It’s been 18 years since Joy Pincus first started working in business school admissions, and in that time, she’s seen the MBA landscape change drastically. But one thing has remained constant: the amazing caliber of students she gets to work with on a daily basis. Joy is proud to have met so many dedicated, innovative, and goal-oriented people throughout her tenure, and every year, she feels grateful for the chance to share a pivotal moment in her clients’ lives, helping them to take a crucial step towards realizing their dreams.
With so much riding on business school applications, it’s important to have an experienced and invested consultant by your side. That’s why Joy sees herself as more than just a service provider: she is a true partner in your success. She understands the challenges and pitfalls of MBA admissions, and she works tirelessly to help her clients successfully navigate the process.
Often what determines acceptance or rejection to an MBA program is one’s ability to differentiate oneself, and that’s where Joy’s sense of creativity and flair come into play. Joy works in a holistic manner, leveraging her experience as a professional journalist and award-winning creative writer to identify what is truly important in any story. Joy coaches her clients to express their truth in a way that will captivate the reader. In helping clients to identify, shape, and hone their very best stories, she often reveals a thematic narrative thread that even her clients were not aware ran through their lives.
As a seasoned marketing writer, she has a strong working knowledge of many industries, having helped scores of businesses—from startups to established global corporations—hone and deliver their key messages to a targeted audience.
“There is a strong parallel between a person working on their MBA application and a company creating its profile. Each is looking to engage the reader by sharing their unique story, and to show why they are a perfect fit for the reader’s needs. My job is to help them identify their story and then find their unique way of expressing it.”
The most important element of a successful interview is to feel comfortable, confident, and engaged in what you’re saying, and Joy helps her clients to locate themselves within their stories and communicate their message in a simple, direct, and captivating way.
With a BFA in Theater Arts from NYU, Joy has learned the mechanics of narrative delivery and non-verbal communication, and this experience has been a tremendous asset in preparing clients for the crucial interview stage of the MBA application.
Joy’s candidates have gained admission to every top MBA program in the world. Her clients have gone to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago Booth, MIT, LBS, INSEAD, NYU, Kellogg, and dozens of other high-rated and highly-admired programs. She has worked with a long list of clients that hail from numerous fields, including tech, bio-tech, engineering, retail, law, psychology, banking, art, the military, and healthcare. Joy also has a great deal of experience working with EMBA clients.
Each year, when application season arrives, Joy is excited to discover what’s in store—new people, new stories, new moments to share, and ultimately, new winning MBA applications to celebrate.
I absolutely recommend Menlo Coaching and Joy. When you are going to make an investment from a monetary and time perspective – you need someone who sees eye to eye and is on equal footing. The frequency and flexibility of my meetings with Joy were great. I always felt that if I needed a question answered or raised a concern, I would be able to get in touch with Joy and she was very helpful in working with me to articulate my community fit at all of the programs I applied to. I thought everything from start to finish worked well.
Class of 2025 Admit
I am so glad to work with Joy and get a Kellogg and Tuck offer, plus a Ross offer with a full ride. Joy could empathize with my past experience and use her impressive writing skills to guide me to tell a whole story to others. Furthermore, she provides a lot of suggestions about my career goals, resume and interview. Not only does she give you a “fish” but also teaches you how to “fish”!
Class of 2025 Admit
Lainie Blum Cogan 
