Leland+ Content Library

Positioning for PE and the Buy Side in EMEA

Breaking into private equity and buy-side roles across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa requires a clear understanding of regional recruiting dynamics, fund structures, and candidate expectations. In this session, you’ll learn how EMEA recruiting timelines differ from the US, what firms prioritize in backgrounds and deal experience, and how to position yourself effectively whether you’re coming from banking, consulting, or another pathway. You’ll leave with a practical strategy for networking, technical preparation, and crafting a narrative that resonates with buy-side firms across the region.

What Top Law School Applicants Do Differently

Top law school applicants don’t just have strong stats — they approach the entire application process strategically. In this panel, experienced admissions coaches will break down what separates competitive candidates from the rest, from LSAT preparation and school selection to personal statements and interviews. You’ll learn how successful applicants build a clear narrative, avoid common mistakes, and position themselves effectively for top programs. Whether you’re early in the process or preparing to apply soon, this session will give you a sharper understanding of how to stand out.

Case Studies of Winning M7 MBA Essays

Top M7 MBA essays stand out because they combine clear goals, self-awareness, and strong storytelling. In this session, you’ll break down real examples of successful essays to understand what made them compelling, how they aligned with each school’s values, and how to apply those lessons to your own writing. Whether you’re drafting or revising, you’ll leave with a sharper framework for crafting essays that resonate with admissions committees.

What BYU Admissions is Looking For

Applying to BYU but unsure what actually moves the needle in admissions? Strong grades matter—but they’re only part of the picture. In What BYU Admissions Is Looking For, you’ll get a clear breakdown of how to position yourself strategically for Brigham Young University. The speaker regularly works 1:1 with applicants navigating competitive admissions, and this session offers rare access to the evaluation frameworks typically shared in private coaching conversations. Who This Is For - High school students planning to apply to BYU - Transfer applicants seeking clarity on positioning - Students with strong academics who want a more compelling application - Applicants unsure how faith, leadership, and extracurriculars fit into their story What You’ll Walk Away With - What BYU weighs most heavily beyond GPA and test scores - How to present leadership, service, and character authentically - The patterns admissions see across successful applicants - The common positioning mistakes I correct in 1:1 sessions - How to align your essays with BYU’s mission and values

Start With Why: How to Build an MBA Strategy That Will Work

A strong MBA application starts long before you write your essays, it begins with clarity on your “why.” In this session, you’ll learn how to define your career goals, connect them to the right programs, and build a cohesive strategy that guides every part of your application, from school selection to storytelling. Whether you’re early in the process or refining your plan, you’ll leave with a structured approach to crafting an MBA strategy that feels authentic, focused, and compelling.

What You Need to Know About Investment Banking Technical Interviews

Preparing for investment banking technical interviews can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re unsure which concepts interviewers actually prioritize. This session is designed for candidates targeting IB roles who want a clearer, more focused way to prepare for the accounting, valuation, and financial modeling questions that frequently appear in interviews. You’ll learn how bankers evaluate technical responses, which core topics consistently come up, and how to structure answers so you sound confident and precise under pressure.

How to Land a Role as a Growth Equity Analyst

Breaking into growth equity is competitive, and most candidates struggle because they don't know how the role differs from traditional private equity or what firms are actually evaluating. This session is for undergraduates, MBA students, and early-career professionals who are actively recruiting for growth equity analyst positions. You'll leave with a clearer understanding of how to position your deal experience, what frameworks interviewers use to assess market sizing and company evaluation, and how to tailor your story for growth-stage investing roles specifically. Attending live gives you the chance to ask questions about your specific background and get real-time feedback that a recording simply can't offer. The insights shared here reflect the patterns seen across successful candidates, the kind of guidance that typically comes up in one-on-one coaching conversations. If you're actively recruiting or plan to start soon, this is worth your time.

