The situation
Purple was scaling fast, new retail doors opening, a growing direct sales force, and a customer care team fielding increasingly complex product questions. There was no L&D function. No brand standards for training. No content library. I was hired to build all of it.
The challenge wasn’t just making courses. It was standing up a learning brand that felt as distinct as Purple’s product marketing, then filling it with content that actually changed behavior.
What I built
Purple Academy brand system
Before writing a single learning objective, I designed the visual and verbal identity for all training. Purple Academy used the company’s signature purple and yellow, but adapted for learning contexts, custom iconography, a “recipe card” layout system for one-pagers, and a consistent voice that matched the brand’s playful confidence.
This meant L&D materials looked like they belonged to Purple, not like generic corporate training with a logo slapped on.
De-escalation training (Rise 360)
Customer care reps were handling returns, complaints, and exchanges for a premium product people feel strongly about. I built a full soft-skills course covering:
- Emotional recognition and mirror techniques
- De-escalation language frameworks
- Branching scenario practice (built in Storyline, embedded in Rise)
The Storyline module put learners in real customer conversations and scored their choices, not just “right/wrong” but tracking empathy language, resolution speed, and escalation avoidance.
Sales methodology curriculum (Rise 360)
B2B training for retail partners selling Purple mattresses. Covered:
- The science of Purple Grid technology (translated for non-technical audiences)
- Competitive differentiation without bashing competitors
- Objection handling for price, feel, and trial hesitation
- A certification path with a knowledge check and a scored product demo simulation
Storyline interactives
Built four standalone Storyline simulations that were embedded across Rise courses and used in live coaching sessions:
| Simulation | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Mattress Builder | Teaches product configuration logic through a drag-and-drop assembly interface |
| De-Escalation Game | Branching customer service scenarios with empathy scoring |
| Zendesk Sell Simulator | Trains CRM data entry without touching the live system |
| Order Management Simulator | Walks through the order intake workflow with guided error correction |
Each was built to feel more like a game than a compliance module, Purple’s brand demanded it.
Order system training (Rise 360)
When Purple switched order management platforms, I built the transition training from scratch: software walkthroughs, annotated screenshots, job aids, and a short simulation for the highest-risk steps. Rolled out to 200+ reps with a two-week adoption window.
Results
- Sales reps at retail partners reported faster confidence ramp, anecdotally, managers said they could skip “the basics” conversation by week 2 instead of week 6
- De-escalation course completion drove measurable drop in supervisor escalations during a high-volume return season
- Storyline simulations were reused across onboarding, refresher training, and manager coaching sessions, content that paid back many times over
- Purple Academy brand was still in use after I left, adopted by the next L&D hire as the foundation for new content
What made this work
Starting with brand before content was the right call. When every piece of training looks and sounds like Purple, people trust it more. It signals investment. The simulations felt like a natural extension of a company that cared about the experience, which is exactly the brand promise Purple makes with its products.
The Storyline interactives also gave managers a coaching tool they didn’t have before. Instead of shadowing calls, they could run someone through the de-escalation game and debrief the choices. That changed how L&D was perceived, from “the people who make slides” to a team with actual tools.