family – Invisible but Essential

Wuraola Abulatan

Achievements

Vice-President: Blacks in Business and Allies Club
Gender Equality & SGBV Activist
Poet

Academics

Master of Science in Communication
University of Lagos

Self-Love is Being your True Self.

My journey has been shaped by equal parts conviction, stubbornness, and hope. Professionally, I’ve spent more than a decade working in communications and marketing across different industries. Personally, much of my life has been about questioning the things I was told to accept, especially as a woman growing up in Nigeria. Every stage of my journey has been a balance between building a career and trying, in my own way, to leave the world a little better than I found it.

there are many childhood experiences that have formed who i am but i would say the ones that cemented my stance to be a feminist and activist for gender equality is witnessing and experiencing the normalisation of violence and subjugation of women and girls. I never accepted it and always knew there was more to a woman being alive as a human being beyond what society had said they should be right from girlhood. Some of that stemmed from my father (bless his soul) who instilled in me the need to do good and believed that our lives should matter beyond ourselves.

When I was young, my brother and I caught a chameleon and sold it to a herbalist for 40 naira (full story here: https://medium.com/@Goldenwura/a-chameleon-the-herbalist-and-disappearing-notes-194c796a4381). The money disappeared; literally vanished from our pockets. We never knew if it was the herbalist’s magic or our own carelessness. Looking back, that experience gave me curiosity. I grew up asking questions, chasing stories, climbing trees I probably shouldn’t have climbed, and looking at things twice. That curiosity has stayed with me throughout my life. It is the reason I love learning languages, question social norms, why I chose communications as a career and care deeply about understanding people and the world around me. The chameleon may have disappeared into a herbalist’s pot, and the money may or may not have disappeared into thin air, but the habit of wondering never left me.

I feel most alive when I am listening to music and singing out loud. Some people find it funny that I am a BTS army at my age (whatever that means) but stanning them and enjoying their music has made me a much happier woman. Their message of self-love and social consciousness aligns with my values. I feel alive when I am fighting gender injustice, having conversations, shouting at a protest, bringing together people to stand for something bigger than us all.

What’s invisible but essential to me is to live my life authentically and freely. This is my most radical act of self-love and feminism, especially coming from a society where women are expected to conform to be chosen by a man or to be acceptable. Living this way doesn’t mean I have to be a totally different person from everyone else. It means doing everything I genuinely want to do without being tied down by how I want to be seen by people or society and not hurting anyone in the process. Fully enjoying what i love without holding back, being myself all the time and being a kind person who tries to make the world a better place in her own little way, invisible or not, these are essential to me.

Yael Dohn

Our best version already lies within us.

I grew up as the youngest in a family of educators, born in Los Angeles, moved around a lot, and eventually graduated high school in the suburbs of Chicago. My plan was clear enough: study economics at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, get into government, write economic policy. Then Covid happened in my first year, everything moved online, and suddenly I was tracking to graduate early with no internship and no particular plan.

That’s how I accidentally ended up in commercial banking.

An internship in Chicago with a mid-corporate underwriting and portfolio management team turned into a full-time offer and a development program, which took me through Massachusetts, California, and Illinois in my first year alone. I spent the next 2.5 years back in Chicago on the same team, got onto the board of the young professionals group, got more involved in the women’s and LGBTQ+ networks, and gradually realized my interests were pulling me somewhere else. I had joined underwriting to build financial literacy since my background was in economics, not finance. But with a few years under my belt, I wanted to move toward corporate relationship management. I wanted a master’s program that would take me out of the US, give me a more globalized network, and broaden how I thought about business. My first meeting with Jeroen, where we accidentally spent half an hour talking about running red lights in Los Angeles, settled it. I wanted to go to Esade.

Growing up in a large Jewish community in Los Angeles, my temple collaborated every year with one of the main Methodist churches in Hollywood to run a donation-based Christmas dinner for the unhoused population of the city. There was a meal, toys for children, pictures with Santa, and care kits. My mom ran the kitchen. My dad helped with the trucks and loading. My siblings and I helped wherever we were needed. And then the church would show up for our Purim carnival and community fundraiser in return. I looked forward to it every year. It was a central part of my childhood that shaped who I am today and. It taught me that community stretches beyond the bounds of your eyes and that coexistence is an action, not a noun.

The moments I feel most alive are at a dinner table surrounded by my favorite people. Specifically the part of the night when your belly is full, the last bottle of wine has been opened, coffee and dessert are scattered everywhere, and everyone is tired but enjoying the conversation too much to leave. I find myself looking around in those moments and feeling real gratitude. That a simple meal and some inside jokes can make you feel so loved, and make you reflect on how much love you have for the people around you.

And I think the thing that ties all of it together is the alter ego, which is Invisible but Essential for me.

Not a self-absorbed reflection of your deepest anxieties, but the version of yourself who is the most confident, outgoing, thoughtful, caring, engaged, happy, and wonderful version of all your characteristics, turned all the way up to 100%. We can’t be that person all the time. But I love the moments when I see myself and my friends tap into her. When the best version is allowed to take over and absolutely amazes the people around her. I think having that alter ego ready to take the stage is what makes for the best people and professionals. She’s always there. You just have to let her out.

