29,208Leland Reviews

I expected Debby to be professional, thorough, and have a ton of insider knowledge about the grad school application process (all true). What I didn't expect was for her to stick by my side through all the ups and downs of my 11-week grad school application process odyssey. On our first call, Debby was straight with me about what I was up against as a "non-traditional" student. Then she laid out everything I had working for me (which was more than I originally thought). Finally, she shared her thoughts on strategy. By the time she was done telling my story back to me, even I was convinced Stanford would be crazy not to admit me. It was the confidence boost I didn't know I needed until after I was so fired up about the whole thing I became the most fierce and unstoppable version of myself the world has ever seen. This girl was on fire. The skills Debby possessed that mattered most were 1) she's detail-oriented: obviously this is critical 2) she's exceedingly patient: I was terrible at file management, among other things, and Debby was an absolute angel at helping me get sorted 3) giving feedback: Debbie always gave just the right amount of feedback necessary to keep me moving forward, without overwhelming me, and also without simply repeating something she tells everybody. She was so attuned to me, my goals, and my learning style I never felt like she was phoning it in or repeating something she's said a thousand times. You will feel like her top priority at all times. Something I have not seen other reviewers talk about is her system for reading your work. I was a little nervous in the beginning, so I'll explain it, just in case other folks are curious. When she mentioned we would work asynchronously for a portion of the coaching engagement, I was a little nervous. The tldr is she has a system where she leaves in-line comments, then tells you what to do next in the form of a checklist that's extremely clear and goes section by section of your document. She also has an incredible memory for all the previous versions of the docs she's read to date (which served me well when my SOP started to veer off track). I was very pleased with the balance of in-person and asynchronous coaching, and wouldn't change a thing about the process. Finally it's worth mentioning that Debby's incredibly generous with her time. If you're worried about having a limited budget or not being able to afford all the coaching you need (as I was), I encourage you to share your goal and your situation on the intro call anyway. If you're committed to your goal, she will figure out a coaching package that will work for you. Debby's found her niche and is truly nailing it. I'm grateful for all the time we spent and everything she taught me.

I've never used a life coach before, and felt a bit awkward even considering one - but the decisions I needed to figure out spanned far beyond work matters, so I thought I'd give Melanie a go. From the first session, I felt seen, at ease, not-judged, and fully heard. She met me wherever I was at in terms of energy levels, heard me out, played back things in a way that just offered a huge amount of insight and clarity, and then followed up with insightful questions that helped push me into more creative, somatic ways of understanding my own feelings, intentions, and wants. Melanie follows up with detailed notes from each session, and sets homework that helped me keep progressing between sessions. I am so grateful that I took the plunge and trusted her with my situation!

My hour with Michael was 50x more valuable than all the hours I'd spent researching social media marketing and paid advertising norms on Chinese platforms. He came ready with actionable frameworks and ideas, and was super happy to pause and "go back" to explaining first principles to me as we walked through the asks I had brought to him. His insights have led to an internal review of our social media and paid ads strategy. I am excited to come back to him with early outcomes and refine our strategy further. An excellent coach!

Great coach for the HBS interview. Very experienced and highly structured, with clear and actionable points and insights. He was extremely helpful for my preparation!

Faith is an amazing coach! She helped me prepare for my McKinsey PEI by building a structured approach that I can apply across all interviews. She is incredibly supportive and knowledgeable! 10/10 — highly recommend!

Celeste really understands our problem, and she suggested the best ways to keep the streak of our habit. Her presentation was concise and left time for Q&A, which helped a lot.

I did a 30-minute intro call focused on resume review and job-search strategy. It was straightforward and practical. No buzzwords. No generic PM advice. We went straight into what works when applying, what recruiters actually screen for, and where my resume needed to be sharper. The feedback was specific and grounded in real hiring experience, not theory. If you want honest input on how to position yourself and apply more effectively, this was time well spent.

I started working with Allie ~3 weeks before the R2 deadlines and have nothing but positive things to say. She is a great communicator and was able to quickly dissect my essays/short answers, highlight what was effective (and not!), and ask probing questions to truly flesh out my story. Highly, highly recommend Allie at any stage of your MBA application journey!