Skills Need Clear Communication, Branding Advocate Tells Young Professionals

By Atlantic Reports

Professional competence can be difficult for employers, clients and collaborators to recognise when people cannot clearly explain the value they offer, personal branding advocate Temitope Jacob has said.

Jacob, Convener of SPROUT, spoke on Tuesday at a BrandXperience event in Abuja themed “Personal Branding, Identity and the Value You Bring”.

The gathering brought together emerging professionals, young founders and university students to discuss reputation, professional identity and career positioning.

Jacob said many skilled people struggled to communicate their strengths in ways that made their contributions clear and memorable.

She argued that personal branding extended beyond social media visibility or an impressive curriculum vitae. It required clarity about identity, values, strengths and the reputation an individual wanted to build.

“The essence of BrandXperience is to help people become more intentional about who they are, what they want to be known for and how they communicate their value,” she said.

Free Conversations and Paid Programmes

Jacob said BrandXperience had built a community of more than 5,000 members across Nigeria through physical engagements in Abuja and virtual learning programmes.

She described SPROUT as a free quarterly personal branding conversation available physically and virtually. The organisation’s “Own Your Name” university tour was also free for students, particularly student entrepreneurs.

Other offerings included BrandUp, a paid personal branding accelerator, and the Resonance Blueprint, a twice-yearly, in-person strategy masterclass aimed at leaders, founders, creatives, teams and institutions.

Jacob said the programmes were designed for people at different stages of professional development.

The community size and participation figures were supplied by the organisation. They indicate reported reach, rather than independently measured career outcomes.

BrandXperience Community Manager Hannah Famodimu said partnerships and income from its other programmes helped sustain the initiative. She also called for sponsorship support.

Famodimu said the organisation was considering further university engagements to introduce students to personal branding before they entered the labour market.

A Participant’s Experience

Emmanuel Ajala, a beneficiary of BrandUp, said the training helped him bring his pharmaceutical background and experience in cinematography, videography and design into a clearer professional identity.

“Before the course, being a person with skills in different disciplines, it was a challenge for me finding a particular focus or even marrying everything I know to do in one direction,” he said.

Ajala, who received a scholarship for the paid programme, said he subsequently developed a clearer selling point, refined his online profile and reorganised his curriculum vitae.

He attributed part of his selection for the Lagos Business School Young Talent Programme to those changes, saying he later became president of its 11th cohort.

His account describes his experience and assessment of the programme’s contribution. It does not establish that the training alone produced those outcomes.

Ajala also said Unilever had approached him about an Operations Management and Marketing opportunity, but that he still needed to undergo an interview. The approach was therefore a prospective opportunity, rather than a confirmed appointment.

Building a Credible Professional Identity

The event featured a BrandUp panel discussion and the launch of EVOLVE, a book connected to its conversations on personal growth and intentional development.

Participants examined how to align public presentation with personal values and communicate their contributions more effectively.

Ajala urged young people to take professional identity seriously, saying personal branding was about more than becoming an influencer or public figure.

The central message was that skills and clear communication should work together. A recognisable professional identity may help others understand a person’s abilities, but it does not guarantee employment, business success or financial security.

Atlantic Reports: Voices. People. Facts.