Suha Atiyeh is a dynamic and results-oriented marketing professional based in Birmingham, Alabama, with a distinguished career building robust marketing programs from the ground up. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in market penetration, competitive positioning, and integrated communications. Suha has a well-earned reputation for her meticulous planning and hands-on execution, ensuring that every strategic initiative is flawlessly implemented and optimized for performance. She has a particular talent for navigating complex industries, having driven significant growth for businesses in the logistics, advanced manufacturing, and professional services sectors. Her strategic guidance has been critical in successfully launching multiple new products into highly competitive national markets, consistently securing prominent market share ahead of projections and establishing a strong foundation for future growth and brand recognition.
An alumna of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Suha is an active and respected member of the professional community. She holds a leadership position within the Birmingham chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA), where she spearheads professional development programming for mid-career marketers. Suha’s unique value lies in her ability to bridge the gap between high-level strategic vision and the granular, tactical work required to bring it to life. She is recognized by colleagues and clients alike as a pragmatic, insightful, and inspiring leader who is deeply committed to delivering excellence.
What ignited your interest in marketing, and what gets you going each day?
What ignited my passion was not technology, but watching stories move people to behave in certain ways. Marketing is sociology in practice, an opportunity to align need with solution. What fascinates me is the ever-changing link between the two; each day brings a new question of why people trust, why they buy, and how we can fulfill them ethically. It is being a strategic interpreter of human intent.
What was the dramatic change in the marketing environment that made you fundamentally transform your strategy?
The most dramatic change was shifting from vanity metrics to working exclusively on deep customer lifetime value. Initially, we pursued clicks and impressions, thinking quantity was success. I had to fundamentally reboot my strategy to shift the focus to quality over quantity; this involved aggressive investment in data analysis and empathetic listening. It was an uncomfortable pivot, shifting the focus from short-term hacks to long-term trust, but it proved essential for building resilient brands that withstand market volatility.
What is a simple daily ritual, outside of work, that feeds your creativity or well-being?
I practice what I call “analog space creation.” I spend fifteen minutes every morning sketching, not for any specific project, but just to move a pen across paper. This small act of non-digital creation frees my mind from analytical constraints, allowing abstract thoughts to surface. It is my daily micro-detox.
Describe a professional failure that felt devastating at the time but proved to be your greatest teacher.
My worst failure was to launch a technologically superior product that did not catch on because we underestimated the emotional preparedness of the market. It was such a great product but a lousy story. The devastation helped me learn that success is a combination of engineering and emotion. I got over it by surrounding myself with individuals whose strengths lay outside my technical comfort zone, i.e., pure creatives and sociologists. This lack of success solidified in my mind that marketing is really a people field, not a technology field.
If you only had one career tip to offer someone just beginning today, what would it be?
Keep a singular focus on core principles, not platform details. Develop mastery of persuasive writing, active listening, and a deep intellectual curiosity. That hot platform today will be obsolete in three years, but the skill to grasp and shape human behavior by story and data is ageless. Be strategic in thought first, and tool operator second.
Where would you say there’s going to be the most compelling convergence of human compassion and new technology over the next five years?
The most intriguing intersection lies in personalized wellness and health advice. We’ll witness AI models go from suggesting products to actually coaching individuals toward healthier life results based on their unique biometrics and emotional information, with stringent ethical limits. Brands will transform from selling products to creating personal development. That requires an intimate degree of empathy integrated into the algorithm itself; it is a transformation from transactional marketing to genuine value creation.
What is your approach to developing a high-performing, innovative team culture?
My leadership approach rests on intellectual safety and collisional diversity. I think innovation is not something you do as an individual, but as a group. I recruit individuals who disagree with me, creating a culture of welcome and celebration of criticism, not fear. We thrive when diverse functional experts, the data scientist, the poet, the ethnographer, have to collaborate to solve problems, with each solution both strategically and emotionally resonant.
How do you manage the issue of setting boundaries in an always-on digital age?
I regard my personal time as a mission-critical meeting. My approach is not balance; it is integration with scheduled breaks. I am only 100% available in specific hours, but beyond that, the phone is turned off and physically stowed away. This compartmentalization guarantees I am fully present when I am in charge of a meeting or eating dinner. If you don’t respect your boundaries, no one else will.
What is a recent project or concept that you are currently working on that is pushing your comfort level?
Right now, I am struggling with how to incorporate generative AI into our creative processes without losing originality and brand voice. It is such a challenge because the AI is so capable, the temptation is to just automate, which has the risk of commoditizing creativity. My intent is to craft prompts and training data that grasp the intangible, unreplicable character of a brand’s essence. We are mapping the edges where human curation needs to step in, making sure the tech acts as an inspiration co-pilot, not an autopilot for output.
What is the legacy you hope to leave behind in the marketing industry?
I hope my own legacy is connected with the idea of marketing as a service. I hope to be remembered as a pioneer of the shift from manipulative, interruptive practices towards a model in which brands truly want to make their customers’ lives better. If I can motivate a generation of marketers to focus on trust, responsible use of data, and honest storytelling, I will feel like my professional work is done.