Hey everyone! :D Last year June, I was contacted to be part of MediaCorp’s documentary, Soul Sisters, which is about inspiring women taking unconventional paths in life. For those who don’t live in Singapore, MediaCorp is the single largest TV and media broadcaster in Singapore, with 7 television channels and 13 radio channels under its belt!
I’m proud to say that I’ve been profiled as one of the eight inspiring ladies on the show! The filming was done over two days in June and July last year as the filming crew followed me around in my daily activities. My episode (episode #3) was aired last year, Dec 30, on Toggle, Eve Channel.
I received the DVD copy in my mail earlier this year, and I’ve finally gotten around to uploading to my YouTube channel today. You can now watch it below! :D
My episode is about 10 minutes long and is quite a good sum-up of my journey so far — who I am and what I do, how I came to pursue this journey, what I do on a day-to-day basis in my work, me celebrating my 29th birthday with the Singapore PE readers last year, and a special section where I carried out my hugging challenge during the lunch-hour at the Central Business District (which I preluded in my blog post last year: The Day I Went Around Giving Free Hugs to Strangers)!
Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Check out the behind-the-scenes photos from the shoots!
Blogging @ Cafe

The first scene we filmed was of me blogging at a cafe

Me and videographer Ben. Ben was originally from Australia and he is the founder of Abundant Productions, the studio producing Soul Sisters.

Here, we were filming candid shots of me walking to the cafe. (The filming wasn’t done in sequence but simply what was a best match for our schedules.)

Multiple takes to get the perfect shot. In case you are wondering who was helping me take the photos, it was Ken!
PE Meetup + My 29th Birthday Celebration

What is my work without all of you? :) I also invited the crew to join us in the 2013 Singapore PE meetup. This meetup was a special one as it was to celebrate my 29th birthday too. Here, the attendees mingled while the crew filmed in the background.

Singing the birthday song. :D I think the director wanted a very precise take so we wound up doing this scene at least what, four times? :oops:

Ben and Sha calling the shots

As part of the documentary, the crew also did short interviews with some PE readers. Here, they interviewed Sam, one of the meetup attendees, as part of the documentary. Thanks Sam and Dolly for accepting the interview! :D
Interview @ My Home + Online Course Filming

After the meetup, we promptly headed to my house for more filming. It was an agenda-packed day! Here, the crew busied with the equipment setup for the interview with me.

Me chatting with them as they did their setup.

Lights, camera, action! Lee (the director) interviewing me — about my job as a life coach, how I discovered my passion, and more.

A closeup.

After the interview, I headed straight online to conduct Module 3 of the Anti-Procrastination Program, where the crew proceeded to film the process. (Check out all my PE courses here: Personal Excellence Courses.)

Lee sneaking shots of my wardrobe for the episode. (Watch my video tutorial on creating your inspirational room: Create Your Inspirational Room)
My 1-to-1 Coaching

Second day of filming! One of the key scenes we did was of my one-to-one coaching. Here, PE reader Roxanne agreed to have our coaching session filmed. She’s a really sweet girl: only in her early 20s but full of ambition, drive, and ideals about the world! It is my joy to have worked with her.

Coaching underway. No disruptions allowed! The crew listened quietly as they filmed in the background.

Deep into the coaching session

Ken, me, and sweet Roxanne ♥ (Ken was there to support me during the filming ♥)
Finale: My Hugging Challenge
The “finale” of the documentary was of me doing my hugging challenge at one of Singapore’s busiest places during lunch hour: the Central Business District at Raffles Place. I’ve already written about it here: The Day I Went Around Giving Free Hugs to Strangers.
Thank You!
I’d like to thank everyone for helping to make this production possible. :D Thank you to:
- Roxanne, for agreeing to let our coaching session be filmed
- Dolly and Sam, for agreeing to be interviewed on the show
- All PE readers for coming to the Singapore PE readers’ meetup for last year and celebrating my 29th birthday with me!
- Ken, for taking many of the behind-the-scenes photos for me
- Everyone who took last year’s Anti-Procrastination Program — the course was featured in parts in the episode!
- Lee, Sha, Ben, and everyone at Abundant Productions for creating such a wonderful episode
- MediaCorp for inviting me to be part of the show
Thank you, thank you, and thank you!! I’ll continue to work hard and build PE into a better community and resource for all of us!
Great to have you back sharing so frequently celes, I have missed you updates these past few months. I really enjoyed you episode for soul sisters, very inspiring stuff!
Thank you Claire! :D I plan to update a bit more before I take a back seat to focus on wedding planning. After that, honeymoon, and house renovation, it’ll be full focus on PE again!
The video was very interesting to watch, Celestine! I love seeing peeks into people’s lives, makes it more interesting to read your articles and relate to you. Thanks for all that you do!!! :)
Thank you for your kind words Anna!! :)
Nice work!
Thank you Glenn!! :D
wonderful profile on you Celes! ♥ (gosh.. you were so brave to do that free hugs day!! :D)
Thank you so much for your kind words!! :D Haha that was INSANE. The way some people looked at me as if I was crazy, and some rude responses I received (which I’ve since shared in my writeup here https://personalexcellence.co/blog/hug/). But for the smiles I got from those who took up my request, it was all worth it. :D
I absolutely loved it.. Can’t wait to read more of you!!!
Thank you so much zobida! :D You can check out my hundreds of free articles on personal growth here: https://personalexcellence.co/articles/
At 28, it’s incredible what Celes is doing towards the up-liftment of the humanity. May your work grow from strength to strength and reach far and wide corners of the world. All the best !
Thank you Jayanth; I really appreciate your kind words and support! I’ll continue to work hard in my journey!
you are inspiring
Thank you for your support Edlira! :D
I really enjoyed watching it! Thanks for inspiring!
Thank you so much for your kind words Elzbieta! :)
You really Rock Celeste! great clip!
Thank you for your kind words Barbara Chambers!! I hope everything is well at Cape Town now!! :)
Congratulations, Celes! Your (still growing) success is truly inspiring :) You have something that I’m still working on cultivating in myself: courage. You had the courage to choose a different path than what others had expected or planned for you, and look at you now. You’re independent, confident, and successful. Wish you all the best in the year to come, Celes. Happy New Year! :)
Thank you so much for your kind words Lina! There’s much I need to work on to build on my business and I’m very grateful for all these opportunities I’ve been given by the media. Happy new year to you too!! :D
Hi Celes! I am in the US and I don’t have cable, will I still be able to see it somehow?
Hi Joshua, I just checked Toggle’s FAQ @ http://www.toggle.sg/static.aspx?desc=FAQ&Page=FAQ and it shares:
“9. Why am I unable to watch Toggle from overseas?
Toggle is only available in Singapore at the moment and content is geographical blocked from viewing outside of Singapore. We have plans to expand outside of Singapore in the near future.”
So unfortunately no, it doesn’t seem it’s possible to catch it! :( I’ll try and see if I can get a copy to upload after the show ends, but chances are 50/50 as I don’t know how tight MediaCorp is regarding its copyright guidelines. (Technically they don’t allow people to upload its shows but I see many people doing it with no issues on YouTube.)
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