About Me

At the core of my consulting approach is a passion for helping people tell their best stories. I honed this instinct through my journalism training (M.A., UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, full scholarship) and experience working for some of the best news organizations in the world, including The Financial Times and National Public Radio.

I got my start in admissions consulting in Japan, where I lived for seven years and where I established myself as one of the most successful and best-known consultants in the country, pioneering innovations such as flat-rate pricing and no-risk trial periods to provide clients with the most straightforward, comprehensive and fair services possible. Since returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live with my wife and two cats, I’ve expanded my reach and now work with clients all over the world.

While in Japan, I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to document one of Japan’s leading swordmakers. Prior to coming to Japan, I completed my first M.A. at the UC San Diego Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies, where the core curriculum included many MBA courses, such as marketing, accounting and finance. I did my undergraduate work at UC Santa Barbara in law.

In addition to Japanese, I am fluent in Spanish from having lived and established a Spanish-language school micro-enterprise in Guatemala (www.sakribal.com). In my free time, I work on long-term documentary portrait photography projects, where, similar to admissions consulting, I try to capture something unique about each individual I work with.

For more insights about my counseling approach and philosophy, click here.