DC / 001 The personal site of DANIEL COONROD
REV. 04 / 2026  ·  UPSTATE SC
★ L&D LEADER · STORYTELLER · UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA ★

Daniel
Coonrod

I build enterprise learning programs for a living. Thirteen years deep at Samsung, Asurion, and a long list of Fortune 500 and public-sector clients. The work should make people better, not just busier.
13+ YEARS
L&D · ENTERPRISE
01   THE WORK / SIDE A SELECTED ENGAGEMENTS
2017–21 / ASURION

Sales-focus shift. One quarter.

ID Manager · Sales Training

Built and led the sales-focused ID team through a service-to-sales culture shift. Did it in a quarter. Compressed new-hire training from three weeks to two without losing a single learning outcome.

$2.5M
PRESERVED ANNUALLY
2013–17 / SAMSUNG

Trained 300 agents. Three months.

Instructional Designer

Smart Device Contact Center launch. Helped land Samsung at #3 in Laptop Magazine's U.S. support rankings. Killed third-party contractor dependency on mobile curriculum.

$200K+
SAVED ON CONTRACTORS
2024 / GA · DBHDD

17 courses, statewide.

NOW & COMP Waiver Training

Compliance work that has to land right the first time. Internal staff, contracted service providers, and direct-care providers — all on the same curriculum.

2021–22 / BIGGER BRAINS

Cut cycle by a third.

Production Manager

Agile-inspired workflows that took 33% out of production cycle time. The methodology is still in use at the company today, several years after I left.

2023–PRESENT

Founded the consultancy.

The Learning Nerds

Independent L&D consultancy. Selected engagements with Chartspan, Paramount, Hubbell, CEO, and the State of Georgia.

★ ★ ★   THE NUMBERS   ★ ★ ★

What it added up to.

$2.5M
Preserved
annually
at Asurion
33%
Faster
cycles
at Bigger Brains
17
Courses
live
State of GA
130+
Podcast
episodes
published
13+
Years in
enterprise
L&D
★ ★ ★   INTERMISSION   ★ ★ ★

Word from the people I've built with.

"

There are people who work in L&D, and people who create L&D. Dan is the latter.

Abby Dawson
Sr. Project Manager · Peer Collaborator
"

Dan is a multiplier in every scenario.

Tony Skinner
Sales Systems Consultant · Former Direct Report
"

Daniel is a trainer's trainer.

Eron Whitefield
Program Manager · The Bowen Group
"

His ability to develop talent is unparalleled.

Nick Johnson
Director of Marketing, Asurion · Former Direct Report
02   SIDE B / OFF THE CLOCK WHAT ELSE I MAKE
PODCAST

The Fabulous Learning Nerds

Co-host since 2021. 130+ episodes. 5.0 stars on Apple Podcasts. Conversations on instructional design, learning tech, and where the industry is actually going.

BOOK

Free The Talent

Co-authored with Tony Skinner and Will Wilberscheid. A working argument for unlocking the people you already have, instead of hiring around them.

FRAMEWORK · ORIGINAL IP

Points: A Learner Attention Model

Original framework for quantifying cognitive load and retention timing. Built it because nobody else was treating attention as a measurable resource.

TEACHING

Learning Nerds Certified ID Program

Two-year classroom ID program culminating in an internal credential. 29 students enrolled. 70% earned the certificate.

SIDE QUEST · OFF THE BOOKS

Also, in my free time, I'm a giant nerd.

I design and publish tabletop role-playing games on the side. Folk horror, modern weird, traditional fantasy. Designing learning and designing games turn out to be the same skill in different costumes.

"

I started saying "be bad, cause trouble" as a Southern flip of "be good, stay out of trouble." A contrarian sign-off. A joke.

It outgrew the joke. Became how I closed meetings with my team. Go shake things up. Find better ways to do things. Be the agent of change. Make the world a little better by causing the right kind of trouble. People started worrying we meant actual mayhem, so the phrase grew up.

Do good, do right.
Be bad, cause trouble.

If being good and staying out of trouble has landed you somewhere stuck, go cause some. Just make sure the trouble's in service of doing good. Doing right. Most days, that's the whole job.

DO GOOD, DO RIGHT.
BE BAD, CAUSE TROUBLE.