We are storytellers with over 35 years of collective experience helping students write their stories, gain confidence, and achieve success in college admissions. Our cooperative approach means that every student benefits from our breadth of experiences and expertise.
MEET OUR TEAM
SOLIANA
co-founder
Soliana is deeply gratified by supporting teens as they synthesize their experiences and articulate their core values to themselves. Soliana began working with students on the admissions process while living in London, where they also advised college counselors across the UK through the Fulbright Commission. They have spent the last 15 years helping students around the world craft beautifully written and creative college applications. Soliana loves empowering students to tell their stories authentically and helping them find their voices.
Soliana received their A.B. in English and American Literature from Harvard University before earning an MA in Image and Communication from Goldsmiths and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they were a recipient of the New Artist Society Award. Soliana now works with paint, plants, food, words, images, scent, movement, and sound to create richly textured self-portraits, sculptures, films, paintings, and collaborative group exercises. Their first book, save your selves, explores ways we’ve chosen to heal—and some of the reasons we must—through a collection of propositions, writings, and photographs (Irrelevant Press). Soliana has participated in residencies and exhibitions in Ibiza, Addis Ababa, London, Milan, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Chattanooga and New York.
(they/them)
LEONORA
(she/her)
For over 20 years, Leonora has helped college applicants, many of whom have gone on to attend their first-choice undergraduate and graduate programs, including Yale, Penn, Columbia, NYU Tisch, Harvard, MIT, and the University of Chicago.
A born teacher, Leonora has a passion for education and helping others find their voices. Leonora has taught at USC, Oxbridge Academic Programs, and Los Angeles High School of the Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale, where she majored in American Studies and was instrumental in creating the university’s African American Studies Digital Library database. Leonora later earned her MFA in film production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Leonora spent her youth in competitive gymnastics and enjoys a dedicated noncompetitive adult practice. She also enjoys singing, yoga, and teaching her slightly internet-famous dog, Penny Loggins, to do advanced tricks like spelling and counting.
co-founder
LIZ
co-founder
Combining over ten years of experience as an editor with over six years of experience as an educator and admissions strategist, Elizabeth helps each student find the voice that makes their application stand out. At the end of the essay-writing process, Elizabeth hopes to leave her students with a greater understanding of their own power as writers—both in terms of mechanics such as structure, clarity, and flow, and in terms of the impact of their own stories. Through this collaborative style of teaching, Elizabeth strives to help students understand how to shape their personal experiences into a narrative that allows their own unique perspective to shine through.
Elizabeth holds a BA in Rhetoric and a BA in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received Highest Honors for her thesis on the rhetoric of the EU’s debate on Turkish accession. She earned her MFA in Fiction from New York University, where she had the opportunity to work with authors such as Rick Moody, Zadie Smith, and Jonathan Safran Foer. An active literary critic and member of the National Book Critics Circle, Elizabeth has served on the committee for the Barrios Prize for Works in Translation since 2022.
(she/her)
WHAT STUDENTS SAY
My advisor helped me stick to the timeline we made together and get everything done before my deadlines! Their feedback was always super quick, honest, and thorough, which really helped me improve with each draft. I felt so much more confident throughout the whole process thanks to them.
