There’s even more growth in the Garden State this week, as I’m happy to announce that we’ve hired Nan Yuasa as the senior director of our soon-to-be-opened Collegewise office in Tenafly, New Jersey.
College counseling is actually Nan’s second successful career. Despite being a self-proclaimed tomboy, Nan parlayed her international business and marketing degree from Georgetown University into a successful fourteen-year career as a global marketer in the beauty industry, overseeing product launches for Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, and Procter & Gamble. But the call of duty proved stronger than the call of beauty, and Nan left it all behind to earn a master’s in school counseling from Seton Hall University, later interning in the guidance department at Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, NY. There, she not only advised students about college selection, applications and financial aid, but also met with college admission officers from over 100 colleges, both one-on-one and at college fairs. She also volunteers her time as a counselor for a program with the Rockland County Youth Bureau, advising at-risk high school students. Needless to say, the beauty industry’s loss has proven to be many college-bound students’ gain.
As a competitive figure skater who fell at least 250,000 times on the ice during her childhood career, Nan is fearless and refuses to back down from a challenge no matter how insurmountable the obstacles may appear. Case in point: she has competed in several Spartan Races (obstacle course-style events that closely resemble something out of Navy SEAL hell week), most recently finishing 4th overall out of 1,700 females. When she’s not counseling students or hurtling herself towards seemingly unreachable finish lines, Nan enjoys surfing, cheering with her husband for their beloved New York Jets (talk about insurmountable obstacles), and making her 6-year-old son laugh, often through bathroom-related humor.
Nan has counseling experience, a strong business background, and the kind of existing community connections that can really help launch and grow a Collegewise office. But more importantly, she believes in our mission of making college admissions more enjoyable. She likes to work hard and make valuable contributions with like-minded people. She’ll fit in just fine here.
So, please welcome Nan, a former corporate marketing, current college guidance-giving, figure skating, obstacle jumping boxer who’s not afraid to get silly in the pursuit of making her kid laugh. It’s like she was made for this gig.