Kim is the original Free Spirit. She set up L&D Free Spirits in early 2024 with one mission: to make freelancing in L&D less lonely, more connected, and a whole lot more doable.
A freelancer since 2017, Kim knows first-hand how hard it can be to get started. She spent a long time winging it alone — until she realised the power of community. Now she’s on a mission to help others find their people, their confidence, and their own version of freelance freedom.
We asked Kim: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Your professional network is the most important part of your business, build it, nurture it and don’t take it for granted.
Erica is an AI and Skills Professional Speaker, Trainer & Podcast Host Quantum Rise Talent Group and EricaFarmer.ai. She has over 25 years of learning and development and apprenticeships experience with some of the UK’s best-known brands such as LV=, British Gas, Specsavers and Virgin Care.
Erica’s area of specialism is AI and future skills. Erica speaks about this in her TEDx talk, ‘Reforming Education through the Digital First Mindset’, and in her courses as a LinkedIn Learning Instructor.
She is passionate about driving human collaborations with tech. Examples are the ‘AI for the Average Joe’ podcast show, making the complex, simple, alongside her innovative keynotes and workshops focusing on the AI Dividend™, AI activation in leadership and practical use of AI for career development and wellbeing.
Erica is also an advisory member of the AI in Work & Skills Forum, a seasoned presenter who was shortlisted as Best AI Speaker in the 2025 and 2026 Speaker Awards. She is also an AI Strategist for a leading European learning and teaching assessment organisation.
Erica has recently authored her first book, ‘AI for People Professionals’ available through Kogan Page.
What you’ll get out of this session?
A lot of AI rollouts have a people problem buried at the heart of them. Employees are being asked to embrace a technology many of them quietly fear, often without enough trust, psychological safety, or any real sense of what it means for them personally. So it’s little wonder adoption stalls.
In this human-first keynote, Erica introduces the concept of the AI Dividend™, and helps you think about AI not just in terms of efficiency and productivity, but in terms of personal value. More time. More headspace. More confidence and motivation.
By reframing what AI can actually give people, rather than just what it demands of them, Erica opens up a more meaningful conversation about adoption, one that’s rooted in wellbeing and genuine readiness, not just compliance.
You’ll leave with a fresh perspective on how to support yourself (and your clients) in navigating AI as a human experience, not just a tech implementation.
We asked Erica: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Always back yourself
Hi, I’m Tom. I’m the founder and principal consultant at Evolve L&D, as well as the founder at Tandemo and the chair of the IDTX event series. I’m an unapologetic generalist in the world of L&D, getting involved wherever learning, development, and performance enablement can support organisations in achieving their objectives, mostly through supporting the spread of evidence-informed practice among other people professionals. I regularly post to the Instructional Design Tips Substack, as well as hosting webinars, podcasts, and in-person events throughout the year.
What you’ll get out of this session?
Tom has never been comfortable with the phrase “thought leadership”, and he’s suspicious of anyone who reaches for it to describe themselves. The people who call themselves experts and the people others call experts are rarely the same crowd, and in his experience, only one of those groups tends to wear well over time.
This closing keynote is about how to land in the second group. The mechanism isn’t glamorous: be generous with what you know, share your work openly, and make yourself available to the people coming up behind you. Profile, as Tom sees it, is simply what happens when you keep doing that for long enough.
He’ll take a practical look at the channels available to freelance L&D professionals, including LinkedIn, Substack and other written formats, video, podcasting, conference speaking, and how to build your own stage rather than waiting to be invited onto someone else’s. He’ll also cover the bit that rarely gets mentioned: how to keep a sense of humour about all of it, why your most useful colleagues are the ones who tell you when you’re talking nonsense, and how to stay your own biggest critic even as your public profile grows.
You’ll leave with an honest read on what visible generosity actually looks like in a small profession, and a short list of practical next steps sized for a one-person business that you can act on the week after the conference.
We asked Tom: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Your perceived competence and expertise matter just as much as the real thing when it comes to securing work. Invest equally in your public communication skills and your domain-specific ones.
Hayley is a Chartered Marketer with over 20 years’ experience, Hayley partners with small business owners who have limited marketing expertise. She provides strong leadership, actionable advice and direction to reduce overwhelm and bring clarity to their marketing.
She’s built a deep understanding of the L&D and learning technology space through her work with digital training providers, learning technology suppliers, people development consultants and membership organisations, as well as her time at Brightwave Group/Capita Learning and the Association for Learning Technology.
What you’ll get out of this session?
When you’re self-employed, your expertise is one of your most valuable marketing assets. The tricky bit is knowing how to turn it into content that actually lands. In this practical session, Hayley explores how thought leadership can help you build visibility, credibility and stronger business relationships, without it feeling forced or out of reach.
She’ll look at how long-form content (articles, speaking sessions, podcast appearances) can work harder for you, and how to pull clips, quotes and talking points from it to repurpose across other channels.
You’ll come away with a clearer sense of how to create content that speaks to your clients’ real challenges, practical ideas for making your expertise more visible, and more confidence to use thought leadership strategically to attract new business.
We asked Hayley: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Create your own rule book, baby. It’s your business.
Sarah is a speaker, facilitator and coach with over 30 years of L&D experience, helping people show up online with the same confidence, warmth and presence they bring in person. She works with business owners, leaders and teams to build camera confidence and create more engaging online experiences, combining practical delivery techniques with behavioural insight and a healthy dose of reality about what online communication actually feels like for most people. Her take? Cameras don’t create connection. People do.
