Serwaa Amihere and the personal branding lesson in advice that divides

Serwaa Amihere’s recent advice to young women raises a question that deserves more attention than the insults surrounding it: how do we encourage people to live within their means without making them feel that their possessions determine their worth?

At The Complete Ignite Woman session on 25 October 2026, the broadcaster urged women to resist buying counterfeit designer items to impress others. She recommended affordable alternatives, including shopping at Kantamanto, and recalled a time when the things she can now afford were beyond her reach.

The principle of allowing oneself time to grow is sensible. But her suggestion that a fake designer bag carried into an office could influence judgements about its owner made the message more contentious.

As a communication lecturer and practitioner, I see an issue of framing here. The advice moved from financial patience towards an assessment of personal credibility through an accessory. An audience can accept the first proposition and still question the second.

We should be careful with that conclusion. To say someone misspoke can imply that the words failed to express what the person intended. Without clarification from Serwaa herself, we cannot establish that. We can, however, examine what the reported words communicated.

My assessment is that a useful message was weakened by the assumptions attached to it. Encouraging someone to dress within a reasonable budget offers practical guidance. Inferring ignorance or pretence from a handbag goes further than the available evidence allows.

A counterfeit product is not the same as an inexpensive, unbranded item, and opposing counterfeiting does not require endorsing luxury consumption. Yet a discussion of authenticity becomes difficult when the audience hears an invitation to judge the person through the label.

Professional presentation matters. Candidates should understand the expectations of a workplace and prepare accordingly. Employers must also examine their own assumptions. A polished appearance may help someone gain attention, but competence has to be assessed through relevant evidence. A handbag cannot tell us whether its owner can manage a project, write accurately or exercise sound judgement.

There is another question beneath this debate. Why should the eventual ability to buy an expensive designer item become an assumed destination for a young woman’s progress?

For a graduate seeking a first job in Accra, progress may mean meeting transport costs without borrowing. For someone already employed, it may mean further study, supporting a parent or saving towards a business. A designer bag may be a personal preference. It need not become a measure of arrival.

Mentorship is more useful when it helps people make decisions within their circumstances. Successful people can contribute by explaining the work and setbacks behind their achievements, including the help they received. That gives an audience something it can evaluate and apply.

Advice can unintentionally preserve the pressure it seeks to relieve if it merely postpones the requirement to look wealthy. Young professionals need confidence that a modest, well-considered life is respectable now, while they build towards goals they have chosen for themselves.

The response to Serwaa also deserves scrutiny. In a Facebook post I saw, commentary placed over her image challenged her advice by bringing allegations about her private life and appearance into the conversation. The post’s existence does not establish those allegations as facts.

This is a familiar difficulty in public communication. People interpret advice through their perceptions of the speaker. Where they believe there is inconsistency, they may turn a discussion of the message into a trial of the messenger.

We should distinguish a relevant question about credibility from personal humiliation. An imperfect person can offer sound advice. A popular person can make a weak argument. Each claim still requires examination on its merits.

Those responding have responsibilities too. Disagreement about a speech provides no sound basis for speculation about someone’s body or for circulating unverified accusations. Such attacks make it harder to examine the actual issue and easier for everyone to retreat into opposing camps.

The debate connects directly with the concern behind my book, Brand Yourself. A professional identity develops through the relationship between what we claim, what we do and what other people experience of us. Visibility increases the number of people making that assessment.

Intentional personal branding therefore involves examining the expectations attached to your name. If you speak as a mentor, people will expect some understanding of their circumstances. If you advise others about authenticity, they will examine how consistently you apply the principle. Their examination may sometimes be unfair, but the possibility of scrutiny is part of public influence.

This calls for preparation and honest counsel. Before addressing an audience, ask a trusted colleague what your examples might imply. Could a practical point sound like contempt? Have you mistaken your experience for a universal route? What would someone with fewer resources hear in your words?

When a message causes concern, the response should address the particular wording and its implications. A speaker can explain the intention, acknowledge a poorly expressed point and state the principle more carefully. The audience, in turn, should allow room for a considered response.

My interest in identity also has a personal history. Before people knew me as Dr Tee, I was Ike, the boy from Dichemso who lost his mother at fourteen. Writing became one way of making meaning from that experience. Questions of loss, choices and responsibility continue through my work, including Mama Is Gone. They also inform how I think about the lives we build and the names we carry.

For my students at UniMAC, the practical lesson is to build a reputation through work that other people can depend on. Develop your ability, keep commitments and learn to examine your own assumptions. Presentation should support that effort.

Serwaa’s advice about resisting financial pressure has value. Her framing of credibility through possessions deserves questioning. The personal attacks deserve rejection. We can hold those judgements together and have a more useful conversation.

The question I would leave with any mentor is simple: after listening to you, does a young person understand how to make a better decision, or merely feel more anxious about how they will be judged?

Dr Ike Tandoh is a Senior Lecturer and Dean of Students at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), Ghana. A corporate communication practitioner and author, his books include Brand Yourself and Mama Is Gone. Email: iketandy@gmail.com.

Both books are available on Amazon. Find Brand Yourself on Amazon | Find Mama Is Gone on Amazon

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Angel Online, 26 October 2026 — report on the speech