Incredibly helpful working with Heidi Hillis of Fortuna. Very empathetic and encouraging with her advice. Extremely responsive, sometimes within the matter of just a few hours. Very rigorous with her edits.

Fortuna met my expectations. I would highly recommend them.
The application process can feel like engaging a black box, and Heidi and Judith offered insights on how to engage that box, how to understand it. I felt at the end of the journey I was better able to understand, most of all, my own self, my trajectory, and how I can contribute the most to an MBA class, and how I can most succeed in my industry and function(s) of interest.

Read More

Heidi really understands the how the Stanford GSB application process works and can offer exceptional insight into the interview and admissions process. She is approachable, candid and insightful. Had it not been for her help I would have never aced the Stanford GSB Interview. She needs to be your go to person to for the interview process. She is friendly, responsive and is highly personable. She is a pleasure to work with and has an incredibly kind way of providing feedback and insight to make you standout, calm nerves to the point of getting to fluency. I highly recommend Heidi and anyone will enjoy working with her.

Read More

I am grateful to have known Heidi, who has helped me gain acceptance into my dream school (M7). She is a spectacular coach who deeply cares about you, your application, and your persona. When I started my journey with Heidi, I was lost. My background felt normal and bland. Although I had made numerous accomplishments in my career, none of them felt like they stood out. Heidi thought otherwise. She pointed me in the right direction, making me realise my full potential by challenging me on my stories, values, character, career goals, and overall narrative.

What I liked about Heidi is that she did not hesitate to provide honest feedback. This is usually overlooked when selecting a coach. Having your assumptions challenged is an extremely important part of coaching to steer your application in the right direction. Even though at times this feedback contradicted my internal logic, I took it as an indicator of growth and trusted her instincts completely.

What made the experience even more remarkable was her speed of turning around comments (typically less than a day), leaving me with an impression today that Heidi is an immensely reliable person running on a bottomless well of energy. Heidi played an important part not only in shaping my application, but also in making me realise what was important in my life through reflections of my value system. No matter how challenging your situation is, I am most certain working with Heidi will leave you with wonderful memories.

Read More

I did a comprehensive package with Fortuna and worked with Heidi over the last 7-8 months. She did an amazing job - she was incredibly helpful and supportive throughout the process. Even though I only started my applications in July for a Round 1 submission in September, Heidi helped structure the 2 months so that they were productive and everything got done in time and at a high quality. She also helped me differentiate myself, given my common background in finance / PE. Heidi is a full-time consultant and made herself available at all times, as much as I needed and answered as many questions as I had, which really helped put my mind at ease throughout the process. Thanks to her help, I'll be joining HBS in Fall 2021!

Read More

I had the pleasure and privilege to work with Heidi for my applications to 6 top MBA programs in the US, and ultimately got accepted by 4 schools. As an applicant of South Asian origin working in finance, my two biggest concerns were presenting a differentiated enough story amongst what tends to be one of the most competitive pools in the application process + being able to put my best foot forward given the demanding nature of each application and the limited time I had with my job to focus on the application process.

Heidi made the process incredibly seamless. I found her to be a great listener, where she gave me the freedom to craft my own story, while constantly challenging me on bits that needed more work / clarification. Once we developed the general narrative, Heidi had specific, pointed feedback on how to modify the story for each school, thereby allowing me to put my best foot forward and obviously typifying her differentiated understanding on what different schools are looking for. The application process is ultimately a game of margins, and I felt that Heidi's knowledge and expertise brought an additional element of specificity to my applications which I could have never achieved on my own.

Heidi was also extremely methodical in her approach and we did a lot of legwork around putting different aspects of my personality, interests, past experiences etc. into tangible narratives, prior to starting the essay writing process. The impact of all of this work was that by the time I had finished writing my applications, not only had I internalized my "business school story" fully, but also fully internalized the dozens of other things that then came handy when the interviews started rolling in a few months. I cannot stress enough how easy it made the interview process, where I did not feel the need to do dozens of mocks or anything, because the fundamentals of my story were so clearly laid out owing to the work I did with Heidi. This is a testament to Heidi's experience and vision as a coach, where the path from application inception to interview is fully clear in her mind, and the work she makes you put in the beginning goes a long way in the application cycle.

