▁US , ▁Esp uel as ▁found ▁himself ▁need ing ▁to ▁re learn ▁Spanish . ▁" This ▁was ▁very ▁challeng ing , ▁but ▁after ▁two ▁and ▁a ▁half ▁years ▁I ▁was ▁able ▁to ▁reg ain ▁my ▁prof ic iency ▁in ▁the ▁language . ▁The ▁fun ny ▁thing ▁was ▁that ▁it ▁actually ▁helped ▁business ; ▁the ▁execut ives ▁there ▁loved ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁I ▁sound ed ▁like ▁a ▁gr ingo !" ▁Another ▁am using ▁fact : ▁Esp uel as ▁had ▁to ▁lie ▁about ▁his ▁age , ▁because ▁" I ▁looked ▁so ▁young !" ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 9 4 ▁AT & T ▁rec ru ited ▁Esp uel as ▁to ▁lead ▁the ▁roll - out ▁of ▁the ▁AT & T ▁brand ▁throughout ▁Latin ▁America . ▁Within ▁a ▁year , ▁he ▁was ▁promoted ▁to ▁Man aging ▁Director ▁of ▁Mark eting ▁Communic ations ▁for ▁the ▁Latin ▁American ▁and ▁Car ib bean ▁region , ▁becoming ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁young est ▁execut ives ▁of ▁that ▁rank ▁at ▁the ▁company . ▁ ▁While ▁at ▁AT & T , ▁Esp uel as ▁conce ived ▁and ▁launched ▁AT & T ▁H ola ▁ ▁and ▁AT & T ▁O la ▁( in ▁Portuguese ), ▁the ▁company ' s ▁first ▁online ▁service . ▁A ▁combination ▁of ▁news ▁fe eds ▁from ▁Re ut ers , ▁interactive ▁for ums , ▁online ▁games ▁and ▁the ▁first ▁search ▁engine ▁that ▁searched ▁in ▁Spanish ▁and ▁Portuguese , ▁AT & T ▁H ola / O la ▁was ▁posit ively ▁received ▁by ▁both ▁the ▁media ▁and ▁consum ers ▁across ▁Latin ▁America