts Carolyn Greiner on the set of The Blox)