The other standout quality for me was Heidi's incredible work ethic and how available she made herself to make the process easier for me. Turnaround time for every single draft was almost always less than 24 hours, and if for some reason there was a conflict on her side, the communication around it was super clear and significantly well in advance. Furthermore, Heidi's calendar was always open to schedule a call to discuss literally anything, brainstorm ideas etc. There were never any limitations on phone/video calls - she was always there. Going into the application process this was the type of unbarred access and support I had hoped to receive, and Heidi simply over-delivered on this aspect.

Five stars all the way for Heidi. The business school application process is an incredible commitment on so many fronts, and Heidi could not have been a better mentor and coach to not only make the process seamless but incredibly rewarding in itself.

Read More

When I started my MBA process, I had already worked in admissions consulting myself for 4+ years, albeit at the undergrad level. Even though I was very familiar with personal essay-writing, interview prep, etc., Heidi *still* added tremendous value to my MBA applications.

First, I was applying from a “non-traditional” business background, and Heidi was instrumental in helping me capture and articulate my experiences in a clear, concise way that would make sense to an admissions reader. Also, with thought-provoking questions and comments, Heidi guided me to develop a coherent and compelling application “narrative” that connected my past experiences with concrete post-MBA goals. At first, I signed on with Fortuna to do a one-school package. But I quickly realized how helpful Heidi was and began adding on more hours, more interview prep, etc. Ultimately, I was very proud of the applications I submitted, and I can’t imagine having achieved such high-quality without Heidi’s advice and expertise.

In terms of working style, Heidi is reliable and attentive. She checked in on my progress regularly, responded to my questions in a timely manner, and always turned around essay edits within a day or two (even faster, as we got close to deadlines). On several occasions, she sent me articles/online events that she thought I might be interested in given my career goals. In such a fundamentally stressful process, working with someone as reliable and thoughtful as Heidi went a long way in helping me (mostly) preserve my sanity!

So, my best advice to you: work with Heidi, and get a multi-school package from the get-go. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself wanting Heidi’s sage input on as many application materials as possible.

(Lastly, including this info because I know some people look for it as they read reviews: I was admitted to several top 10 programs, including Wharton and Kellogg.)

Read More

Heidi helped guide me through the admissions process and gave me a good understanding of what admissions departments look for in MBA applicants. I was applying to selective programs (M7/T10), and wanted to make sure I was putting my best foot forward with applications, so opted to go for the premium package. Heidi's help with essays and interview prep was invaluable, and she was instrumental in my success. I received acceptances to two of my top choice schools, in no small part due to her feedback while crafting my story for the programs I was applying to. Highly recommend her!

Read More

I worked with Heidi on my business school applications and she was extremely supportive, responsive, and knowledgeable throughout. She played a pivotal role in all aspects of the process, including recommender strategy, application form strategy, essay planning and revisions, and interview prep.

She paid attention to the various stories in my life and helped me uncover key themes that really highlighted who I am. Once I began drafting essays, she provided thoughtful feedback with very quick turnarounds. I felt supported throughout. Overall, it was an amazing working with her and I recommend her to anyone applying to competitive business schools!

Read More

I was lucky enough to work with Heidi and transform from being someone unfamiliar with the idea of business school to an admit to both Harvard and Stanford. Heidi was the perfect coach throughout the application process. She asked thought-provoking questions that helped me introspect and develop a compelling narrative. She also is mindful of details and deadlines, and she turned around comments and edits on my drafts in record time.

Heidi is very knowledgeable on the nuanced differences between different business schools and the decision criteria of the admissions committees. This helped throughout the process, but it was especially apparent when preparing for interviews. Business school admissions interviews are unlike any interview I've experienced before, but Heidi's guidance and mock interview beforehand prepared me well and kept me at ease.

Five stars for Heidi and Fortuna - if you're about to embark on the application process, you'll want to have them in your corner.

Read More

Despite originally not planning to work with an admissions consultant, I ultimately reached out to Heidi as I hit a wall with the "What Matters" essay at GSB - my dream school. Given that I only had limited time and much of thinking already complete, Heidi recommended the flexible hourly package (5 hours+). With the minimum amount of time, i was originally a bit nervous -- however, even with 5 hours, Heidi still managed to identify my strongest stories and themes that I could never have on my own. The overall experience was also wonderful, and it was such a joy to work with her - even though we were on opposite time zones during the holidays, she worked flexibly to meet my schedule and continued to encourage me through warmth and affirmation. For anyone applying to GSB, or anywhere really, I highly highly recommend working with Heidi.

Read More