Operator, coach, interviewer.
Coming from a small tier-2 town, I was the first woman in my family to imagine higher education. Since then, I've helped 200+ people imagine theirs — and, till 2025, evaluated many from the other side of the LBS admissions panel.
My Story
The seat I applied from
I grew up in a small tier-2 town in North India, in a humble family where being the first woman to imagine higher education was, itself, the whole conversation. An international MBA at one of the top five programmes in the world was so far outside anyone's frame of reference that I didn't have the language for it until much later.
By the time I did, I was working in Bangalore, applying to LBS with an average GMAT score. It was a long journey, spanned across 2 years with multiple GMAT attempts and a very hectic work life. I just remember waking up at 4AM to go through my GMAT prep, leaving for office at 9AM to be stuck in Bangalore traffic for 2 hours, working in office till 8PM, quick dinners and then studying till 11PM to repeat the same routine the next day.
I got in. Then earned one of the limited exchange places at Kellogg, an opportunity to spend a full term at Northwestern campus in the US. And when Amazon recruited from my LBS cohort, I was the only Indian to convert the summer internship into a full-time offer in London Office.
That seat — where I sat when I applied and what it took to get out of — is still the frame I read every essay through.
Thirteen years, three continents
Thirteen years, three continents, one industry — e-commerce, spanning across BD, Growth, P&L management, CX at scale — across Amazon, Flipkart, iHerb, Snapdeal.
Somewhere in the middle of that, I started building things of my own as well. I'm a 3X founder now — three companies, three sectors, three separate versions of what it actually takes to go from an idea to something a customer will pay for. When a client tells me they want to become an entrepreneur, I know what that word costs.
Consulting, tech, entrepreneurship — the three paths my clients most often apply for. Looking back, ‘three’ seems to be my magic number!
The other side of the table
The mentoring started the day I arrived at LBS.
Coming from a limited resources background, I knew the meaningful difference right mentorship can make, so I volunteered to become a student ambassador. Then a tech recruitment coach for the junior batches. Then joined the student-side of admissions work — helping the school find the right talent from around the world. When I graduated, I stayed close. Four years on LBS's official interview panel, till 2025. It changed the way I read every essay and application now.
Through all of it — Amazon, founding companies, two international relocations — applicants kept finding me through a friend of a friend, wanting a straight answer about their own candidacies.
Six years later, 200+ applicants, admits across M7, European and Asian Elite programs.
What I look for now
Six years of coaching applicants — through the essays, then the interviews — changes how you read.
You stop asking whether an essay sounds impressive. You start asking whether the person could sit across a table and defend the specific line you're reading. Whether the story would hold up under a follow-up question you hadn't warned them about. Whether they could still tell you what they meant six months later, in an interview room, with the essay closed and someone asking them why.
Most people can't. The ones I coach, learn to.
I'm not an agency. Every session is me — no junior editors, no handoffs.
I'm not a former admissions officer. I was an interviewer, which is a different role.
I don't run a template shop. I won't write your essays, and I won't publish success rates I can't audit.
If any of that is what you're looking for, I'm not the right fit.
“Surbhi provided outstanding guidance during my MBA application process. Her structured approach significantly improved my work, offering a distinctive insider's perspective on the program. Through sharing her experiences, she helped me understand how LBS would align with my long-term career aspirations. Attuned to the needs of her mentees, Surbhi is not just knowledgeable but also an incredibly supportive mentor.”
“I worked with Surbhi for my MBA applications, and she truly helped me put together a strong and confident set of essays. She spent hours with me going through each detail I had written, asking why certain moments mattered, pushing me to think deeper, and helping me shape all of it into a clear narrative. Because of that, the story in my application genuinely felt like me and not something forced or overly polished. What I appreciated the most was how approachable she was. It always felt like she cared about the quality of my application as much as I did.”
“Surbhi is brilliant. If you're considering an MBA or have an admit, a conversation with her will help answer your most pressing questions, and raise new ones you may not have yet considered.”