Estel is a guidance platform for international students — built from personal experience navigating the US admissions process, financial system, and immigration pathway from Nairobi, Kenya.
When Esther Ochieng left Nairobi for graduate school in Michigan, she had no roadmap. The admissions process was confusing. The US financial system was invisible. No one explained credit scores, tax filing, or how to build wealth on a student stipend. She figured it out — slowly, through trial and error, through conversations with other international students, through years of learning by doing.
After completing her graduate studies and relocating to Los Angeles, Esther founded Estel Global Education — a consulting service helping international students navigate undergraduate and graduate applications in the United States. Through hundreds of client conversations, one thing became clear: every student was facing the same confusion she had faced. The same questions. The same mistakes. The same gaps.
Estel the platform is the answer to that pattern. It is the guide Esther wished had existed when she arrived. Everything in one place — school matching with real government data, verified scholarships, step-by-step visa guidance, financial education tailored to your destination country, and a complete roadmap from first application to settled career.
To give every international student — regardless of where they come from or how much they know — the same quality of guidance that used to be available only to those who could afford premium consultants.
A world where your country of origin does not determine your access to world-class education. Where no student has to navigate the journey to study abroad alone.
Esther Ochieng is a finance and data analytics professional, education consultant, and author based in Los Angeles. She is the founder of Estel Global Education and the author of From Survival to Strategy — a memoir tracing her journey from Nairobi through graduate school in Michigan to building a career and life in Los Angeles.
Through her consulting practice at consultingestel.com, she has personally guided hundreds of students through the admissions process. Estel the platform extends that guidance to students who cannot access one-on-one consulting — making the same quality of advice available to anyone, anywhere.
Join students from 30+ countries who are navigating their journey with Estel.