Welcome back to our Member Spotlight series, our chance to tell the stories of people we are lucky enough to count as part of our community. In the case of Jayne Davids, we can even claim her as a former Director.
Like many of our members (and former Spotlight subjects!), L&D wasn’t initially on Jayne’s radar.She started her career in the travel industry – something, she says, she’d wanted since she was a teenager, sitting in a travel agency booking a holiday with her family. When it came to mapping out her next step professionally, her manager had clocked Jayne’s knack for explaining things and suggested she explore becoming a teacher. One teacher training adult education certificate later, Jayne got her first job as a systems trainer for a business travel organisation, and the rest is history. One thing the travel and L&D professions have in common? The people, says Jayne with a smile. “Everyone just helps everybody, and are just really nice people. I’ve been really fortunate to meet and work with so many wonderful people in those two industries.”
As for how Jayne first discovered the LN, she has been such a long-standing member that the memory is a little hazy. “It was probably social media,” she says, “I was alerted to an event down in Brighton, which was free for members. At the time, I was focusing on building my network, and saw this as an ideal opportunity. I paid my £29 and that was the start really! At the beginning of the day I was that anxious person who didn’t know anybody, but by the end I’d made lifelong connections. Once you’re in, you’re in.”
It wasn’t too long before Jayne volunteered to run for the LN Board of Directors, and she credits former LN Director James McLuckie for suggesting she apply. “We were chatting at the annual LN Connect conference. He was standing down and gave me a nudge, like ‘Jayne, you’d be good at this ’. I think imposter syndrome got the better of me at the time, but the year after I found some inner confidence and just thought… why not?”.
During her time on the board, Jayne looked after the mentoring scheme, which at the time involved manually matching people up and meant a steep learning curve! But despite being thrown in the deep end, Jayne made it a success over her two years on the board and still loves coming across a partnership she made happen through the scheme.
As well as developing her knowledge around mentoring and honing her matchmaking skills, Jayne also thanks the LN for the journey she has been on with public speaking.
“I really don’t like being on camera!” she says. “During that first board meeting, I reluctantly put my camera on.” But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she had to quickly adapt. “Everything went online. We had Tea & Talk, webinars… the LN really gave me the opportunity to develop those skills. I’d never done public speaking, but then I hosted a webinar. I presented with [former LN Chair] Gemma about mentoring. Then the opportunity came up of a rapid talk at Connect. So that was my very first public, in-person talk.”
Since her tenure as LN Director ended, Jayne has continued to stay involved with the network, something she calls a “no brainer”. Besides being a regular attendee of LN events, Jayne has been part of the judging team for the Learning Technologies awards and recently, led a specialist training session on Video Editing with Camtasia at our recent Learning Network Mastery Day on media production, along with her husband Kevin with whom she runs Raiveon, (a video training and production company now in its 21st year). The mastery day gave Jayne the perfect opportunity to do what she loves most: helping people to grow and develop new skills.It’s clear that whether she’s speaking at events, supporting others, or lending her expertise behind the scenes, Jayne continues to embody the spirit of the LN. A true Learning Network Legend, she is a reminder that the network is more than just a community, it’s a space where everyone can grow, lead and inspire others at every stage of their careers.
Interested in sharing your story and insights in our Member Spotlight series? Get in touch with us today to learn how you can showcase your experience and contribute to the community!
