What Our Clients Are Saying

“I was just honored by a Chicago charity at their annual luncheon fundraising event and I had to give a 5 minute acceptance speech. Needless to say, speaking to 400 people in a heartfelt manner seemed so uncomfortable. As a finance person, I have given numerous professional presentations to large groups, but using my past approaches would be boring, and certainly not heartfelt. So I decided to tell a story. And I used a number of the techniques from your workshop (have a beginning, middle and end, introducing an element of mystery on why/what is happening in the story) and the speech was very successful and I was given a standing ovation!!So thank you, Esther, for your mission. It is helping communication!

“Esther’s coaching elevated my presentation to the next level. She provided critical insights on how I could increase engagement with the audience to insure that they left the presentation with thoughts and questions that they could contemplate further.

“I have been an audience member while Esther tells her story leaving everyone totally engaged and completely relating to her experience. Esther has a keen ability to really listen to her clients and identify key messages to create a story for optimal communication that is relatable to all audiences. A very special talent indeed!

“Simply put, Esther is an incredible teacher. I took a Major Gift Solicitation Strategy course at Kellogg and was thrilled that it commenced with Esther’s wise counsel on storytelling and its power to embolden relationships among fundraisers, donors, and organizations. As an external relations professional, I’ve always found that stories are at the heart of philanthropy–how we tell them, how we hear to them, how we understand them, and ultimately how they inspire us to change the world. Esther taught me concrete skills to enhance my personal story and my organization’s story. I highly recommend her. She is an effective, insightful, and passionate teacher.

“I rarely make it downtown for evening events during the week, but last night’s event was wonderful and so worth the trip. I found the evening energizing and thought your facilitation was excellent–enough guidance to keep the group learning and to provide a safe container but–as in a lab–you created an environment where we were the knowledge creators. That’s not easy to do. You’re a skilled teacher with a wonderful, encouraging and knowledgeable presence. I will be sending students, clients and colleagues to you.

“The workshop helped me make my reunion interactions about reconnecting with each other’s humanity instead of comparing each other’s statistics. When discussions focus on listing accomplishments – kids, marriage, jobs, etc – there isn’t much to talk about once you go through the list. Setting my outlook to offer my stories over my stats set the stage to elicit a similar response in people I talked to – which led to deeper connections. I left Reunion refreshed and inspired again.”

“I’m able to translate my diverse experience into a strong story that is relevant to private business.

“Esther Choy’s workshop helps me convey my story in a way that helped a civilian employer relate and understand that I’m just like him, making me a more competitive job candidate. Instead of regurgitating the qualification already listed on my resume, I told the interviewer of my journey and what led me to be the person that I am today – representing myself in a much more compelling way. The interviewer knew I was qualified when he scheduled the interview, but with the help of Esther’s workshop, I was able to make myself standout amongst qualified candidates and ultimately get the job.”

“As an engineer from an over represented nationality, I needed to come up with something special to differentiate myself from other applicants. Esther was the one who provided inputs at crucial junctures and helped make me come up with a compelling application. She conducted a mock interview with me after the interview call came. The questions she asked during the interview revealed how much effort she had put in to read my application and to prepare me for this interview. I am glad to say that all these efforts paid off and I was accepted at HBS (Class of 2018)! At some point during the application, Esther ceased to be a consultant and became more like my mentor. I have already recommended her services to colleagues and in the future too. Thank you again for helping me achieve my dream of going to HBS :)”

“Not only did they teach me about the schools I was applying to, but they taught be a great deal about myself and how to portray myself in the best light. I learned how to tell the right stories in the right way, and this “story-telling” was integral to not only the admissions process, but also to the rest of my life. After school, I will be working as a management consultant, and I know I will use the skills I learned from Esther and Faisal, as well as the MBA degree that they helped me achieve. I highly recommend working with them. Oh, and they’re awesome people too!”