Some careers are shaped by planning, others by experience, and a few by sheer resilience. Jennifer De Vries, President of Blue Streak Learning, fits into all three categories. With more than twenty-five years in the learning and development field, she has become one of the most respected voices in external enterprise training. Her work has influenced certification programs, partner education initiatives, and performance improvement strategies across many industries.
In the Training Impact Podcast episode titled Blue Streak Learning: Proven Strategy for Powerful ROI in Partner Training, Jennifer sits down with host Jeff Walter to discuss her path into entrepreneurship, her philosophy of measurement driven learning, and the practical realities of designing training that moves the needle for franchisees, dealers, resellers, and members.
The conversation is open, grounded, and filled with insights that every training leader should hear.
Jennifer’s journey began in a way that resonates with many professionals who lived through waves of corporate restructuring. Early in her career she went through seventeen rounds of layoffs at the companies she worked for. She survived most of them, but the repeated uncertainty taught her something important. Her stability did not come from employers. It came from the people who respected her work and trusted her expertise.
When she was laid off for the second time, she used her severance pay to start Blue Streak Learning. That decision set her on a path that has now lasted more than twenty-five years.
“My job security wasn’t in the company I worked for. It was in my network, people who valued my work and wanted to hire me.”
Her company went on to specialize in external enterprise education, a niche in which measurement and business outcomes matter just as much as instructional design.
A central theme in the episode is the difference between internal employee training and external partner training. The distinction is larger than most people realize. Jennifer summarizes it simply and accurately: “You don’t control the people taking the training.”
Internal training relies on deadlines, compliance, and expectations. External training relies on motivation, incentives, and value.
Franchisees, dealers, and association members participate because the training helps them operate at a higher standard, improve performance, increase credibility, or unlock business opportunities. Certification becomes a business advantage, not a checkbox. A certified computer technician wins more customers. A certified travel agent sells more cruises. A certified reseller earns more revenue.
This is where the conversation shifts toward an idea that runs through Jennifer’s entire career. External learning must be tied to results. If it does not improve revenue, customer outcomes, or performance, it is not achieving its purpose.
One of the more surprising parts of the episode is Jennifer’s observation that many organizations still fail to track the ROI of their external learning programs. Blue Streak Learning often delivers full business plans complete with revenue projections, pricing strategies, and performance expectations. Yet many clients never revisit the metrics after the training launches.
“You would think that if we sold them on ROI, they would want to look at it two or three years later. But often they don’t.”
This is remarkable because external learning is one of the few areas in L&D where the impact is both clear and highly measurable. Trained partners sell more. Certified technicians resolve more issues on the first visit. Educated customers stay longer and buy additional services. Measured properly, training becomes one of the strongest levers an organization can pull.
One of the most valuable contributions Jennifer makes in this episode is her clear explanation of what separates content from education and training. The distinction shapes everything in the extended enterprise world.
Content is one way communication. A video, PDF, or webpage is content. It may be useful, but it is not learning.
Education measures whether someone knows something. Knowledge checks and tests fall into this category.
Training is different. Training measures whether someone can apply what they know. Can they perform the task? Can they produce the outcome? Can they meet the standard?
Without measurement, Jennifer notes, content is simply content. To become training, it must have objectives and a way to verify that those objectives were met. This is where the Kirkpatrick and Phillips models become practical rather than academic. Level one and two measure reaction and knowledge. Level three and four measure performance and results. Those upper levels are where partner training becomes a strategic asset.
Certification is one of the strongest tools in partner education, but its structure must be thoughtful and sequenced. Jennifer describes what effective certification looks like based on her experience at IBM and with many client organizations.
The most successful programs combine several elements: foundational learning delivered in digestible segments, knowledge checks that confirm understanding, hands on practice or workshops, real world application, and LMS tracking to ensure prerequisites are completed.
Franchise systems are a clear example. Whether a customer walks into a location in Michigan or Florida, the product and experience should feel consistent. That consistency depends on solid processes, reliable training, and a certification structure that ensures every partner is operating at the same standard.
Jennifer was one of the early pioneers of VR training in the 1990s, long before virtual reality was widely accessible. She developed simulation-based training for Motorola, where shutting down a manufacturing line for an hour could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Traditional hands-on training was too expensive, so simulation filled the gap.
Today, the cost of building simulations has dropped dramatically. VR, AR, and AI tools are becoming practical for everyday operations, not just high stakes industries like aerospace or military training.
This shift has enormous implications for franchise programs, dealer networks, trade skills, and any environment where practical application matters. Learners can now practice, fail safely, receive immediate coaching, and progress faster. AI enabled simulations can correct sequencing errors, offer guidance, and validate performance long before a technician or operator touches real equipment.
The potential impact on certification, speed to competency, and program scalability is significant.
Blue Streak Learning: Proven Strategy for Powerful ROI in Partner Training is an important episode for anyone responsible for external enterprise learning. Jennifer’s insights help clarify the path from content to performance, from education to impact, and from training to measurable ROI. Her approach is practical and rooted in decades of experience across industries where partner performance determines business success.
For a deeper look into how these principles apply in real world environments, explore the companion case study:
How Blue Streak Learning Designs Training That Creates Real-World Impact
This resource demonstrates how a structured, measurable training approach can influence outcomes across a partner network.
🎧 Listen to the full episode
📄 Download the companion case study
🌐 Learn more about Blue Streak Learning on their website https://bluestreaklearning.com/
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