Essay Coaches

About the Essay Coaches

Leah Messing

Leah Messing, Founder and Lead Essay Coach, earned a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University and graduated as an Athena Scholar from Barnard’s Athena Center for Women’s Leadership Studies.


She has worked with hundreds of students in South Florida, nationally, and internationally. She understands the high level of stress brought on by the process and actively worked to change that culture during her time as a student at Miami Palmetto Senior High School.


The Challenge Success founders invited Leah to be a student speaker at the Challenge Success Fall 2009 National Conference in Palo Alto, CA, where she addressed over two thousand people about the stress brought on by the college admissions process.


She has also given presentations on college essays, writing, and organizational skills at high schools, community events, and nonprofits in Miami-Dade County.

Leah Messing, Founder

Becca Webb

Becca Webb earned her B.A. from Bard College, majoring in Literature, and studied at Hertford College, Oxford. After a seven-year career in television development, she returned to school to earn her Master’s degree in American Literature at the University of Chicago.


Becca has worked at Bard College’s Writing Center as a Writing Fellow, for Varsity Tutors as an English and College Essay Tutor, for The University of Chicago’s writing program as a Lector, and at the Community Colleges of Chicago as a Writing and English Tutor, helping hundreds of students from high school freshmen to Master’s candidates find success.


In addition to working with students, Becca writes poetry and non-fiction essays.

Rebecca Webb

Mindy Zane Rosenthal

Mindy Zane Rosenthal earned a B.A. in History from Cornell University and a M.S. Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught middle and high school English and history, edited curricula, and worked as a freelance writer and editor. In her most recent role as a College Admission Application Coordinator for a high school in Miami, she guided seniors through the application process and edited their essays and supplemental materials. A recent empty-nester, she has two young adult children who have been through the college application process, and she has lived to tell the tales.

Rebecca Webb
Share by: