Networking and getting to know other members is critical to our Chapter's success, so every month,  ATD NOLA spotlights a member or a group of members to "interview."  This month, Erika Hamm, our VP of Membership, interviewed Tina Ossenkopp- one of our past Leadership Krewe members and an all around wonderful person.

EH: Where are you from?  TO:  Originally, Akron, Ohio.

EH: How long have you been a member of ATD NOLA?  TO: I joined the Chapter in May of 2016.

EH: In what industry do you work and what is your role?  TO:  I work in the hospitality industry, specifically restaurants.  I am the Talent Innovation Specialist.

EH:  Who impacted or influenced you the most in your career?  How and/or why?  TO:  Darleen Lenyo and Tim Slade are the two people that have had the    biggest impact on my current career.  Darleen gave me an opportunity back in 2016 to try something new and creative.  While furloughed during COVID-19,   I realized my love of developing eLearning content and finding creative ways  to introduce training.  Tim Slade (without knowing it) is my mentor.  I'm honored  to know him and am glad I have him as a resource, when needed.

EH: What is your proudest professional moment?  TO:  I have a few proud moments which I believe were instrumental to my love of this role.  While building my first eLearning course, I used tools that I had      no experience with and I taught myself to use them.  Those tools were  Storyline, Audacity, and Camtasia. I edited footage from a three-camera video shoot.  I built a training course for an HRIS system in 40 hours that contained videos, voice over, and interactions utilized by the learner.  I took my current  employers existing positional new hire content and turning it into interactive and engaging courses.

EH: What is your next goal in the T & D profession?  TO:  I want to continue to grow in my current role, find new and innovative  ways to bring training to the team, and ultimately, lead my own eLearning   team.

EH:  Enough about the business stuff.  Which local restaurant is your favorite?  TO:  This is a hard question to answer.  I have a lot of favorite restaurants for various reasons: cuisine, atmosphere, cocktails, and memories.  If you are "forcing" me to pick, then it would be Mr. B's!  It's the restaurant my fiance   took me to on our first date.

EH:  If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?  TO: France!  It's a standing joke at a previous employer.  "Tina, what if you were in France?"  Seriously, I would love to go to Europe.  I want to visit places that are rich in history and culture.