Q&A WITH BARNABY

Define your experience in the IMBA in one word.
Pandemonium

What were some of the main challenges that you encountered on your way? How did your master program and IE help you through these challenges?
I had encountered a lot of normalcy in my career, boxed-in thinking, suits pretending to be normal. Coming to IE, I found weirdos, people like me who think outside the box and want to do things differently. Staying off the cuff helped me experience IE in a very special way; I grew a lot in one year.

What was networking like in the program?
It was exhilarating meeting people from such diverse backgrounds and seeing them through their expression of humanity in everything that they did and said.

What was your favorite memory from your time at IE?
There are so many to choose from that it’s hard to pick one favorite, but if I were to choose one, this wouldn’t be the setting to tell you…

If someone was considering going to IE, what would you tell them?
Do what challenges you most. You are only competing against yourself at the end of the day, life is a single-player game. If you come, make sure to Hustle.

Why did you choose to study this program at IE?
When I came to visit, I met enough weirdos to feel at home.

What is one thing you wished you knew when you were a student? What advice would you give to students who are about to begin the program?
I wish I knew how short the program was. Everything goes by so fast, you really need to savor every moment. Live by the seat of your pants - preferably without pants.

Tell us about the IE alumni community and the impact they have had in your life and/or career. Why do you think it’s important to engage with the IE alumni community?
It’s so important to engage with people in any community you’re a part of, especially in this taxing time during a pandemic. It’s easy to lose what it means to be a human and become digital apes, but connection to community is paramount to our survival.

As one of the first contributors towards the Illuminated Bricks campaign, how does it feel?
Happy to contribute to a good cause.

What made you decided to give your first gift?
Persistent and intrusive emails… jk😊. Over the years Julia Sanchez has been a friend and a peer. She has been a peer more than a representative of the school, and so it felt like the request was coming from a friend, it felt personal.

In your opinion, why is it important to give back? Why does this cause matter to you?
Education is often the differentiating factor between living a great life and living a lousy life. There are a lot of causes I care about: supporting refugees, ridding the world of human trafficking, replenishing our ecosystems. More often than not, Education is at the heart of solving most, if not, all of those problems.

What can we do within our IE Community to create an impact and support education?
Ask alumni for help and keep on asking for more help from alumni. We can’t help the school solve problems unless we are asked and made aware of those problems.

Provide more full scholarships to those with no means. Continue to grow student representation from countries at war, or famished, or where women don’t have the right to a proper education.

What would you tell someone who was thinking about contributing?
No money, no honey… meaning to do nice things take time and costs money. To give others a chance to better their lives and in turn better the world, why not? It’s a no brainer.

If you had a billboard you could display to the entire world, what you would put on it?
Gentileza gera gentileza (kindness begets kindness)

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