What AI Can’t Teach—AtomicMind Can

Some of America’s greatest companies were born in small places. Facebook, Microsoft, and Google’s origins started between the four walls of a small college dorm room. But what many don’t know is that AtomicMind’s CEO and Founder Leelila Strogov did the same thing. As an MIT college student, Strogov began building AtomicMind without even knowing it. 

Today, the company is a personalized education consultancy that offers expert mentorship. AtomicMind utilizes expert mentors along with innovative technology to help students successfully navigate the elite college admissions process. As part of that process, AtomicMind focuses on getting students to build healthy study habits, cultivate deep interests and strengthen their emotional intelligence. Like all great companies, it started humbly, with Strogov and a few local students she was guiding toward admission to top colleges. Nothing more than a side hustle.

“I was helping mentor them through high school, then with their college essays,” says Strogov. “I was building their candidacy and helping them market themselves.” 

After MIT, Strogov pursued her passion for storytelling, becoming an investigative journalist for Fox News. Waking up at 3 a.m. to cover breaking stories as a television journalist, her past kept pulling her back.

Her phone continued to ring. On the other line — parents — hoping she could work her magic with their children’s college applications.

“One day, my husband looked at me and said, I don’t know if you realize this, but you’ve built a business,” Strogov recalls.

He was right. After stepping back from journalism to dedicate herself full-time to helping high school students enter their dream school, business rapidly picked up. Within a few years, her husband, Harvard Business School Graduate Ernie Liang, joined as COO of what would become AtomicMind, a premier college admissions consulting firm.

“The irony of ironies is that my growth until now has been all word of mouth,” Strogov said.

What started as parents, moved on to friends, cousins, to eventually the children of C-level executives. So what’s the key to success for AtomicMind?

“My instincts were always crazy strong in knowing what makes for exceptional candidacy,” says Leelila Strogov, AtomicMind CEO and Founder. “Deep down, you cannot just impress an admissions committee; you need to inspire them.”

Using her journalistic skills, she ultimately realized that grabbing and keeping people’s attention was essential in the college admission process as well. Strogov recognized that every student had a unique story; they just didn’t always know how to tell it, or even recognize it was there.

“Kids often come to the table thinking they have nothing to bring,” Strogov remarked.

She shared an example of one of her students: a dancer who had been told throughout her life that she “didn’t have a dancer’s body,” but persevered anyway. 

“She didn’t know that was her story. In her mind, she just didn’t listen to these teachers,” Strogov says. “She didn’t know it was a story of triumph.”

One of the CEO’s favorite success stories involved an extreme introvert with impressive academic credentials but zero extracurricular activities. Her high school counselors had told her not to bother applying to Ivy League schools.

“I was determined, as I always am, to make sure that she had a story that might have a chance of compelling those committees,” Strogov recounted.

Together, they crafted an application that advocated for the introvert’s place in the world, celebrating a life of the mind that didn’t seek constant external validation. Against all odds, the student was accepted to Brown University.

But AtomicMind stayed mindful of creating access for students without financial resources. The company established a foundation offering pro bono support to low-income students, working through partnerships with community organizations like Comprehensive Youth Development, Future Five, and Student Partner Alliance.

“These students achieved remarkable success—full scholarships to Emory, acceptances to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT,” Strogov explained.

Sometimes, these opportunities arose from unexpected places. Strogov’s hairdresser, an Ecuadorian immigrant, mentioned her daughter, Diana, was preparing for college applications. AtomicMind stepped in, worked with Diana, and got her a full ride to MIT.

“I come from a school where not many students can imagine getting into a top college. I had big dreams but no idea how to get there,” Diana said. “I had worked really hard in school, but I didn’t think that would be enough.”

Diana was the only student in her high school to get into any top 10 college. 

“She didn’t just help me with college applications—she showed me what it looks like when someone believes in your potential. I’ll never forget what she did for me. And when I asked her what I could do for her in return, she told me to inspire and encourage other people to follow in my footsteps. I hope one day I can do something just as meaningful for someone else,” Diana says. 

AtomicMind has not only focused on helping communities, but is also driven by leveraging technology to strengthen students rather than diminish them. In an age dominated by artificial intelligence and technology, the company remains committed to developing students’ skills that machines cannot replicate. Her approach echoes lessons from her first educator—her father, a computer scientist who foresaw the technological future.

Strogov says her father told her not to focus on learning the things that a computer can do. Instead, AtomicMind cultivates authentically human abilities: asking incredible questions, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and authentic storytelling.

“AI can only draw from what’s already been said,” Strogov explained. “Originality has always been at the core of what we do. There is no AI bot that can get into your core being and tell that story in a truly one-of-a-kind, authentic, creative way.”

Meanwhile, AtomicMind has begun developing innovative learning tools, including AI-powered audio materials for AP exams, allowing students to study while exercising, addressing the sedentary nature of modern education.

For post-graduate job seekers struggling in a competitive market, AtomicMind offers comprehensive support. Their specialists understand how automated applicant tracking systems work, helping clients optimize resumes for AI readers while also encouraging proactive networking approaches that bypass traditional application channels.

Throughout AtomicMind’s evolution from dorm room “side hustle” to educational empire, one principle has remained constant: seeing each student as a unique work of art.

“Every single time a student comes to us, we are thinking of them as an original work of art that is worthy of being hung at the Met or the MoMA,” Strogov said. “It’s really about what we are going to do for and with this child that has not been done before.”

In a world increasingly dominated by automation and algorithms, AtomicMind continues to champion the irreplaceably human capacity to craft original stories that inspire and will move admissions committee members to view candidates as not only worthy of admission, but ultimately, undeniable.

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