We’re looking forward to introducing you to Michael Keelen. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Michael, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
I am chasing financial success through business because to stop pursuing new and better opportunities is to accept that my life is already at its peak and there’s no need to strive for anything better. I’m not financially secure enough to stop working, and even if I were, working hard is my nature–it gives me a real sense of purpose–so every day I work on projects that interest me so I can secure a better life for myself, my clients, and my loved ones.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My background is in education, sales, market research, and social media management. For the past few years, I have managed a pool of beauty/lifestyle influencers and another pool of affiliate creators who sell products on TikTok Shop. I have lots of tasks and little jobs throughout the day, but my primary responsibilities are to facilitate paid work for the creators I represent and to produce high-quality, high-performing social media content for our brand clients.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
There may have been others who saw me before I saw myself, but the earliest and most significant memory of this occurred midway through eighth grade when my English teacher told me I was a good writer. I had always been an avid reader with an interest in words, and writing stories and essays always seemed to come naturally in my elementary years. When my 8th grade teacher pulled me aside and told me I was talented, it was the first time I was made aware of my talent, and from that moment I began to make a conscious effort to become a good writer and decided early that I would become either a writer or a teacher. Eventually I became a teacher who specialized in literary analysis and writing instruction, and I know for a fact that my career as an educator was spawned the day my 8th grade English teacher told me that she saw in me what I had never seen in myself.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Hard work alone does not guarantee a life without suffering. Even the luckiest among us suffer, so who am I to complain about suffering when I’m just an ordinary person? I also think suffering teaches us what the good life feels like by contrast, so suffering should motivate people to set goals, make plans, and work their hardest to overcome it. If reflected upon and put in perspective, suffering also reminds us that our lives are actually quite good in comparison to the majority of people in the rest of the world whose suffering can be so much more significant and constant than our own. Suffering is unavoidable, so it should teach gratitude and perspective and instill us with motivation to do what we can to end or mitigate it.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
Fads come and go quickly and are often ridiculed a short time later for having been somewhat ridiculous, but foundational shifts are phenomena that not only persist in their own right but that later can be looked back upon as the cause for other phenomena that followed.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Probably answering these questions…lol…
Contact Info:
- Website: www.millaymedia.com; www.millaywealthgroup.com
- Instagram: @millaymedia
- Other: TT: @millaymedia; @millaywealthgroup