What Admissions Committees Look For—And How to Prepare Strategically

Admissions decisions rarely come down to just grades or test scores. Committees are evaluating patterns—how your experiences, goals, and character come together to signal future impact. In What Admissions Committees Look For, you’ll learn how strong applicants position themselves across the entire application. Melissa works 1:1 with candidates navigating competitive admissions and will share the same frameworks used in coaching sessions to evaluate and strengthen an application. Who This Is For - Applicants preparing for competitive graduate or professional programs - Candidates planning to apply in the next 1–2 cycles - Students unsure how to position their experiences strategically - Re-applicants looking to strengthen their overall profile What You’ll Walk Away With - The key signals admissions committees look for across applications - How evaluators connect your academics, experience, and goals - The patterns I see across successful candidates - The common positioning mistakes I fix in 1:1 sessions - How to build a stronger application strategy months before applying

Consulting Recruiting is Starting Earlier Than Ever: Start Preparing Now

Consulting timelines continue to move up, leaving less room for last-minute preparation and more pressure to be ready from day one. In this session, you’ll learn how early recruiting cycles are evolving, what firms expect at each stage, and how to build a proactive plan that covers networking, resume positioning, case prep, and behavioral readiness. Whether you’re months away or just beginning to think about recruiting, you’ll leave with a clear strategy to get ahead before the window closes.

Stanford GSB Essay: ‘What Matters Most to You, and Why’ (Admitted)

The essay that got me into Stanford GSB. A clear, introspective response to “What matters most to you, and why,” centered on reflection about leadership under pressure, initiative, and building trust in uncertain environments.

How to Ace the GRE Essay

Are you unsure how to approach the essay section of the GRE? In this event, I'll share proven strategies to enhance your AWA score, offer insights that you may have never heard before, and tackle the essay prompts together so you can do them on your own with confidence. Whether you're just starting your GRE prep or looking your test is next week, this session will help you prepare for the AWA section of the GRE.

Home for Ambition #2 — Weekly Live Show [3/25/2026] (Recording)

Home for Ambition is a weekly live show, by Leland, for people trying to stay ahead as work, learning, and opportunity keep changing. Each episode tackles a handful of timely, high-signal topics across AI, careers, education, and the future of work. We expect thoughtful debate, unique perspectives, and practical takeaways you can actually use. It is not a typical interview show or a generic news recap. It is a live roundtable built to help ambitious people make sense of what is changing, understand what matters, and leave with a sharper point of view on how to navigate what comes next.

Starting Strong Without Burning Out: Thriving in Your New Role

Starting a new role can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time. This session explores how to build momentum, navigate expectations, and establish a strong foundation for long-term success, without falling into patterns that lead to burnout. Audience Fit: • Professionals starting new roles, or plan to start a new role in the future • Early career talent, lateral hires, and leaders transitioning into new positions

The Unwritten Rules of Getting Promoted

This pdf offers 3 rules of getting promoted that most often get missed when people find themselves stuck in their careers. It also offers some powerful questions you can ask your boss to help you understand what might be going on when you are feeling stuck in your career.

