The person behind the product.

I've told my own story three times: for college, for MBB consulting, and for deferred MBA programs. I learned the hard way that the whole game is sounding like yourself. The problem is, how exactly do you do that?

Coaching for Leland and Crimson Education's admissions networks showed me how the best coaches work. But what actually got me my own offers wasn't portals or cold applications - it was people. Referrals and warm intros carried every application I've made. Telling my story as myself got me into MIT Sloan, Wharton, and Columbia Business School.

Over the past four years I've talked to more than 1,000 people about their careers. Hearing that many stories taught me which paths are real, and what moved someone from where they were to where they wanted to be.

The other half of it is that networking is genuinely hard. A lot of chats, a lot of names, and no good way to remember who said what or when to follow up. The hardest part was drafting authentic follow-ups, written in my own voice.

I built a workflow for it over those four years, and this is that workflow, turned into something I can share with you.