About Nicole Stewart
When our founder Nicole was a high school student applying for college, she felt intuitively she needed to lean into the power of storytelling to write a remarkable personal statement. She had to dig deep into herself to identify what made her an amazing candidate for her dream school and share her story with courage, vulnerability and authenticity. That extra effort she put in worked. Nicole earned early decision admittance into Northwestern University, which was her #1 choice and a Top 10 School! Nicole went on to graduate summa cum laude and with honors from Northwestern's School of Communication in 2001, and then embarked on her own journey toward storytelling mastery as an actress and writer in NYC and LA.
Nicole lives in Dallas, Texas and coaches students across the US on their college essays and college application strategies, their writing for high school and college courses, application essays for competitive K-12 schools, and more. She founded Your Best Essay in 2015. For a decade preceding Your Best Essay, Nicole produced a wildly successful live, storytelling series in Dallas called Oral Fixation (An Obsession with True Life Tales). This theatrical event featured individuals reading aloud their true, personal stories onstage. It was during this time that Nicole conceived of her signature process of generating the juiciest, "truthiest" personal narratives that she uses with teenagers today.
Why Nicole is the Most Sought After Essay Coach
Nicole's background in theater and storytelling suits her well for the work of understanding what makes each of her students unique and assisting them in creating a compelling application strategy, anchored by knockout essays that stand out.
Rather than simply making comments in red pen and sending her students off to try to figure out how to apply her notes, Nicole is hands on. She sits with her students as they navigate the discomfort of the writing process. She teaches them how to approach the initial "vomit draft," to avoid line editing to protect their creative flow, and how to analyze their current draft and look for opportunities for improvement. She also encourages her students to talk through their thoughts which results in self awareness and a more conversational tone in the writing itself. All of this generates essays with an authentic voice, one impossible to achieve with Chat GPT!
Nicole is innately interested in her students. Through her warm personality, she creates a safe space where her students can express their dreams and fears. She encourages them to stretch while also managing their expectations (essential considering the acceptance rates in today's college admissions climate). She is kind, positive, encouraging, and empathetic, but her standards are as high as the admissions committees. She won't stop until all elements of her students' applications are the best they can be.
Nicole is a mentor, a cheerleader, a teacher and an advocate. Having her on your student's team will boost their self-esteem, improve their verbal and written expression, and give them a needed sense of agency and direction as they leave the nest and take flight!