Am I Getting in My Own Way? How to Stop Self-Sabotaging

Am I Getting in My Own Way? How to Identify and Stop Self-Sabotage I have a question I need you to answer honestly — without judgment and without shame. Are you someone who constantly procrastinates on the things that would actually make your life better? Do you find yourself avoiding the very opportunities you've been dreaming about? Have you been a people pleaser your whole life even when it hurts you? Do you look around and feel like everyone else is moving forward while you're standing still — and you have no idea why? If you answered yes to any of those, I have some news for you. You're self sabotaging. And you have been for a while. I know that sounds like a lot. But here's what I also need you to hear: 9 in 10 adults engage in self sabotaging behavior. This doesn't mean you're broken, lazy, or unworthy of the life you want. It means you're human — and nobody ever taught you how to get out of your own way. That's exactly what this workshop is for. In this free 30-minute live event, I'm going to show you what self sabotage actually is, where it comes from, and most importantly how to finally start breaking free from it. You're going to leave this session having identified your own patterns in real time. Some of what comes up might surprise you. It might even sting a little. But I promise you: the moment you can see it, you can start changing it. Here's what we're going to cover: • The truth about self sabotage that most people get completely wrong — it's not your fault • Why 95% of your daily decisions are being made for you without your knowledge, and how that's been keeping you stuck • The two root causes behind every self sabotaging behavior, and a live exercise to figure out which one is running your life • The first real step toward breaking the cycle This workshop is for you if: • You keep putting off the things you know would change your life • You feel like you want to hit a goal, but something inside you won't let you go after it • You've been a people pleaser your whole life and finally want to stop it I want to be real with you; this is some of the most important work you will ever do. Not just for yourself, but for the people around you too. The patterns we're going to uncover in this session don't just affect your goals — they affect your relationships, your finances, your sense of self, and your ability to actually enjoy the life you're working so hard to build. Attendees will receive an exclusive offer at the end of the session — 50% off a 1:1 coaching session with me, and a free copy of my ebook You vs. You: How to Overcome Self Sabotage.

Land an Interview at Any Tech Company

Land an Interview at Any Tech Company — Free Live Session with Ethan Does this sound like you? You've applied to roles at your dream tech companies. You've spent countless hours sending your résumé into the void of company websites. You've wasted days writing custom cover letters. Only to come up short and never hear anything back — or worse, get the dreaded automated rejection email from a no-reply address. Let me be clear: it's not because you're under-qualified. It's because you're not playing the game. In this free 30-minute session, I'm going to walk you through the exact system I've used to break into top tech companies — including how I entered the DoorDash interview process at the Associate level and walked out with an offer for Senior Manager. No referral required. No luck involved. Just a repeatable process that works. Here's what we'll cover: • The résumé problem nobody talks about: 75% of résumés are rejected before a human ever reads them. I'll show you a live before-and-after demonstration of how to use AI to transform a losing résumé into a résumé that will land on the hiring manager's desk. • The LinkedIn settings that most candidates skip. A handful of profile changes that dramatically increase how often recruiters find you and make your application stand out once you've submitted it. • How to properly go about proactive outreach. I'll give you the exact message template I used to secure interviews at every tech company I've landed an offer at. • A simple bonus strategy that most people would never think to try, guaranteed to get you in the door. At the end of the session, I'll be sharing an exclusive offer for attendees that you won't want to miss out on! This session is for you if: • You're employed but quietly looking for something better • You're actively job searching and not getting any traction • You work in a slow, bureaucratic industry and want to break into tech • You want to understand how the hiring process actually works from the inside

A Tactical Playbook for Breaking Into VC

VC isn't hired; it's hunted. The "Right" background is a myth. This playbook gives you the exact scripts, artifacts, and networking systems to prove you can do the job before you even have the title. Transition from aspirant to investor in 30 days.

The High-Impact Verbal Strategy for GMAT & GRE

Struggling to push your GMAT or GRE verbal score higher even after plenty of practice? This session is designed for test-takers who want a smarter approach to Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Text Completion rather than simply doing more questions. You’ll learn how top scorers break down passages efficiently, recognize common trap answers, and apply a repeatable framework to improve accuracy and timing across the verbal section. Join live to see how an experienced test prep coach approaches these questions in real time and to ask about the specific challenges you’re encountering in your own prep. The session will draw on patterns the coach sees when working 1:1 with candidates aiming for competitive scores, and how small shifts in strategy often lead to meaningful gains. If you want a clearer, more structured way to tackle verbal questions, this is a useful place to start.

ADEA AADSAS - Manual Dexterity Essay

I have included an example of my manual dexterity essay for the ADEA AADSAS application. Please feel free to take a look for formatting and ideas!

ADEA AADSAS - Activity List Examples

I have added example descriptions for each of the different categories for the experiences section of the Dental School Application portal.