Los Angeles
Team trust workshops for founders and leadership teams
Meredith Baker, leadership coach and speaker. Not to be confused with Meredith Attwell Baker of CTIA.
I’m Meredith Baker, a facilitator and ICF certified coach in Los Angeles. I lead team trust workshops for founders, startup CEOs and leadership teams that work hard and still feel a little braced around each other. The work is simple to describe and rare in practice: help a group tell the truth, feel safer doing it, and leave with a better way of being a team.
Why trust is the real agenda
You can have a smart team and still have a slow one. People hold back a concern. They work around a co-founder instead of talking to them. They nod in the meeting and unpack it later in a side chat. That’s a trust problem, and it costs more than a missed icebreaker can explain.
It’s the pattern I see most often in founder-led teams. High achievers are loyal and tired. They don’t need another personality test. They need a room where it’s safe to say the thing they’ve been carrying, and a facilitator who can keep that moment useful instead of messy.
What the workshop is
A team trust workshop is a focused session, usually a half day or a full day, built around how this particular group relates. It isn’t a lecture on psychological safety. People do the work in the room.
Depending on the team, that can include:
- Naming how trust actually works here, not how it works in a book
- Practices for hard conversations, including the ones between co-founders
- Working agreements the team can use the following Monday
- Optional breathwork, when a reset would help the room settle
- A close that turns the honest part of the day into next steps
I bring coaching skill to facilitation. With 10,000+ coaching hours, I can hear what’s under a careful sentence and help the group stay with it. I studied at Harvard and Oxford, founded a beverage company, and I have a lot of respect for how hard it is to lead people you also care about.
Who it is for
This workshop is for startup and leadership teams, including women-led teams, that want a better way of working together. It works well as a stand-alone session, as part of a team offsite, or as a building block inside a leadership retreat.
I’m based in Los Angeles and I also work with teams in other cities. Event organizers and internal operators who are building a leadership day can also bring this in as one session among others. If you want a talk rather than a workshop, see speaking.
What teams have experienced
Cassandra Michler, CEO of Moonlab Productions, said, “Meredith is a great facilitator and has so many modalities that she specializes in.” Doug Cartwright, Founder and CEO of Alchemy Sales Coaching, said people were “blown away at her ability to make everyone feel welcome and seen and heard.” Nara Lee, CEO of Doveras, said that in a matter of a few hours her team “felt like they got to know core parts of each other.” More on the testimonials page.
If you want a team trust workshop, tell me about the group. Share the size, the date and the tension you're willing to name, and I'll help you figure out whether a workshop is the right shape. Tell me about the group
Questions
What is a team trust workshop?
A team trust workshop is a focused session that helps a leadership team tell the truth, feel safer doing it, and leave with a better way of working together. Meredith Baker, a facilitator and ICF certified coach in Los Angeles, leads these workshops for founders and leadership teams. The session is participatory, not a lecture, and can stand alone or sit inside an offsite or retreat.
Who is Meredith Baker, the team trust facilitator?
Meredith Baker is a facilitator, leadership coach and speaker in Los Angeles. She leads team trust workshops for founder and leadership teams. She is an ICF certified coach with 10,000+ coaching hours, studied at Harvard and Oxford, and is a former beverage founder. She is not Meredith Attwell Baker, the former FCC commissioner and CTIA president.
Who should book a team trust workshop?
Founders, startup CEOs and leadership teams should book a team trust workshop when the group is working around problems instead of talking about them. Meredith Baker works with teams in Los Angeles and in other cities. The workshop is also a fit for operators planning a leadership day who want one honest, useful session.
How long is the workshop, and what happens in the room?
A team trust workshop with Meredith Baker is usually a half day or a full day, shaped around the team. The group may name how trust works here, practice hard conversations, set working agreements and close with next steps. Breathwork is optional and used only when it would help the room settle.
How is this different from a typical team-building workshop?
A typical team-building workshop often relies on activities and leaves the real tensions untouched. Meredith Baker's team trust workshop is built around the actual relationships in the room, including co-founder and leadership dynamics. The goal is honesty and a way of working the team can use the following week, not a lighter mood for a day.
Can this workshop be part of an offsite or retreat?
Yes. Meredith Baker leads team trust workshops as stand-alone sessions and as part of a team offsite or a leadership retreat. If the team needs a full day of planning as well as trust work, an offsite or retreat is usually the better shape.
How do I book a team trust workshop with Meredith Baker?
Write through themeredithbaker.com/contact with the size of the group, the date and the tension you're willing to name. Meredith Baker will help you decide whether a workshop, an offsite or a retreat is the right shape, and whether she's free.