Esu also goes by many names, including his African-given name, Yieni Ye, light from the sun. To former classmates at Williams College and colleagues in the corporate world he is known as Howard Ross Patlis. Esu is a producer. A former theatre director, actor and playwright, he was part of the launch team of two cable stations, FOX's FX and CNN fn where he developed original programming.

After years as a video editor and television producer Esu worked in the field of streaming media on the Internet at such companies as RealNetworks and Microsoft. He was part of a team that created groundbreaking products including "GoldPass", one of the internet's earliest subscription-based media offerings and was the lead producer of NetAid, the largest online live webcast of its time (only recently surpassed by Live8). He also worked with the ad sales team on packaging content in innovative ways to garner 6 and 7-figure deals.

In 2001, Esu created his own consulting company to focus on the convergence within the technology and media industries. His focus shifted from content and media to marketing and brand envisioning and implementation. Esu was the national Marketing Director for Ruckus, a leading college campus online entertainment service provider and at Entriq, devised an international launch of a media portal on the net that allowed content owners to sell and download secure media files from their own websites. Esu's consulting work included working in the Windows Media division of Microsoft and an interactive TV startup.

In late 2004 as a way to respond to what he perceived as a need to be of service to the world, he co-founded The BARKA Foundation. It became clear that all the skills Esu acquired in the corporate world prepared him for this calling.