What you’ll get out of this session?
Research shows that when cameras are off, we’re far more likely to assume people are disengaged or not interested, even when that isn’t true at all. And when we push too hard for visibility, connection and engagement often get worse, not better. Sound familiar?
This session gets into the real reasons people avoid the camera, why online delivery can feel awkward and flat even for experienced facilitators and speakers who are brilliant in person, and how our assumptions about our audience affect the way we interact with them.
Sarah draws on her background in L&D and her work helping people build camera confidence to share practical ways to create warmer, more engaging online experiences, without forcing participation or demanding “cameras on” from people who’d rather not.
You’ll leave with a better understanding of what’s actually going on when online sessions fall flat, practical techniques to build more trust, connection and energy in your webinars, workshops and client sessions, and simple ways to improve your own on-camera presence so you show up with more confidence and warmth.
We asked Sarah: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Look at the camera, not at the screen. It’s the simplest way to create a sense of eye contact with your audience.
Kara is a B2B marketing strategist, founder of The Marketing Spaces, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). With over 20 years of running her own businesses, she helps business owners cut through the noise and build marketing that actually works. Her Growth Optics approach is rooted in a simple belief: finding your voice isn’t about being louder or more confident, it’s about being clear on what you stand for, who you help, and the value you bring.
What you’ll get out of this session?
There’s a lot of advice out there telling you to “find your voice.” Kara’s going to challenge that idea a bit. Because your voice isn’t something you go out and discover, it’s something that emerges when you get clear on what you actually offer, who you help, and why your work matters.
Drawing on her Growth Optics approach, Kara shares a simple, practical framework to help you sharpen your positioning and say the right things to the right people. When your thinking is clear, your marketing messages start to feel natural, and showing up (on LinkedIn, in conversations, in proposals) stops feeling like such a performance.
You’ll leave with a clearer sense of how to define and articulate your offer, practical prompts you can use straight away to improve how you talk about your work, and a fresh perspective on visibility: why showing up more isn’t the answer on its own, and why getting clear first makes everything you say land that bit better.
We asked Kara: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Building your company around who you are is the key to success – I spent too long trying to be someone else!
Thea is one of only 45 Canva Verified Experts on the planet, turning design dread into “I can’t believe I made this!” moments. With nearly 15 years of training experience, she brings energy, humour, and no-nonsense tips to workshops, webinars, and 1:1s worldwide.
I’m also the founder of Totally Content, a hub for creative content, publishing, and print-on-demand. My passions include retro-tech, music, and helping others explore their creative potential.
We asked Thea: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
When I first started training, I made the rookie mistake of trying to copy my mentor, Gary. It felt all wrong, like wearing shoes two sizes too small – uncomfortable and not remotely me. The best advice I ever got? Be yourself and find your own style. The second I did, everything clicked, and training became fun, natural, and mine.
Jill is a former BBC journalist turned training and education filmmaker, on a mission to make learning and business media genuinely better. She fell into L&D somewhat by accident, when it became clear that much of the video and audio people were expected to learn from was, frankly, not up to scratch. With 30 years in broadcasting and higher education, she now works with business owners and learning professionals to help them produce content that actually does what it’s supposed to do.
What you’ll get out of this session?
A showreel is one of the best ways to show potential clients what you’re made of. When someone can see and hear you on camera, watch you at work, or get a feel for how you come across in an interview clip, they can much more quickly work out whether you’re the right fit for them.
But putting together something that feels professional, personal and genuinely compelling (without tipping over into cringe) takes a bit of thought and planning. In this hands-on Skills Lab, Jill walks you through exactly how to do it.
You’ll cover good practice for filming and presenting to camera, how to illustrate your message with images, gathering useable interview clips, making the best use of text and graphics, and how to pull it all together into something you’re actually proud to share.
We asked Jill: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Even if it doesn’t seem like you’re getting anywhere, the fact you’re still plugging away means you are indeed getting there.
Meet the moderators
Andy is your plain speaking Learning Consultant from Aprendido Limited… Oh goodie, another L&D Consultant. Just what the world needs!
But here’s the thing: many businesses are still paralysed by the perceived cost and complexity of digital learning.
That’s where Andy comes in.
He helps organisations design and deliver digital learning that works – clearly, affordably, and without the nonsense. No jargon. No inflated tech. Just straight-talking advice and hands-on delivery.
Andy combines logic with empathy to cut through the fluff and focus on what your business really needs. With 35+ years’ experience and a background in digital, he guides clients from discovery to implementation – building bridges between teams and making change happen.
Andy communicates in plain English, stays hands-on, and know when to bring in the right people. He don’t pretend to have all the answers – but he knows how to find them.
We asked Andy: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
When you are a freelancer, every stranger is a new opportunity. Forget about competitors. Everyone in business just wants to be a success and to help others achieve the same.
Craig is a freelance digital learning designer and the founder of Arck Learning, working as a boutique partner to create story-led, visually distinctive eLearning. His work focuses on bridging style and substance, combining strong visual design with thoughtful structure to create modern, mobile-ready learning that works in real environments.
Craig works closely with clients from first conversation through to delivery, valuing clarity, collaboration and calm project flow. He’s particularly interested in how learning projects are shaped by process, decision-making and relationships, not just content. His experience spans onboarding, capability development and large-scale learning journeys across a range of sectors.
We asked Craig: What’s one bit of advice you wish you’d had when you were starting out?
Build trust through how you work, not just what you deliver.