Christine Chittenden Interview - Adjusting A Training Business Through Covid

In this episode, we get to learn about Christine Chittenden, her business, and how they are adjusting to Covid. Christine is the CEO and owner of Transformational Institute in New South Wales. They deliver accredited and non-accredited courses in health, community services and business leadership and management. Christine shared how their company adapted to the pandemic, the challenges the business and their clients faced, the strategies they implemented to help their staff and students, and how she keeps motivated to face these challenges.Christine also shared the importance of motivation and mental health for her, her students, and staff. Episode Highlights: Who is Christine and what does she do?"I really want to make a difference in people's lives and give our learners the best experience and training possible so that they leave the RTO knowing that they had the skills and knowledge to be a great manager or a great carer, and to have the tools to progress in their career."Christine's biggest challenge in the past six monthsBecause of the lockdown, progress slowed, motivation is down. There are also a lot of distractions at home and different other reasons why students couldn't attend webinars or submit their work.The transition from face-to-face to online"It's really hard to motivate people when they don't feel the urgency."Christine and her team upgraded their online learning platform, and even ensured hard copies of lessons are available for their students, but there are still challenges with ensuring students comply with the lessons and such.What was it like when students returned to the classrooms?"I wrote a really detailed Coronavirus plan. I added things to the student workbook, to the trainer handbook. We added it. Put a few Facebook things out about what we were doing."Not all students though are all back in the classrooms. Christine believes it will stay like that for some time."I've done everything I can think of to make it safe for everybody. And so far it's been working really well."If we were to go into a second lockdown, a second wave, how prepared does Christine feel compared to the first time? And what would Christine do differently this time?How did Christine come up with setting up a studio? And why did she do that?"So I had a spare room, just a little room. And so I just rushed out to Spotlight and grabbed some green fabric. I bought some lights and microphones. Just quickly rushed out and got a whole heap of stuff. And then just set that room up and the trainer can go in there. It's quiet, no one disturbs you, you can't hear anything else. We can put any background on it that we like. And it really was so efficient."How have the trainers been adapting to this different delivery method? And how does Christine feel with the trainers doing more recordings and interactions online?"The joy of being a small RTO is you can pivot really quickly."How was Christine able to get over that hurdle with trainers and having to adjust and change? How did she overcome that with them working from home?Christine Chittenden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-chittenden-3521aa146/Transformational Institute Website: https://www.transformationalinstitute.com.au/Angela Connell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelatkconnellAngela Connell Website: https://vivacity.com.au/Send us Fan MailSupport the showThank you for tuning in to the RTO Superhero Podcast! This podcast supports RTOs to operate with clarity and control under the 2025 Standards. Each episode breaks down compliance into practical actions you can apply in your RTO.📘 Want deeper insight into governance under the new Standards?Explore The Governance Shift: https://governance-shift.vivacity.com.au/and the 8 Critical Drivers to RTO Success: https://8-critical-drivers-book.vivacity.com.au/ Stay connected with the RTO Community: RTO Job Board FacebookRTO Job Board LinkedInRTO Community Facebook📌 Don’t forget to:✔ Subscribe so you never miss an episode✔ Share this episode with your RTO network🎙 Listen now and stay ahead of the Standards📢 Want more compliance insights?Subscribe to our EduStream YouTube Channel for FAQ sessions on the 2025 Standards🔗 Subscribe now: EduStream by Vivacity Coaching✉️ Email us at [email protected] 📞 Call us on 1300 729 455🖥️ Visit us at vivacity.au