What if the best learning event you ever ran didn’t have a single slide deck?

In this episode of Rogue L&D, Tom sits down with Kirsty Lewis, founder of School of Facilitation and creator of SoFest, a three-day festival celebrating the art and energy of facilitation.

Kirsty shares how her mission to bring connection back into corporate learning sparked a thriving global community of trainers and facilitators. From her Diageo days designing world-class experiential programs to creating SoFest in a literal field, Kirsty shows how real learning happens when people play, talk, and co-create.

They dive into why L&D professionals are often the most professionally lonely people, how to design sessions that feel alive, and why most conferences still get learning completely wrong. Expect plenty of soapboxes, laughter, and hard truths about the future of facilitation, plus the infamous story of how chewing gum almost derailed her corporate career.

If you’re in learning, leadership, or coaching, this episode will reignite your passion for how we teach, connect, and grow people together.

Key Takeaways

1. Experiential beats instructional: Learning sticks when participants do, not when they’re taught.
2. Community cures professional loneliness: Even L&D pros need people who “get it.”
3. Design is everything: Great workshops start with structure, story, and emotional energy — not slides.

Timestamps

• [00:00:20] Tom welcomes Kirsty and her facilitation obsession.
• [00:01:15] The three parts of School of Facilitation explained.
• [00:02:29] The birth of SoFest — why it had to happen.
• [00:04:40] “I’m not a mushroom!” — Kirsty’s rant on bad L&D events.
• [00:07:22] Designing experiential learning and fighting professional loneliness.
• [00:10:10] Why building community beats working solo in L&D.
• [00:12:12] Kirsty’s best-ever L&D program from her Diageo days.
• [00:25:15] Her proudest career moment — creating global Master Trainers.
• [00:26:24] Biggest fail: chewing gum while hungover in a workshop.
• [00:33:39] Final advice: nurture relationships — they shape your L&D legacy.

Links

• Kirsty Lewis on LinkedIn
• School of Facilitation
• Tom Bailey on LinkedIn
• Tom Bailey Website