My Feature in MediaCorp’s Soul Sisters Documentary

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!

Soul Sisters: MediaCorp documentary about inspiring women in Singapore

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

Soul Sisters: Filming in cafe

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

Soul Sisters: Filming in cafe, Celes and Ben

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

Soul Sisters: Filming candid shots, walking to cafe

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.)

Soul Sisters: Filming candid shots, walking to cafe

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

SG PE Meetup: Participants mingling #4

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.

SG PE Meetup: Singing birthday song

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:

SG PE Meetup: Mediacorp filming crew

Ben and Sha calling the shots

Soul Sisters: Interviewing Sam

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

Soul Sisters: Filming setup at home

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.

Soul Sisters: Filming setup

Me chatting with them as they did their setup.

Soul Sisters: Interview at Celes's home

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

Soul Sisters: Interview at my home, closeup

A closeup.

Soul Sisters: Conducting my online course

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.)

Soul Sisters: Lee taking photos of my wardrobe

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

Soul Sisters: Filming one-to-one 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.

Soul Sisters: Filming Celes during one-to-one coaching

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

Soul Sisters: Filming one-to-one coaching

Deep into the coaching session

Soul Sisters: Ken, Celes, Roxanne

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!

22 comments
  1. 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!

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      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!

  2. Anna Jones 11 years ago

    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!!! :)

  3. Nice work!

  4. wonderful profile on you Celes! ♥ (gosh.. you were so brave to do that free hugs day!! :D)

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      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

  5. zobida tadj 11 years ago

    I absolutely loved it.. Can’t wait to read more of you!!!

  6. Jayanth BV 11 years ago

    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 !

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      Thank you Jayanth; I really appreciate your kind words and support! I’ll continue to work hard in my journey!

  7. Edlira Hyka 11 years ago

    you are inspiring

  8. Elzbieta Ella 11 years ago

    I really enjoyed watching it! Thanks for inspiring!

  9. Barbara Chambers 11 years ago

    You really Rock Celeste! great clip!

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      Thank you for your kind words Barbara Chambers!! I hope everything is well at Cape Town now!! :)

  10. Madalina Sraier 11 years ago

    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! :)

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      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

  11. Joshua Cobler 11 years ago

    Hi Celes! I am in the US and I don’t have cable, will I still be able to see it somehow?

    • Celes
      Celes 11 years ago

      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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