Adnan Naboulsi

MIT. INSEAD. Columbia. LBS. I'll be honest, a few years ago, I wasn't sure I had a shot at any of them. Not a banker. Not a consultant. I started out with internships in marketing, sales, and product during undergrad, then made a pivot into finance that most people told me wouldn't stick. I recently turned down a VC role to take a corporate finance position instead, because I'd rather make the unconventional call I believed in than take the one that looked better on paper. That patchwork: growing up in Lebanon, then studying/working in France, Singapore, the Middle East, and now Toronto isn't the background anyone would design on purpose. But it's the one I learned to own. And getting into 5+ programs taught me that a scattered story, told with intention, can be more compelling than a clean one told without it. I don't coach by handing you a formula. I work with you to figure out what's actually interesting about your path (even the parts that feel like liabilities) and build a strategy around that. If you've ever felt like your background doesn't fit the mold, that's usually exactly where I like to start. I also write about careers, pivots, and what business school actually prepares you for on Substack: https://substack.com/@adnanaboulsi