Stories from the Table

Three Generations, Four Countries, One Table

For years, the Chen family existed in video calls and group chats, their connections stretched thin across oceans and timezones. The matriarch, nearing her 80th birthday, had one wish: to have all her children and grandchildren together in her homeland of Vietnam. We found a serene riverside estate outside Hoi An, a place that felt both luxurious and deeply familiar. The week was filled not with a rigid itinerary, but with opportunities. A cooking class with a local grandmother, a lantern-making workshop where stories were shared, and long, unhurried meals at a table Bertha set each night. The transformation was palpable. Teenagers who started the week on their phones were, by the end, listening intently to their grandparents' tales. The family left not just with photos, but with a renewed sense of who they were together.

"Bertha created a space where we could just be a family again, without the noise of the world. It was the greatest gift."
- Li Wei Chen

How Shared Adventure Built Unshakeable Trust

A global non-profit's leadership team was high-performing but siloed, their passion for the mission getting lost in spreadsheets and strategic plans. They needed a reset. Bertha took them to Rwanda, a country that knows profound resilience. They didn't stay in a boardroom. They trekked to see gorillas in the wild, their shared awe breaking down hierarchies. They worked alongside local artisans, their hands busy, allowing for more honest conversations. They met with community leaders who redefined their understanding of leadership. Bertha facilitated conversations around a fire pit each night, not about KPIs, but about purpose, fear, and hope. The team returned not with a new strategic plan, but with a new pact of trust and a shared story of adventure that they draw upon to this day.

"We stopped being colleagues and started being comrades. I trust my team in a way I never thought possible."
- Dr. Anya Sharma, Executive Director