Barcelonian Jose Luis (Pepe) Esquerdo attended the American School of Barcelona from 1971 until graduation in 1986. Following graduation, Pepe moved to the United States. He initially attended Springfield College in Massachusetts for his freshman year, later transferring to Northeastern University in Boston to complete his Bachelor in Business Administration with a double major in Finance and Entrepreneurship.

Returning to Barcelona in 1991, Pepe started work in a brokerage house where he was involved in buying and selling stocks. Over the next twenty years, he continued to work in finance, initially in private banking and later in sophisticated mutual funds.

In 2018, Pepe took a leap of faith with a business partner, venturing into the world of entrepreneurism. They set up a company, Churpi, selling natural dog snacks made with yak milk from the Himalayas. Today the company sells thousands of snacks to pet shops, vet clinics, and dog groomers across Europe and Hong Kong.

Pepe's entrepreneurism did not stop there. He is also a partner in a digital content company, Animation Loading SL, which provides virtual reality scenarios for educational purposes. One of his clients is the Catalan police force, which uses the content to train more than 1,500 police officers. Pepe is also rolling out new edutech digital content for other clients' digital platforms.

Today, Pepe stays in touch with the ASB community via his close friendships with former classmates, ASB's Head of Community Service and Activities, Marta Vernet, Paul Oliu, Mani Azarian, Maria Niubo, to name a few, "I never miss our class reunions which we have a couple of times every year." He also continues to join the school's annual International Day event, which has grown to celebrate over 55 nationalities today in the school's community. 

He credits his love of world geography to his former teacher, Mr. Roberto Serrano, and his appreciation of the arts to Mr. Bart Srebnick.

One recollection from the 70s Pepe shares occurred at the school's former location, close to Plaza Eusebio Güell, when a construction crane from a neighboring project fell, hitting part of the playground and toilet block. "Fortunately, it was during class, so no one was hurt. The incident was even in the local newspapers!".

Pepe's son is currently following his father's footsteps, studying Business Administration at ESADE. His daughter is finishing up her final year of high school in Barcelona.

Once a Lynx, Always a Lynx!