Michelle Ongpin Callaghan is a study in contrasts. On the surface—yes, she’s beautiful—she paints a picture of calm collected serenity. Though, with all she has on her plate these days (we’re talking buffet here, not à la carte), she somehow breezes through her professional existence with such quiet poise and such a strong sense of organic self-transcendence. Essentially, Michelle has it pulled together.
For starters, the Ongpins opened a second branch of the Aegle Wellness Centre (for which she is a consultant for their skin care products) at The City Club at Alphaland Makati two years ago. The original branch of Aegle at the Balesin Island Club, with its state-of-the-art medical equipment and facilities as well as up-to-the-minute diagnostics and procedures, was in fact nominated Medi-Spa of the Year in the 2017 AsiaSpa Awards. She also founded feel good food café, Moxy, where locally-sourced, organic eats are the yummy health pitch.
Outside of her work realm, the holistic health and wellness advocate rolls her sleeves up for two initiatives, one that tackles education, the other, women’s health.
Funnily, another dichotomous aspect of her reality is that while she leads such a “pristine” albeit wholesome lifestyle, Michelle was recently appointed of president of her family’s established cigar brand, Tabacalera.
How the young go-getter pummels through, one can only imagine. Meet this multi-hyphenate Jack of all trades and find out how she juggles it all.
Generation T: Describe yourself in 5 words.
Michelle Ongpin Callaghan: Stubborn, optimistic, lucky, confident, halfie
GT: What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
MOC: I used to be the opposite of a morning person, but I have actually started enjoying those early hours to myself. After I wake up, I have a glass of water with some apple cider vinegar or lemon, then I do a 30-minute workout, shower, and afterwards I have a green smoothie. Only after that do I start looking at e-mails. It’s a nice way to ease into my work day.
GT: What’s a typical day like for you?
MOC: My days vary quite a bit, depending on which business currently needs the most attention. At the moment, that’s definitely Tabacalera. But on any given day I could do purchasing for Moxy, heading out to the cigar factory, reading reports on the JVO scholars (I also head the JVO Foundation). A foundation, which puts 200 hundred scholars through the Ateneo high school in seven different high schools all over the Philippines), or setting up meetings for a NGO, Roots of Health (ROH), I recently joined the advisory committee of. ROH is a brilliant women’s health organisation in Palawan and I feel very honoured to be able to contribute to their cause.
I thrive on variety and enjoy that no two days are the same. I am very fortunate that my office, Moxy, and that most of my meetings are in the building where I live, so I hardly ever have to deal with traffic. My commute is an elevator ride. I usually eat lunch at home. Frank [Callaghan, her husband] and I love to cook, so we also often have dinner at home.