Ayoola Oladipupo, Wharton’s MBA Class of 2022
Age: 28
Hometown: Ilesa, Nigeria. Ilesa is a peaceful town in SouthWest Nigeria, home to one of Nigeria’s largest deposit of Gold and a famous waterfall named Erin Ijesha – a proud tourist attraction with seven levels, the seventh level being the peak of the fall. Ijeshas (what you call people from Ilesa) are known for their love for pounded yam – a very famous delicacy mostly among the Yorubas, often accompanied by a unique soup of preference.
Undergraduate Institution and Major: I studied Electrical/Electronics Engineering at the University of Lagos in Nigeria and I graduated in 2015.
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): All of my amazing ~5 years of work experience was with the FMCG giant, P&G. I resumed at P&G in 2015, the Monday after the Friday I submitted my final papers and I really loved to work at P&G – It was very hard to say goodbye.
Why business school? Why now?
I was privileged to work across 3 different functions (Sales, Purchases & Marketing) in P&G on 4 distinct assignments and with responsibilities for 7 markets across Middle East & Africa in a little less than 5years. I felt my multi-functional and multi-geographic experience gave me a more balanced understanding of business operations and company priorities than many of my peers. Working at P&G had also made me really see how businesses can be a force for good through their many efforts on sustainability, some of which I was a part of.
In my third assignment as of 2017, I started to consider attending business school. I finally made up my mind in 2018 through the inspiration of many senior colleagues who had gone to attend other top MBA programs. When I was putting my application together in late 2019, I was ultimately signing up for B-school to solidify my knowledge of the business world. I hadn’t worked in finance, so I lacked mastery of how company finances worked, and I was keen to gain that knowledge in school.
Additionally, I was looking to pivot careers and most of all I wanted to broaden my global network so badly because this would play a key role in my long-term entrepreneurial pursuit. I thought the timing was perfect for me to fit perfectly in the class both from the view of the quality/length of work experience I had accumulated and based on my age (I wanted to be done with school at 30), so I didn’t want to delay further.
Why Wharton? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I was first attracted by the brand and I would say it played the most prominent role in my decision of where to attend. Aside from the brand name, Wharton people, among other top schools that I reached out to during my school selection process, gave me the best sense of community and cultural fit that I was used to at P&G. I ended up applying only to Wharton in the HSW league. I was very sure I would be unhappy to join a community with a mismatch in cultural fit. I was in love with P&G because of the people and I can tell you I’m in love with Wharton now first of all because of the people. I was also drawn to Wharton’s promise of life-long learning and most of all the strength of the Wharton Alumni network.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2022?
My class is very large and diverse but yet full of similar brilliant minds and overall great humans. While this makes it quite tough to answer this question, I’d humbly say that I’m joining the class with a unique sense of driving team success. Working with different kinds of focused teams at P&G, my non-profit start-up at ProEdge, and functional teams in my local church, to mention a few have left me with a great sense of applying leadership and followership towards team success. At Wharton, working in teams is a big part of our learning and community structure and so I think my diverse teamwork experience would count as my most valuable contribution to the class.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
This is hard, but if I’d take a stab at it, I’d say I didn’t get to express the fact that I really love to act and used to actively act in stage dramas in my late teens/early twenties. I’m looking to take opportunities at Wharton to foster that interest. Who knows, I may be a Will Smith someday.
Post-MBA career interests?
I’m looking to pivot careers into Consulting or Tech. In the case that I stay within the CPG space, I’d be keen to grow a career in core brand marketing. Ultimately I’m seeking assignments that will leverage my strength, meet my interest, and enable me with a chance to actively gain new experience, learn new stuff, and directly impact tangible business results.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
I would definitely reach out to more individuals from my prospective school – talking to admission fellows and current students of the school gave me the truest picture of what the school’s program and community really looked like.
–One thing you would change or do differently?
This would be my approach to the test/test scores. I almost didn’t apply to Wharton because I had way less than the average scores published on the website. I’d say prospective MBAs need to put in their best effort to get great GMAT/GRE scores but need to also be aware that they shouldn’t get emotionally stabbed if their scores weren’t meeting their expectations. Schools like Wharton truly mean it when they say “All parts of the application are considered”.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Can I say the entire application process? I mean I’d have loved to only submit my resume and gotten a Wharton admit! I’d like to believe that the MBA application process is generally a handful for many of us. Test-taking alone zaps your energy physically and emotionally and to get through this you want to make sure you only keep friends who are overly supportive and understanding. I’d say I got through the entire process because of support from family & friends, proactive engagement of my referees, and generally a well-paced plan to keep me in control of things as they evolved.
What is your initial impression of Wharton’s students/culture/community?
Just like I already hinted earlier, my initial impression of the Wharton empire could be described with these words/phrases – “Collaborative”, “Ready to help”, “Respectful”, “Fair”, “Reward for performance”, “Keen about my success”, “You can trust the process”. These were very similar to my P&G family attributes.
One thing you have learned about Wharton that has surprised you?
Somewhere in my head, I dreamed that I could utilize most, if not all of the resources at Wharton but now that I’m in, I am awake to the reality that Wharton is a sea of resources – I find myself relying a lot on the expertise of the structured support frameworks at Wharton and 2Ys to help me navigate this sea and make the most of the resources available to me. I was totally shocked by the breadth and depth of resources here.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
I’d say FOMO! The virtual experience has crippled some of the merits of an in-person experience that I and my classmates dreamed of about B-school. To navigate this, we’re optimizing tech using so many channels of communication, and coming with that is the fear of missing out when it gets too overwhelming to stay updated on all channels. I’m looking forward to an in-person Spring experience.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Again, I feared having a horrible first semester (hopefully not first year) virtual learning experience but I’m totally excited about how the entire Wharton community has risen to attack the plague, ensuring that we get the most out of our MBA experience. Our faculty and leadership have been innovative/accommodating and my classmates have been nothing short of amazing in our interactions. It gives me a great sense of hope that the overall end result at the end of the tunnel can only be success. And for all that matters, I’m still extremely excited just by the fact that I got into Wharton.
