Our Story

Fifteen years ago, I walked into my USC merit scholarship interview, my shoulders barely filling the first suit jacket I’d ever owned. With nothing to lose—as my family still couldn’t afford the half-tuition package on offer—at my brother's encouragement, I swung hard.

It worked. After twenty minutes of telling grammar jokes, reading original poems, and leaving the panel with copies of said poems, I was bumped up to an academic full-ride. Four years later, I found myself on the other side of that same panel, evaluating a new generation of Trojan scholars.

Immediately upon graduating, I arrived at the #1-ranked Iowa Writers' Workshop as the first-ever dual-admit to both poetry and fiction programs. There, I taught undergraduate classes and honed my craft, learning from titans in American letters.

I returned home to Los Angeles and published two books of poems, hitting the road and touring up and down the West Coast. Then, eager to resume student-facing work, I joined an educational consulting firm, rising to Director of College Planning. Over the next eight and a half years, I learned from the best, helping hundreds of students land elite acceptances and secure millions in aid.

And then my brother died. Suddenly losing my first and best friend destroyed me. But, inspired by conversations with his ex-students, I realized the only way I could honor his teaching legacy was to set out on my own.

The Burgess Workshop Studio provides precocious young writers the creative, EQ-driven mentorship my brother and I both lacked at their age. During virtual conservatory sessions, I’ll lead small groups of students in MFA-level mentorship and community engagement. Meanwhile, I'll meet 1:1 with students of all majors and high-school years, setting them up for college app success.

In my brother’s memory, it is my life’s work to support young writers and scholars—and their families—as the start of their creative journeys.