By Diana Omueza
Ms Temitope Jacob, Convener of SPROUT, a personal branding initiative, says possessing professional skills alone may not guarantee secured future unless individuals effectively communicate their value and build as recognisable personal brand.
Jacob said this at an event organised by BrandXperience on Tuesday in Abuja, themed “Personal Branding, Identity and the Value You Bring”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event brought together emerging professionals, young founders, university students and other participants to explore reputation building, personal identity and professional positioning.
Jacob said that although many people possessed the skills and competence required to succeed they often struggled to communicate their strengths in ways that made their value clear and memorable to potential employers, clients and collaborators.
According to her, personal branding goes beyond visibility on social media or having an impressive curriculum vitae but requires clarity about one’s identity, values, strengths and the reputation one seeks 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.
Jacob said the initiative provided opportunities for participants to learn, ask questions and acquire practical tools to position themselves more intentionally in their professional and entrepreneurial pursuits.
She said BrandXperience had built a community of more than 5,000 members across Nigeria through physical engagements in Abuja and virtual learning programmes.
The convener said SPROUT, the organisation’s quarterly personal branding conversation, was free to attend both physically and virtually, while the `Own Your Name’ university tour was also free for students, especially student entrepreneurs.
She explained that other programmes, including BrandUp, a structured personal branding accelerator and the Resonance Blueprint, a biannual, in-person strategy master class, offered more specialised learning opportunities.
“BrandUp operates through paid cohorts, while the Resonance Blueprint targets leaders, founders, creative, teams and institutions seeking more structured personal branding strategies.
“The different programmes were designed to make personal branding education accessible to people at different stages of their personal and professional development,” she said.
Jacob said the broader objective was to encourage people to become deliberate about how they present themselves and ensure that their professional identities reflect what they stand for and the value they offer.
Hannah Famodimu, the Community Manager of BrandXperience, said SPROUT had attracted thousands of beneficiaries across its hosted editions, providing participants with opportunities to understand personal branding and explore the organisation’s other programmes.
She said the initiative was conceived to help people understand what they wanted to be known for, how they wanted others to perceive them and the steps required to achieve their professional aspirations.
Famodimu said partnerships and revenue generated from other BrandXperience programmes, including BrandUp and the Resonance Blueprint, were central to sustaining its activities, but called for sponsorship support.
She added that the organisation was considering expanding its reach through university engagements to introduce more students to personal branding before they entered the labour market.
Highlights of the event were the BrandUp panel discussion and the launch of EVOLVE, a book that complemented conversations around personal growth, identity and intentional development.
Participants examined how individuals could align their public image with their values, communicate their contributions more effectively and build credible reputations that support their career and business goals.
A beneficiary of the BrandUp programme, Emmanuel Ajala, said the training helped him develop a clearer professional identity by bringing together his pharmaceutical background and years of experience in cinematography, videography and design.
Ajala said that before the training, he struggled to identify a clear focus for his diverse skills but subsequently developed a unique selling point, refined his online professional profile and reorganised his curriculum vitae.
He said the changes contributed to his selection for the Lagos Business School Young Talent Programme, where he later became the first president of its 11th cohort.
“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 BrandUp course, said the training also strengthened his confidence and encouraged him to communicate his abilities more effectively.
He said he was subsequently approached by Unilever for an Operations Management and Marketing opportunity, although he was still expected to undergo an interview process.
He urged young people to take personal branding seriously, noting that it was not simply about becoming an influencer or public figure but about developing a clear identity and communicating one’s value professionally.(NAN)
Edited by Francis Onyeukwu
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