Ghalia A.

Ghalia Aamer

5.0

(2)

Founder & TEDx speaker | I help founders tell stories that raise money

Columbia Law School Logo

Studied at Columbia Law School

Optimal Counsel Logo

Works at Optimal Counsel

Available Wednesday at 4:00 PM UTC

Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.

Ghalia's Coaching Offerings

Custom hourly · $49/hr

Get help with Fundraising, Interview Prep, and Venture Capital Strategy.

Ghalia also coaches for Law School and Communication & Public Speaking. View all.

Ghalia’s Startup Founders Qualifications

Coaches professionally

Experience level: Executive

I founded TalkMaze, a public speaking and education platform that grew to 20,000 members, 4 million video views, and over 5,000 participants across North America. I raised $150K in funding, delivered 4 TEDx talks, won the national Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, and placed as a national runner-up in a venture capital investment competition. Every one of those outcomes came down to storytelling and pitching. I help early-stage founders take complex or technical products and turn them into clear, compelling pitches. Whether you're preparing for a demo day, a VC meeting, a competition, or an accelerator application, I help you find the version of your story that makes people lean in. I've coached thousands of people through high-stakes moments where the story has to land. If you have a great product but struggle to communicate why it matters, that's exactly where I come in.

Ghalia can help with:

Fundraising

Interview Prep

Venture Capital Strategy

Ghalia also coaches for Law School and Communication & Public Speaking. View all.

About Ghalia

I help ambitious applicants and founders craft compelling narratives, whether you're applying to law school, grad school, or scholarships, preparing for interviews, or pitching your startup. If your goal requires persuasive storytelling, I can help you get there. I'm a Columbia Law 3L who was admitted to law schools across Canada and the U.S., including the University of Ottawa's dual-degree program straight out of high school, the University of Alberta Faculty of Law at age 19 after just two years of undergrad, and multiple T-14 programs with full-tuition scholarships to two of them. I also successfully negotiated my Columbia Law scholarship up. I know what it takes to build a winning narrative because I've done it at every stage. Before law school, I founded TalkMaze, a public speaking and education platform that grew to 20,000 members and 4 million video views, serving over 5,000 young people across North America. I'm a Princess Diana Award recipient, a national champion in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, and a national runner-up in a venture capital competition. At Columbia, I'm a Davis Polk Leadership Initiative Fellow and Tony Patiño Fellow-Elect, and I currently teach as a TA at UPenn and coach competitive debate in NYC. Across all of this, I've been doing the same thing: helping people structure their thinking, find their story, and communicate it clearly under pressure. That skill translates whether you're writing a personal statement, walking into a scholarship interview, or standing in front of investors. I work best with people who have ambitious goals and a story worth telling well. If that sounds like you, let's talk.

Why do I coach?

I grew up painfully shy. I could barely speak up in class, let alone in front of a room. Debate changed everything for me. It taught me how to think on my feet, structure an argument, and actually use my voice. That experience changed the trajectory of my life, and I started TalkMaze because I wanted to help other young people find theirs. Along the way, I realized that the skill underneath all of it was storytelling. Storytelling is how I earned a full ride for college, how I got hundreds of thousands of dollars in law school scholarship offers including full tuition at two T-14 schools, how I landed 4 TEDx talks, and how I got media coverage I never expected. Every major opportunity I've had came down to the same thing: knowing how to tell my story clearly and persuasively when it mattered. I coach because I've seen firsthand how much changes when someone learns to do that. Most people already have a compelling story. They just need help seeing it and saying it. That's what I'm here for.

Work Experience

Optimal Counsel Logo

Law Clerk

Optimal Counsel

July 2024 - Present

Optimal Counsel delivers top-tier, company-focused legal counsel to venture-backed tech companies across the country and world. Law

TalkMaze Logo

Founder

TalkMaze

2020 - Present

73% of people are afraid of public speaking, yet resources to combat the fear are limited. TalkMaze addresses the problem at its root by helping kids aged 5-17 build confidence through public speaking and debate training.

Vinson & Elkins Logo

Summer Associate

Vinson & Elkins

May 2024 - July 2024

Awarded the Diversity Fellowship. Rotated through the litigation, tax, and M&A groups. Completed pro-bono work helping small businesses with legal issues. Law

Yaletown Partners Logo

Investment Analyst

Yaletown Partners

May 2021 - July 2021

Assisted with the deal screening process by conducting reference calls, reviewing cap tables, and observing founder meetings. Developed a system for improving equity, diversity, and inclusion at the venture capital firm by compiling and organizing over 200 records of female-founded startups.

Education

Columbia Law School Logo

Columbia Law School

Doctor of Law - JD

2023 - 2026

Activities and societies: President of the Law and Entrepreneurship Society Davis Polk Leadership Initiative Fellow & Anti-Racism Grant Recipient | Tony Patiño Fellow-Elect | <5% acceptance rate President of the Domestic Violence Project Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic Law

University of Alberta Logo

University of Alberta

Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction | Major in Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Management

2019 - 2023

Activities and societies: Entrepreneurship Hub Accelerator Enactus UAlberta Co-Chair of Outrun the Stigma Elected Student Council Representative Elected General Faculties Council Representative Problem Solving, Leadership and +1 skill

Ghalia was also personally admitted to

  • University of Pennsylvania Law School Logo

    University of Pennsylvania Law School

  • Cornell Law School Logo

    Cornell Law School

  • University of Virginia School of Law Logo

    University of Virginia School of Law

  • NYU School of Law Logo

    NYU School of Law

  • Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Logo

    Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

  • UC Berkeley School of Law Logo

    UC Berkeley School of Law

2 Reviews

Overall Rating

5.0


Ghalia has helped Leland clients get into Columbia Law School

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Ghalia A.

Ghalia A.

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