As life coaching as a profession has become popular in recent years, there’s one life coach that stands out and is even becoming a household name in the Philippines. Meet Myke Celis, Global Life Master Coach who is at the same time the author of a best-selling book titled “#bestmeever.”
As I chanced upon his book being listed as one of the Top 10 Books to Read in one of the leading bookstore chains in the country, I learned that he is also a TEDx speaker, a radio talkshow and multimedia host and serial entrepreneur. A graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman (BA Broadcast Communications and MA Media Studies), Myke also runs PerCX Advertising, Events and Casting Agency.
Get to know more about Myke, why he loves unicorns, why the hashtag #bestmeever, and why he is the most sought after life coach in the country.
Who is Myke? What problems of today does he like to solve?
If I were to describe myself in one word, it would be “Unicorn.” That simply refers to my authentic, unapologetic, #bestmeever. Side story: Unicorns are oftentimes associated with magic and with being different. Growing up I already knew I was different; I didn’t conform with the norm as I had other interests and I fell in love with a Unicorn at age 5 because it was the first time I saw a horse with a horn. So yeah, the association stuck with me.
If it’s based on what I do, I would say that I am a Global Master Coach and I help people discover (and become) their own #bestmeever. I help people overcome limiting beliefs, gain clarity amidst daily adversities and achieve their biggest goals by tapping on their “unicorns” within and allowing them to flourish into their own #bestmeever anchored on self love, self acceptance and self worth.
Tell us about your book, “#BestMeEver.” Please describe that a-ha moment when you knew that your book might actually become a success. What is the story behind this?
#bestmeever started off as my personal hashtag way back in 2015. Prior to that, I was using #bestyearever when I was posting on Facebook all the lessons I learned during the lowest point in my life. Imagine, all I wanted then was to make it through the year. I did that instead of the usual reactions people had when in pain, which was to rant on social media. And so day by day, gradually the engagement on my personal page grew and people started sending me messages telling me my posts resonated with them and helped them cope. So it became a daily habit for me until December 31st came and I was faced with a dilemma on whether to continue on with it via #bestyearever2 or something.
What I did though was take a step back and reflect. I realized that it wasn’t about the year, it wasn’t about what happened to me, it wasn’t about who did me wrong; my journey was about myself and my effort to do my best to survive. I realized right then that it was time to thrive, thus I started using #bestmeever. My publisher then saw my efforts and asked me to publish it into a book, #bestmeever Of Positivity And Possibilities. I never thought of being an author then but guess what, launching that also helped me realize my true calling of being a life coach. So alongside the launch of my book, I turned my back from my marketing and advertising practice and embarked on my journey towards being the Global Master Coach I wanted to be.
In the process of doing so, I was able to write another book, #bestmeever Of Moving On and Forward, which, also like the previous one, became a #bestseller locally in the Philippines. To be honest, I never saw it coming since I knew there were a lot of very good authors in the country, but when I finally made it, I’m like: “Thank You God for the wonderful opportunity to share my advocacy and change lives.” It was quite a joy seeing people share excerpts of my book and tag me, and as well as random people messaging me and telling me that my books changed their lives. It was more than enough really. But of course being a certified best seller was icing on the cake.
The thing about me is that after becoming a certified bestseller locally, I embraced the challenge of becoming an international best seller. So during the COVID 19 pandemic, I worked on my first self-published interactive book, #bestmeever A Self-Discovery Workbook To Heal Your Past, Accept Your Present And Find Yourself Again, which I launched on Amazon. And with the help of amazing people like Dr. Emee Estacio who helped me in my self-publishing journey, my launch team, and my friends from all over the world whom I met while becoming the Global Master Coach I was meant to be, it actually became a certified international #1 Best Seller in seven categories during its launch.
To this day, I am still humbled and very much grateful knowing that now, my book is able to reach a lot more people from all over the world. I am also very much excited as soon, I will be launching two more books, one in Vietnam with a local publisher and another one again on Amazon. And did I tell you I told myself before that I would stop writing after one book? Haha!
Tell us about the biggest challenge you had to face, which also made you who you are today.
Truthfully, my biggest challenge before was loving myself whole and embracing myself fully. You see, I came from a dysfunctional family, got bullied before in school, had physically abusive relationships and was betrayed by a friend who left me almost bankrupt. I was at the peak of my career then and then suddenly when that happened, I found myself at the lowest point in my life. All those times, I came from grit, anger and wanting to prove myself because I felt while growing up, that being different was wrong and that I was never good enough.
But then I realized at the lowest point in my life, when I was ready to kill myself, that I had a choice: to let go or grow from the experience. And for the first time, with nothing else to lose, I chose the latter. And began to embark on my journey towards my authentic, unapologetic, best version of myself, my #bestmeever .
And now, I look back at all those painful memories with much gratefulness, because if those didn’t happen, my life wouldn’t be as amazing as the one I have now—being able to coach celebrities, top executives and successful people from all over the world, write certified best sellers, host a radio talkshow and put up four thriving businesses. Another bonus is that all those experiences have allowed me to come up with powerful ideas worth sharing on the global platform, including the prestigious international TEDx stage.
I guess I can say that all those things had to happen to allow me to finally become the person I am meant to be: a true blue Unicorn coach. Haha!
You also have your own agency. Tell us more about it.
I own an advertising, events and casting agency called PerCX – Perfectly Creative X-tras. It turned 13 years last August but as mentioned, during that time I was already transitioning to becoming a full time coach. I handled a lot of local and international brands across various categories and was a consultant for various SMEs before finally surrendering my marketing and advertising hat, and officially semi-retiring from the industry I have grown to love for the last 17 years including my stints in the corporate world in various multinational companies.
To date, I still give marketing and advertising talks in workshops and conventions and join the brand planning for selected brands but that’s about it. Funny thing is that surprisingly I was able to integrate my coaching skills, and while doing so it made everything more fun. Oh, and PerCX will be transitioning to another entity soon, with my new business partner who will take over and give marketing and advertising campaigns more meaning. Stay tuned! Launching soon!
What was the best advice that you received in terms of marketing and business?
Best advice, which is applicable to life in general as well, is to always keep to mind these two things: authenticity and integrity. You can never go wrong with those. When you stay true to yourself, truly love what you do and give what is due, your customers will come, support and stay with you.
When it’s all over, how would you like to be remembered?
I’d like to be remembered as the Unicorn who was able to live his dreams and inspire others to do the same as they become their own #bestmeever .
