From Morocco to Barcelona: Younes on Building a Career Across Continents
Not every path to Barcelona is straightforward. For Younes Belamalem, it went from Casablanca to California before landing in Spain, where he has spent the last five years building a career, completing a master’s degree and discovering that the skills he picked up during his studies at ESEI International Business School follow him everywhere he goes.
A Journey That Started in Casablanca
Younes grew up in Casablanca, Morocco. After completing his degree there, he moved to California, where he spent two years at Santa Ana College on a foundation programme. From there, the next move was Barcelona.
Spain made sense for several reasons. “It was easy for me to go back and forth to see my family, and at the same time to focus on my studies,” he explains. He had also heard about ESEI through friends who had studied there and recommended the environment. He enrolled in 2020, beginning his Bachelor’s in Business Management.
His timing required some adaptation. He arrived in March 2020, just as the world went into lockdown, and like students everywhere, he navigated his first year largely online. “We managed it with the colleagues back in the day,” he says. Despite those constraints, the relationships he built during that time have lasted. “Most of those people are kind of my friends now. I still see them once in a while.”
Starting Something of His Own
During his first year at ESEI, Younes did not just attend classes. He created a small student recruitment agency with support from Simisola Okoya, then at ESEI’s admissions team. The agency helped Moroccan students navigate the process of coming to study at ESEI and at other schools around the world.
“We created this with her help and it was during the learnings, so it doesn’t exist anymore. But it was part of the experiences where I learned a lot.” It was an early signal of the entrepreneurial instinct he would carry into his professional life.
What ESEI Gave Him
Looking back, Younes is clear about what has stayed with him most from his time at ESEI. It was not a specific module or a grade. It was the experience of working on real projects alongside people who think differently.
ESEI’s project-based learning model places students in teams working on real challenges rather than theoretical exercises. For Younes, studying alongside classmates from Turkey, Spain, Lebanon, India and beyond gave him a framework for collaboration that he draws on daily.
“Working in projects at ESEI, you understand everyone, how they think, how they see things. So before you plan something, all those things make you flexible with everyone.” He is also direct about what this means in practice. “Those small steps that you take to create your final project, you will find them later in your working life for sure.”
Life After ESEI: Dyson, Hair Care and French-Speaking Markets
After graduating, Younes joined Dyson, the British technology company known for its engineering products, working in business development and sales operations for the Benelux market. He spent a year and a half there before the company closed its local project in Spain.
“I had to move on, but I stayed in the same industry, hair care.” He joined Weelko, a company based in Berga, Catalonia, specialising in wellness furniture with a focus on professional hair salon equipment. He now works as an account manager for French-speaking countries, a role that draws directly on his multilingual background and the cross-cultural skills built across years of living and studying in different countries.
“I have contact with people from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, all around the world. Those skills, with time you see the fruits.”
A Master’s and a Scholarship
Alongside his career, Younes pursued further academic study. He applied for a Master’s in International Business Management delivered through OBS Business School, the official English-language partner of the Universitat de Barcelona. The degree is officially awarded by the Universitat de Barcelona, one of Spain’s most prestigious public universities. He was awarded a scholarship by the Embassy of Morocco in Spain to complete it.
“It’s a crazy story,” he says, still sounding a little amazed by it. Balancing full-time work with thesis preparation was not easy. “Working every day, studying, preparing thesis was a bit challenging. But we made it at the end.” He finished the programme recently and is due to graduate in July 2026.
His Advice to Current Students
“Be flexible. Give an opportunity to others in terms of listening. Because if you listen to others, your mind will grow and you will be flexible enough to understand everyone.”
He also has a practical observation for students who underestimate the value of working in teams during their studies. “If you don’t have experience working in groups during your academic life, you will struggle later. So adapt to all kinds of workmates because if you don’t have this skill, you can gain it while you are studying. When you have a job and you face this kind of situation, you will need it.”
Explore ESEI’s Programmes
👉 If you’re considering starting your own journey in Barcelona, explore ESEI’s Short Courses, Bachelor’s and Master’s and MBA programmes and see how we can support you on your study abroad journey.
You may also like
ESEI Fall 2026: Meet the New Cohort
Inside the First Ever ESEI Mentor Club Meeting
