Hello Reader,

I've been heads-down designing a workshop for U of T's 4th year Economics students, most of whom are stepping into internships this month - right alongside the fall cohorts landing at banks, consulting firms, and big corporates this season. One of the sections I'm excited about is what I'm calling "the supervisor mindset."

As it turns out, not every supervisor arrives at an internship the same way. Some asked for their intern, built out a project, cleared time on their calendar. Others inherited theirs - an intern just... appeared on their plate one day, with no real say in the matter. Some are winging it with the best of intentions with very little management or supervisory experience. And some are just heads-down themselves, barely keeping up with their own workload.

I'm teaching students to read that situation with empathy rather than personalizing a rocky start - because most of the time, it was never about them.
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Of course, that's only half of what we cover - the other half is squarely on them: how to communicate when they're stuck, how to handle an ambiguous brief, how to take feedback without spiraling, how to be visible without being too much, how to handle work you don't really want to do.

But I'll admit, it got me thinking about the other side of that desk too. If you're currently hosting an intern - or about to - it's worth a moment of self-recognition: which one of those are you, right now? Because whichever it is, it doesn't excuse the outcome. It just explains the starting point.

And it's worth remembering: you were once the intern too, reading someone else's mood, wondering if silence meant disappointment or just a busy Tuesday. That intern in front of you now is doing the exact same thing.

Why it's worth the extra five minutes of thought: that intern talks. To their cohort, to their program, to their next employer. The reputation you build one internship at a time is quieter than a brand campaign, but it's just as real.

More on this soon. I'll let you know how it lands with the students later.

CMA Networking Workshop

If you're not familiar with the work I've done over the years building communities like Ad Lounge, and partnering with organizations like Dx3 Canada to bring you networking programs, you may not know that networking is my thing.
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I was recently invited by the Canadian Marketing Association to bring their members a virtual workshop: How to Network Like a Top Marketer.​

If you're interested in getting comfortable with this valuable skillset, and looking at marketing just a tad bit differently, this one is for you.

Free for CMA members, $25 for non-members, and worth 0.50 CPD credit if you need it.

From Boosted: A Foot in the Door

New episode of Boosted is live: I sat down with Patrice Barnes - a former Ontario MPP, current Senior Advisor in public affairs, and Chair of the Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity - to talk about growing up in Jamaica, the moment she stopped assuming "where are you from" was always harmless, and a run-in with event security that taught her something she'll never forget about whose word gets taken at face value. It's a candid, wide-ranging conversation about identity, belonging, and what it actually looks like to move between government and the people it's meant to serve.

A quick note: with my training schedule picking up this fall, I'll be sending this newsletter every other week going forward - same content, just a little more spaced out.

Warm regards,

Trina Boos
Founder & CEO
Boost Academy of Excellence
​boostacademyofexcellence.com​