New Month New Theme: Instructor Stories!

Hey there instructors!

It's finally December and this month's theme is instructor stories! Throughout your journey as an instructor, there's sure to be some experiences you'd like to share with your fellow community members.

From an interesting interaction with a learner, to a method of creating your courses. There should be a lot to share!

With that, I have a question for you all.

What inspired you to become an instructor, and how has that initial spark evolved over time?

Feel free to share your answers in the comments below! 👇

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Ananya_Haldar

Hi @ryan

My thought process when creating a course is always centered around the students. I focus not only on helping them learn the concepts, but also on enabling them to apply those concepts in real scenarios. The goal is to ensure students are equipped to use what they learn directly in their jobs.

After spending years working across different companies, and solving problems first-hand, I felt a strong desire to share my knowledge with others, hence, I was excited to become an instructor.
After receiving positive and encouraging feedback from students, the initial spark has only become stronger and it excites me to share my knowledge with students across the globe.

Excited to hear other instructors’ stories and thought process.

Thanks,

Ananya Haldar

Corporate Escalator

RonErez

Hi @RyanJaress

From what I've seen, students who regularly ask questions and stay curious about why certain solutions are chosen tend to make the most progress. Many of the most engaged learners even go on to publish their own apps based on what they pick up in the course. So it was just nice to communicate with students on a regular basis. It makes the course more personal. One student even said he signed up to my course because he noticed I respond to every single review and course question.

When it comes to creating course content, working section by section helps keep things manageable. Light editing is usually enough. Simple zoom adjustments, basic audio cleanup, using a decent microphone, and adding subtle on-screen highlights when needed. Over-zooming can be distracting, and loud keyboard or mouse clicks can take away from the experience, so placing them on something soft goes a long way. This might be obvious but it took me awhile to figure out. Also many bad reviews were initially about me zooming in too much.

A few students have reached out to say they’re sharing their course progress on social media, which is always great to hear. When a negative review comes in, I try to follow up politely and see if there’s anything I can clarify or fix. Most students don’t reply, but in a handful of cases the conversation helped resolve the issue, and those students even chose to update their review to a 5-star review afterward.

Happy course creation!

FrankHissen

I am basically teaching IT security my whole adult life, startingright after university over 20 years ago. About 10 years ago, a Udemyrepresentative posted on a German web forum that Udemy launched alsoin Germany. This was my inspiration to create my first online course!

Connecting withparticipants from all over the world (with the positive feedback inmind), makes me feel like I’m helping to make the world a littlebit more secure. :-)

Col (Dr) Shabbar Shahid (Veteran)

Thank you Ryan for this wonderful question! My journey as an instructor began long before I officially became one.

I have always been a learner at heart. Throughout my career, I continued to build my qualifications starting with graduation, followed by post-graduation, an MBA, a PhD, and numerous military and management courses sponsored by the Army. This continuous learning made me realise something important… possessing knowledge is not enough, knowledge must be applied meaningfully and shared with others. That makes knowledge an asset and it gives a wonderful feeling.

During my service in the Army, I discovered that sharing knowledge may be a good intent but it is not an easy task unless you can make the other person understand in simple manner what you want to share. This realization sparked the instructor in me, and I was assigned to teach military equipment and man management while still in uniform.

Post retirement, this passion didn’t fade. In fact, it grew stronger. I wanted to remain engaged, productive, and connected to the world of learning. I was fortunate that someone introduced me to Udemy, and that opened a new chapter….one where I could share my knowledge with learners across the globe.

What began as a desire to use my experience meaningfully has now evolved into a mission: to make learning practical, accessible, and valuable for anyone who seeks it. I’m grateful to be part of this community and to continue growing alongside learners worldwide.

CarlosMartinez

Thanks @RyanJaress for opportunity to participate.

I’ve always been interested in teaching. My academic path — an MBA, a master’s in finance, and a Ph.D. in management — was driven by the desire to build a career in education. I taught at a university for some time, but I felt limited in what I could create and the pace at which I could innovate. It was also frustrating to teach in an elite environment where many students were in class because they had to be there, not because they wanted to learn.

When COVID came, I lost my job. That was my reset moment. I started from zero and created my first courses on Udemy. Of course, I was unemployed and needed to rebuild my career, but it also felt like a chance to play what Simon Sinek calls “the infinite game” — a game with no winner or loser, where the goal is simply to keep playing with purpose.

Today, my “infinite game” is education. I want to bring business school knowledge to the largest possible audience — people who want to learn, not just those who can afford it. Offering knowledge that once cost $10,000+ for $9.99 or less is what motivates me. And when things get challenging on Udemy — lower revenue, tough reviews — I go back to that mission and remind myself why I started.

It has become my main source of income, so I don’t pretend I do this purely out of goodwill. But the mission stands next to the business: to educate driven learners everywhere and make high–quality education accessible to those who truly want it.