Susan Opeyemi on Books, Becoming and Building a Personal Brand

For Susan Opeyemi, personal branding begins long before the first post. It begins with the person behind the brand, what they are learning, what they believe, what they have experienced, and ultimately, what they want to be known for. It is why her work as a Personal Brand Coach, Ghostwriter, Content Strategist and Speaker is so closely tied to something she takes very seriously: personal development.

Known as Coach Sue, Susan works with beginners and rising professionals to help them find clarity around their identities, communicate their value and build personal brands intentionally. She is also the founder of The Personal Brand Mentorship Program, the author of Brand Out Loud, and a ghostwriter who has spent years helping other professionals turn their knowledge and ideas into words. Her work also extends into communications, community-building and the African Creators Summit, where she contributes to conversations shaping Africa’s creator economy.

But there is a more personal story underneath all of this. Susan’s love for learning can be traced back to her childhood, to a father who filled a physical library with books and made his children read and explain what they had learned. Her own professional journey has also included seasons of uncertainty, experimentation and figuring things out in real time, experiences that now inform the way she helps other people navigate their own careers and visibility.

We sat down with Susan for a conversation about the woman behind Coach Sue, the childhood experiences that shaped her love for learning, the season when she was unsure what direction her career should take, and how those experiences eventually became part of the philosophy behind her work. She also shares what ghostwriting has taught her about people’s stories, why she believes clarity must come before content, how she decides which opportunities are worth pursuing, and what she hopes the next five years will look like.

1. Before “Coach Sue” became a professional identity, who was Susan? What parts of that woman still show up in the work you do today?

Lol… Susan was that girl who always liked to be in quiet spaces with her thoughts, reading lots of books, researching new concepts, and telling others about the new concepts she had learned. I still do. These parts of me do not just show up in my work; they take the front row and are the core of what I preach – Personal branding through personal development.

2. You are deeply passionate about personal development and reading. Where did that hunger to keep learning come from, and how has it shaped the woman and professional you have become?

Oh, it came from my dad.

While growing up, my dad had a physical library he cherished. He always bought hard copy books and stacked them on his big brown shelf in the parlour. It was the first thing you’d see when you entered our sitting area; you couldn’t miss it.

He’d force my siblings and I to read and tell him what we learned.

My dad is also very articulate, and I admired that about him. I saw him explain concepts he’d read in his books. I loved it and wanted the same for myself. At first, I didn’t know I was being influenced until I became a teenager and started loving the idea of having books piled up in my room.

Reading has really shaped me because I’ve learned a lot from people that do not know I exist.

I see many professionals struggling through their careers when they could have easily picked up multiple industry books and found lessons from professionals who have navigated similar struggles.

I’ve come to realize that one doesn’t truly know how ignorant they are until they pick a book.

3. You help people figure out what they should be known for. Was there a period in your own life when you struggled to answer that question? What helped you find clarity?

Of course. The problems we experience usually always birth platforms for other people’s advancement.

It was after the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. I had returned to work and didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. I could write, I had learned to be a social media manager and content strategist, I had worked as an executive assistant. I didn’t know what exactly I should go with but I had read in Marie Forleo’s ‘Everything is Figureoutable’ that engagement brings clarity so I decided to do just that – engage. I did them all at the same time.

As I engaged, it became clear what I didn’t want to do or be so I dropped them one after the other.

4. There is so much pressure online to constantly post, grow, and become visible. What do you think people misunderstand most about personal branding?

Oh I love this question so much and the answer is simple – clarity comes before content.

When we mention ‘personal branding’, people just think we mean ‘create content,’ or ‘become visible’ but the question I always ask them is “visible doing what?” and then they’re unable to respond.

People hardly clarify what they want to be visible for or about and how they’ll go about getting visible, they just go on to post. I see people making this mistake over and over

5. You work with beginners and rising professionals, many of whom are still trying to find their voice. What is one thing you wish someone had told you when you were still figuring out your own professional direction?

I wish someone had reminded me that there were people out there who were levels behind me and would do anything to learn what I knew at that level.

If I had known that, I’d have created for those people first because they’ll always be your first audience.

6. You often speak about the importance of depth and continuous learning in building a strong personal brand. How do you keep yourself growing when your own work requires you to constantly help other people grow?

Nothing comes in the way of my learning. Absolutely nothing. Learning is how I stay relevant because I’m now able to contribute to other people’s advancement.

I have this live curriculum I created for myself. It consists of concepts I need to master, books to read, case studies etc. I update the curriculum as I grow.

As I learn new stuff, I go back to this curriculum to see what I should be learning.

Since I love to read, I buy books with more speed than I can complete so there’s always something to do as it relates to learning

Also, whatever I learn, I teach because teaching is one of the strategies for mastery

7. Your work now takes you from one-on-one coaching to ghostwriting, the African Creators Summit, communications, and community-building. How do you decide which opportunities fit the woman you are becoming?

I decide by categorizing my life into phases and goals. There were phases when I just needed to earn because bills don’t care. I took any and every opportunity. After the ‘head above water’ phase, I entered something I’ll like to call the ‘depth phase’, then I took more opportunities that’ll give me depth within the industry one of those is the ACS

This is basically how I decide on the best opportunities for me.

8. What has building your own personal brand taught you about the difference between being visible and actually being remembered?

I now know that every moment you’re alive is an opportunity to build your personal brand. Personal branding is more about how people see you than it is about them simply seeing you.

This means that everything I do, every interaction I have creates the ‘how people see me.’ It’s in the calls I’m making, the way I talk to people, the things I say or do not say, the miscommunication, the events I choose to attend or not attend, the conversations I engage in and by extension the things I post online. All these things are telling people how to perceive me.

9. If a young professional reading this feels like they are talented but invisible, what would you tell them about becoming known for the value they already carry?

Be clear on what you want to be known for, then, Put yourself out there

Putting yourself out there isn’t just in posting online, it’s in the conversations you engage in within your immediate community – church, mosque, bookclubs, friend groups etc. It’s in the events you attend and like I mentioned earlier, the things you post.

10. If we meet Susan Opeyemi five years from now, what do you hope she has built, become and become known for?

I have a short list lol

A solid community of professionals who are building their personal brands and contributing to society. I do this through my mentorship program – The Personal Brand Mentorship program

A world renowned personal brand expert

And lastly, a person who has the physical copy of every book she desires to read