Our Team

Talk Boutique is a full-service speaker representation and coaching company specializing in helping those who have a message to convey do so with engagement and clarity. Using proven methodologies developed through deep experience with TEDx and professional speakers, Talk Boutique helps to develop content, performance and clarity for any speaking opportunity.

We believe that all businesses thrive on quality conversation. The more intelligent the conversation, the better the outcome. Through our diverse service and product offering of speaker coaching, speaker representation, and communication consulting, we help organizations raise the level of discourse so when they communicate, they can engage, motivate, inspire and lead.

Co-Founder, CEO & Executive Speaker Coach

Andrea Sampson

Invoking well-defined listening skills and combining these with her skills in insight identification and human behaviour, Andrea helps her clients craft stories from facts and deliver compelling and engaging talks. As the CEO and Founder of Talk Boutique, Andrea guides and trains her team of coaches and provides her expertise as an Executive Coach to senior leaders and professional speakers worldwide.

Having spent the first 20+ years of her career as a senior leader in marketing and advertising, Andrea was often required to give talks and presentations that deeply connected with her audience. Using this expertise combined with her experience on TED events and as a TED-trained Speakers Coach, with a special skill in understanding technical and science-based disciplines, Andrea helps her clients make their work accessible while maintaining its credibility and uniqueness.

As part of the team to bring Singularity University to Canada, Andrea has worked with and trained Singularity University faculty worldwide. She also holds a TEDx license (TEDxCorktown) and participated in the Global TED initiative COUNTDOWN in 2020.

Andrea interviews experts and thought leaders regularly who look at our future and how we can contribute to creating a kinder, more equitable and sustainable now and future. View past episodes of her web show “Sense-Making Conversations” on our YouTube channel and tune into her LinkedIn lives with industry experts that happen regularly.

Master Coach

Ian Keeling

Ian’s passion is helping people to share their ideas, thoughts and identities with the world. With over ten thousand hours in coaching and workshop facilitation, Ian can help you create, craft, and present your message, whether for a keynote, pitch or meeting. He’s worked with TED speakers, C-suite executives and thought leaders worldwide. On top of his experience in professional development, Ian brings a multi-disciplinary approach founded on over 30 years with the Toronto improv community and as an award-winning speaker and science-fiction author to create an immersive experience with each client, adapting to their needs and adding value beyond expectation.

Coach

Patricia Andraos

Patricia Andraos is an explorer with over 20 years of learning, experiencing, growing and guiding others to do the same.

She’s guided the development of hundreds of presentations for a range of audiences, both live and online, and become an expert on engagement, resulting in the co-creation of a neuromarketing consultancy that specializes in optimizing customer engagement opportunities within live events.

This includes exploring engagement through the creation of multiple marketing strategies and live corporate events for Fortune 500 companies including the pharmaceutical, automotive, technology, retail and finance sectors. This included a focus on the neuroscience of engagement and developing experiences to strategically promote higher engagement and better learning and retention through neuroscience.

Now as a Power Skills & Performance Coach, Patricia uses her extensive expertise to guide others to explore effective and engaging communication techniques for business and personal growth, instilling the confidence and power skills needed for successful presentations and business advancement.

Coach

Ekaterina Matveeva

Ekaterina is a renaissance woman passionate about cross-disciplinary studies. She is on a mission to create a better connected multicultural multilingual world. Linguist, a best-selling author of books on language learning and multilingualism. Ekaterina speaks 9 languages at various levels and understands another dozen. For over 10 years, she has been conducting academic research on the theory “Language Alter Ego”, her TEDx talk explores this theory showing how people can learn languages with theatrical techniques. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland for a few years, Kate has become an award-winning entrepreneur with her main project Amolingua, focused on language and cultural training. Amolingua (former EuropeOnline) was named among TOP 20 start-ups of the world in 2015 by CNBC and StartUp Open. In 2019 Ekaterina was featured among TOP 30 Global leaders in the region of Europe-Africa by the PanAfrican Foundation. At TalkBoutique she conducts group programmes and 1-1 sessions with international speakers helping them with phonetics, eloquence, and enigmatic performances. Using her theatrical background, together with the experience as a 3 Day StartUp facilitator, and mixing it with her teaching practice, she provides business and academic clients with insights on how their performance can be built for big multicultural audiences. She has been training top speakers across the world from TEDx to Singularity University to present their innovative ideas in foreign languages. Moreover, Ekaterina has become the first memory athlete with Russian roots competing at World Memory Championships, and she was featured in the TV Show “Incredible people”. Kate is a university professor leading executive programmes in effective communication and soft skills in foreign languages. She often plays the role of an advisor, mentor, or judge in international startup competitions and accelerators.

ekaterina@talkboutique.com:ekaterina@talkboutique.com

Controller

Michael Pirri

Michael Pirri is the primary at MVP Consulting, a boutique consulting firm based in Toronto with a focus on helping small business (SMB) owners develop core competencies in strategic and financial management. Over the last decade, he was worked in the consumer automotive and retail toy industries, e-commerce, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. He is an analytical and conceptual thinker who effectively partners with SMB owners to assess opportunities, facilitate strategic decisions, and drive successful implementations.

Michael lives in Toronto with his partner, and enjoys coffee tastings, true crime podcasts, and a strong gin and tonic.