Hello Reader,

I've been thinking a lot about my childhood lately.

Our family is from the Caribbean, and growing up in a part of the world known for its warmth and hospitality isn't just a cultural detail - it's formative. It's literally in our blood to entertain, to host, to open our homes to others without a second thought.

In our house, almost every meal meant setting the table - the only exception being the occasional bowl of cereal at breakfast. A meal was an occasion to be celebrated, whether it was just our family or a house full of friends. And if someone came to the door while we were eating, they weren't turned away. They were pulled up a chair, because there was always room for one more.

What I didn't fully appreciate as a child was that those meals were doing something well beyond feeding us.

They were teaching us how to be present with people - how to listen, how to read a room and contribute to it, how to carry conversation, offer a point of view, and receive one gracefully. How to tell a story, and just as importantly, how to tell it well. There's something about a table full of people that teaches you instinctively when to speed up and when to slow down, when you've got the room and when you've lost it. You learn to build to a moment, to land a punchline, to leave people wanting the next one. And alongside all of that, how to make someone feel genuinely welcomed - not just tolerated, but wanted. How to be a good guest: how to show up with gratitude, read when you're needed and when to step back, and leave a table the way you found it, or better.

To this day, we set the table at every meal - the exception being weekday breakfasts, which are more of a rush-and-go situation. We'll light candles at dinner, or put on a playlist that matches the mood of the evening - sometimes the cuisine. Nothing formal, just something intentional. Our children join us each evening, and what comes with that is something you simply can't manufacture in any other setting: connection, time to hear what's going on in each other's lives, space to offer coaching, advice, or just a listening ear. It's where our kids are learning, in real time, what it means to host and be hosted well.

I believe - deeply - that this upbringing will serve them in every professional room they walk into.

From the Dinner Table to the Boardroom

Here's what I've observed after years of training professionals: some of the most fundamental relationship skills were never covered in a classroom or a workshop. They tend to come from lived experience - from the environments where we first learned to be present with people, to listen, to make someone feel welcome. And yet these are exactly the skills the professional world asks of us every single day.

When a client walks into your office and is greeted warmly, offered a seat, handed a glass of water without having to ask - that's hosting. When someone new joins a team lunch and you make sure they're included in the conversation, that's hosting too. When you're the guest in someone else's boardroom and you arrive on time, come prepared, and leave them better than you found them - that's being a good guest. These are skills, and like most skills, they transfer.

The child who grew up at a table where guests were always welcomed learns, eventually, how to walk into a client meeting and make the other person feel like the most important person in the room. The child who learned to hold conversation at dinner grows up to be the professional who knows how to ask the right question and actually listen to the answer. None of this is accidental.

A Story I've Never Forgotten

Early in my career, I worked for a startup that was hosting a significant visitor: the wife of a legendary CEO, an SVP of a major Canadian retail brand, coming to our office for a video shoot. This was a moment that mattered.

Before she arrived, I walked into the shared washroom. I'll spare you the details, but the staff were majority male and the space did not reflect the calibre of guest we were about to welcome. So I did what felt obvious to me - and apparently wasn't obvious to everyone else. I gathered the team, including the partners of that company, and gave a quick lesson on washroom standards when hosting. Not because I wanted to embarrass anyone, but because I understood something that doesn't always make it into the professional playbook: every corner of your space is part of the impression you make.

When you host, you host the whole experience.

A Few Hosting Principles Worth Keeping

Whether it's a client visit, a boardroom presentation, or a team offsite, the fundamentals don't change much:

Before they arrive. Walk the space yourself and sit in the chair they'll sit in. What do they see? What's on the table, what's the temperature, and what will they need - water, a place to put their bag, a clear agenda? Think through the experience from their perspective, not yours.

The washroom rule. Check it, clean it, stock it. This one detail has derailed more first impressions than people realize.

Greet them properly. Someone should be at the door - not scrambling from across the office, not an assistant they've never met, but someone who matters in the relationship, ready and present when they walk in.

Make the room feel easy. A room that's too formal creates distance, and a room with no warmth creates unease. The goal is to put people at ease quickly - introductions, a genuine welcome, a moment that says we're glad you're here before the business begins.

Follow up like it mattered. Because it did. A note, a message, something that closes the loop and tells them the effort wasn't lost on you.

These aren't elaborate gestures - they're attention. And attention is what transforms a meeting into a relationship.

A Specific Ask For My Advertising & Communications Agency Friends

I'm building a networking program specifically for agency professionals, and I want to make sure it's grounded in what actually matters to you - not what I assume does.

Four quick questions on my mind: Who do you think benefits most from networking training - juniors, intermediates, seniors, or anyone who's client-facing? What's the biggest barrier in your agency - not knowing how, it not being seen as part of the job, no real incentive tied to it, or something else? Where's the biggest gap on your team - starting conversations, working a room, first impressions, asking the right questions, following up? And do you think of networking as purely external, or does internal relationship-building and mentorship factor in too?

Hit reply with even a few sentences - it genuinely helps. And if you're open to a 30-minute call to go deeper, I'd love to connect.

BOOK A CALL HERE ->

NEW EPISODE: Are Blanket Device Bans Necessary in Meetings?

Years ago, during a strategy meeting, I reached for my phone mid-presentation - just for a second, to check one thing. I looked up in time to watch the person presenting lose their stride completely: shoulders dropped, voice quieted, and the energy in the room shifted.

In my latest episode, I share the three-meeting framework I developed to build intentional device culture - and why the real issue has never been the phone itself, but what your behaviour with it tells the people around you.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ->

WATCH THE PODCAST ->

Until next time - think about the table you're setting. Literally and otherwise.
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Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter. However you're spending the long weekend, I hope there's good food, good company, and someone who remembered to set the table.

Warm regards,

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