Eniola Makanjuola

Ivey Business School at Western University

“A goal-getter, self – motivated, highly resourceful, and compassionate person who enjoys giving back to the community.”

Hometown: Abuja, Nigeria

Fun Fact About Yourself: Despite being an extrovert, I enjoy being indoors, playing indoor games, reading, and sleeping.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria Major: Biochemistry

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Deloitte and Touche – Assistant Manager

How has the case method enriched your learning?  Ivey’s learning approach and methodology gave me a 360-degree paradigm shift. It completely changed my perspective on learning, widened my horizons, and deepened my thought processes. There were a lot of things I had to learn, relearn, and unlearn. The case method has taught me to always look at situations holistically, considering all scenarios with an immediate, short-term, and long-term perspective in mind.

Aside from classmates and cases, what part of the school’s MBA programming led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? My first level of contact with the recruiting team was highly engaging and totally interesting because of the empathetic human feelings that I received from the recruiting team and the alumni network. When I was applying, I was heavily pregnant and so preoccupied with lots of other stuff that I abandoned my application mid-way due to the accumulated stress from the GMAT, the essays, and the interview preparations. Aimee Froude reached out to me after seeing from the back end that my application had no traction for a while, which gave me the boost and motivation I needed to complete the application. She gave me options and linked me up with alumni who were once in my shoes; I was encouraged and had people I could count on during the process. I felt a sense of community to which I would be proud to belong, and this was a big deal to me.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment so far is being able to balance my career growth with every other aspect of my life such as family and relationships without any trade-offs. However, my biggest achievement involved a time when I had to lead an engagement with the objective of integrating a new company’s business processes to align with all regulatory compliance with strong internal controls. It included leading the team and working with different stakeholders, identifying risk areas and providing mitigating solutions within a tight timeline, which was fulfilling for me.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: I have always been an EDI advocate since high school – so it’s an honor to be elected as the VP, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for my cohort. I observed that one of the challenges faced by most students, especially international students, was the integration and adjustment issues. I understood the effect of movement and settling into a new location, combined with the intense nature of the program. I realized that people (mostly international students) were reluctant to speak up as it is uncommon to have conversations about mental health where most people came from.

It then dawned on me that we must find a way to create a safe and healthy way to help everyone. My team and I organized a mental health symposium where panelists were fellow classmates who were brave enough to share their mental health journey from symptoms, diagnosis and how they dealt with it or still dealing with it. This event helped a lot of people because they were listening to people they saw daily, which helped form a connection that they could relate to easily.

Where is your favorite hang-out in London (Ontario)? Why do you (or your classmates) gravitate there? Personally, I love Thaifoon Restaurant because of its beautiful ambiance, location, and great food. However, most of my classmates prefer to hang out at Barneys for the same reason but more casual.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? I have always had an interest in strategy; I will be focusing on getting opportunities in corporate strategy and development. I believe I have the required skillsets, knowledge, and experience to make an impact and provide solutions as an expert in this field.

What did you do during the application process that enabled you to get accepted into Ivey? The feedback and insights shared by the alumni members with whom I had coffee chats and helped me prepare accordingly on how to be a good fit.

DON’T MISS: MEET IVEY’S MBA CLASS OF 2024