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Your people need durable skills. Almost no one knows how to teach them.

62% of employers say a lack of soft skills is a major barrier to early-career success, and nearly half of companies have started building their own training to close the gap
- Forbes

You don't have to build it from scratch.

Introducing. 
DurableStart.

Built on transformational learning and years of research, DurableStart plugs into what you've already built, delivering the professionalism, initiative, and communication your managers keep asking for, without becoming the expert.

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The research is done. The program is built.
All you do is plug it in.

30-minute conversation. No pitch. Just clarity.

The data is hard to ignore.

75%
Of business leaders report unsatisfactory experiences with their recent college hires. 
— Intelligent.com
12%
Of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job onboarding new hires.
—Gallup
60%
Of new managers receive no training when they step into their first leadership role.
— Center for Creative Leadership

Your people aren't struggling with the work. They're struggling with the parts nobody writes down: how to communicate up and across, how to take initiative without being told, how to build a reputation that opens doors, and, once they lead, how to develop others instead of just managing tasks. These are the skills managers name most often when someone stalls, and the same skills almost no organization is actually built to teach.

Most companies know this. Almost none have built a way to teach it, because it isn't a curriculum problem; it's a research problem. What actually changes behavior long-term, what makes a lesson stick past the day it's delivered, is its own field of study.


DurableStart is that program. It's grounded in transformational learning theory and years of research into how people actually retain and apply what they're taught, not just a checklist of professionalism tips. It plugs directly into the internship, onboarding, and leadership programs you already run: no rebuild, no extra headcount, and no need to become the expert yourself.

DurableStart

A one-day program that teaches human skills as deliberately as technical ones, layered directly onto the programs you've already built, developed by HR and learning experts with a combined 36+ years of experience.

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Built for Your People. Owned By Your Team.

  Full DurableME Integration
The 24-trait self-leadership framework at the heart of every track. Your people get the language and self-awareness to navigate workplace dynamics at every stage.

 The Unwritten Rules of Work
What nobody puts in the employee handbook: professional norms, workplace expectations, and how decisions really get made, taught at the level each career stage needs.

 Internships Track
How to speak up, ask the right questions, and take ownership without waiting to be told, the exact behaviors managers notice most.

 Onboarding Track
New hires learn how your organization actually operates, communicates, and decides, so they ramp faster and stay longer.

 Leadership Development Track

Four paths: First-Time Leader, Leading Without Authority, Mid-Manager, and Executive. Leaders learn to develop people, give feedback that lands, and lead beyond their title.
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The Corporate Onboarding System.

A 1.5-day, on-site experience that builds your complete onboarding system — across every critical touchpoint, configured to your organization, delivered by HR and learning experts with a combined 36+ years of experience. 

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This isn't a training. It's not a workshop. It's a system. 

  Welcome. Infrastructure. Compliance
New hires arrive to structure, not chaos. Every first impression is intentional.

 Week One + DurableME

Identity, belonging, and self-leadership grounded in the 24 self-leadership traits new hires need to navigate work.

  Your Culture. Your Story.
Values, culture, and expectations — clearly communicated, not assumed.

  Business + Market Acumen
New hires understand the industry, the market pressure, and exactly where the business fits.

  Leadership Onboarding
Manager rhythm, feedback expectations, and role clarity — structured from day one.
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Every touchpoint is documented. Every manager is briefed.
Every system is yours to run.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Your people arrive ready. Your program should meet them at the door.

  • An HR or L&D leader with no bandwidth to build a durable skills curriculum
  • Managers giving the same feedback every cycle: talented, but not quite ready
  • Strong performers promoted into leadership with no preparation
  • You know your people need durable skills, but not where to start
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Maximizing Your Investment In Your People

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✓ A proven program grounded in real research, not guesswork
✓ Facilitation guide and slide deck, ready to run every year

✓ Every participant leaves with the DurableME workbook

✓ Your trainers certified before the first cohort begins

✓ Built to plug directly into the program you already run

30-minute conversation. No pitch. Just clarity.

HOW IT WORKS

01 Discovery Call

We listen before we propose. No pitch. Just clarity on where you are and whether we're the right fit.

02 Proposal + Decision

You'll have a proposal in hand within 24 hours, and you decide when you're ready to move forward.

03 Intake + Prep

We learn your program dates, your group size, and where DurableStart fits into what you already run, then prep the day around it.

04 The DurableStart Day

One day, on-site or virtual. We train your team to facilitate DurableStart, complete with the slide deck, facilitation guide, and DurableME materials, so they are ready to deliver it.

05 Yours to Run

Your trainers are certified before your first cohort walks in. Every year after, you run it. We're a call away if you ever need us.

30-minute conversation. No pitch. Just clarity.

Built by the people who've actually fixed this problem.

DME isn't theory. It's the system our founders wish every organization had: human skills taught as deliberately as technical ones. Grounded in organizational psychology and sharpened in the workplace, our tools work because they're built by the people who know how hiring, development, and performance really happen.

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Jillian Ferry
Chief Executive Officer

Jillian has 16+ years of HR and people operations experience across healthcare, behavioral health, and higher education. A former executive HR leader, she currently serves as a Senior HR Consultant at Korn Ferry. She has led onboarding redesigns, performance management systems, and leadership development programs that scale. In 2026, she was named the recipient of the NACE Business Affiliate Excellence in Leadership Award, recognized by the nation's leading workforce development association. She built DME because she watched too many talented early-career professionals lose their confidence before they ever found their footing, and knew the real fix was never a better orientation deck. It was a better system.

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Dr. Anh Lee, Ed.D
Chief Education Officer

Dr. Anh Lee brings 20+ years of learning design and organizational development across Fortune 500 companies, education, oil and energy, SaaS, government, and MedTech. Her doctoral research centered on building onboarding programs and preparing the next generation for meaningful careers, and she has spent her career translating that science into corporate learning systems that actually stick. Named Teacher of the Year by the Texas Council for Social Studies, she has designed and rebuilt onboarding and learning systems inside some of the most complex organizations in the world, and knows exactly what it takes to make learning change how people show up at work..

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You don't need a bigger team. You need to protect the investment you're already making.

We are currently accepting a limited number of Discovery Call requests. If your organization is ready to stop leaving human skills to chance, we would love to talk.

30-minute conversation. No pitch. Just clarity.

Durable Minds Everboarding

Human skills at work, taught as deliberately as technical ones.

 Backed by 36+ years of HR & Learning Design research experience

 2026 NACE Business Affiliate Excellence in Leadership Award Winner

Built in Texas | Deployed Nationally