Agosh Baranwal

Full-Time MBA Class of 2026

Professional Roles and Achievements

Achievements

VP, Communications Club
Finalist, HP Innovation Bootcamp
Lead, Invisible But Essential

Academics

-ESADE MBA Batch of 2026

-B.Tech, Petroleum Engineering – Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad

What is invisible but essential about YOU? or ESADE? or Barcelona?

There’s a National-level engineering exam held every year in India called the IIT-JEE. More than 1.5 million students apply to it, and less than 0.5% get in. I always envisioned my life to be a straight line, and this exam was the first step. But with long study hours, I saw myself taking an interesting direction. I started making simple meals for myself, and a year later, I was already experimenting with different recipes. On a whim, I sent one of my own recipes to a contest; it got featured in UpperCrust, an Indian food magazine. It wasn’t a big deal for me at that moment because getting into IIT took the spotlight. But what started as a self-sustenance experiment is now a full-blown hobby.

Now, on paper, being in an IIT, my path looked certain. Unfortunately, engineering didn’t feel like home. I secured the License for the first TEDx event in the city of Dhanbad. This notoriously infamous city is not easy to reach, doesn’t have an airport and is not known for events like that. But this was a phase where I wanted to explore my depths and take on challenges that I enjoyed facing. Eventually, I was able to secure a Bollywood actress, a famous director and writer, the owner of one of the most popular social media channels in India and so on in the speaker lineup. My exploration didn’t stop there; I bootstrapped a laundry service startup, a profitable one and one of its kind in India back then. Things started making sense now. I had a vision and a goal to work towards. But by the time my undergraduate degree ended, the founders parted ways as well. After this, the road wasn’t a straight path anymore, but worse, it was blurry for the first time in my life.

There’s a line from this kids’ book – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse that I carry with me: “One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.” After some amazing work experiences in Sweden and India, I came to ESADE. And what a city Barcelona is to live life to its fullest. Friends trusted me with their family dishes, and I shared mine. I realised how food makes community simple: you bring something, others bring something, and the table is stronger for it.

I had been asking myself, “What is success?”. And I found it only recently by rediscovering myself and my goals. As much as I tried in my younger years, life never presented itself in a straight line. I won’t claim resilience removes pain or guarantees results. It doesn’t. What it gives is a guarantee to stand up again. It helps you choose your response when the outcome is unclear.

So what is invisible but essential in my life? The practice of beginning again, patiently, honestly, and without rush.

Summer Kim

Full-Time MBA Class of 2026

Professional Roles and Achievements

Professional History

Global Operations Manager, BA Catering

Academics

-MBA Batch of 2026

-Bachelor of Business Administration, Sookmyung Women’s University

What is invisible but essential about YOU? or ESADE? or Barcelona?

The one thing that is invisible but essential in me is my family.

I am the fruit of my parents’ values, and the bloom of their selfless love. Ever since I was young, my parents were the type who stood from a step away, close enough to protect and guide me, but far enough to let me grow on my own. Their values of respect and freedom taught me a strong moral compass and perspective on what life has to offer. I guess that’s what makes the person I am now.

It goes back to when I was 6 years old, when we moved to Bangkok, Thailand. I still remember so vividly, it feels like it was the fairytale chapter of my life, and every memory is nothing but joy and laughter. Adjusting to a new environment, not knowing the language, was not the easiest for a 6-year-old. I didn’t even know ‘hello’ in English, let alone in Thai! But despite the challenges, my parents were there at every corner to support me, never controlling or demanding, even with academics. They gave me the freedom to explore, learn, and grow on my own terms.

The world seemed to be my playground where I was free to follow my heart. I played all sorts of sports – from tennis and basketball to ballet. I was also very much into art, passionate enough to take summer courses at universities, spend hours crafting my own pieces, and sell them at fun fairs. My parents always encouraged me and supported me in any way they could. This particular time in my childhood when I had no limits to take on challenges and explore the variables within my world, is what allows me to take chances and fear no challenges today.

So, I decided to face the biggest challenge I could face. Choosing Esade, moving halfway across the globe. Wasn’t it one for all of us? Leaving certain things behind – either professional or personal – we all took the chances and bet all-in for this journey. At least I did. But I wasn’t afraid, because I knew my family would be with me, by my side through thick and thin, even beyond the ‘happily ever after’. When I decided to pursue an MBA, my brother was the greatest mentor that I had. He did his MBA years ago, (because he is old) and was far into his career (again, he is old) with the experience and learnings he brought back from it. So he was the mentor, the supporter, the critic, the rationale, the logic that led me toward making a decision for myself.

As this journey embarks to an end and turns the chapter of challenge to the next, I can proudly say I’ve grown stronger with the waves I faced, and storms that I overcame throughout. It was possible because with every wave and every storm, my family was just one phone call away and always close to my heart. I couldn’t have done what I have and wouldn’t be the person I am if it weren’t for my family and their support.

I dedicate this to my family, with all my love and gratitude.