My faith and its role in elevating my career

TShirleena Celestine, Global Program Manager for Apple – one of the world’s most successful businesses – shares how faith and an act of obedience changed the trajectory of her career

My journey to Christ started before I was even born, with a lineage of family members who served in the Kingdom of God. 

My great-grandfather was a bishop in Clarendon, Jamaica; his wife was a very well-known prophetess, and my grandfather was a deacon. My parents were active in the church. My father is an elder at the head church of Bethel United Church, Gibson Road, Birmingham, and my beloved mother, now eternally resting, was a prophetess and a church administrator. At the tender age of 15, I said yes to Jesus and was baptised at Sheffield Bethel United. 

Always in the environment of church – be it in Sunday school or hearing Claudelle Clarke playing in the background of my childhood home – I knew I was called to serve in God’s Kingdom.

As a teenager, I led many a church and district choir. Later, I also served as a youth leader, pastoral care leader, altar worker, European Council of Nations (ECN) PAW administrator, PAW church minister, PAW minister of worship, leader of God’s International Leading Ladies, PAW pastor and evangelist, and I have been blessed to have preached across Africa, Europe, the UK, and the USA. I have been honoured to have worked alongside the late Bishop Norman L Wagner – former head of Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW) – and was mentored by leading female minister, the late Bishop Iona Locke. I started with a solid foundation that I still stand on today. 

I would say my role working as Global Program Manager for Apple came about by spiritual appointment. During the lockdown, God said: “I will exalt you so high they all will see you.” I initially thought ‘strange’, but I said: “God, have Your way.”

Two weeks later, God told me to start a small women’s group, which I did using iMessage, which had just five women inside. From there, we then met virtually. Two weeks later, it had increased to 35 women, and before long, by the time of the killing of George Floyd, the group was 100 people strong. 

In that same period, I received a message from Apple CEO Tim Cook. He wanted me to host a community call. I didn’t know that this virtual community call would have 3,000 Apple staff members and executive leaders from across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. Today, it is the biggest virtual call for Apple in that region. 

From that moment, a whirlwind of blessings began, and, out of nowhere, I became the most popular person in Apple across the UK. Suddenly, I was doing training development, interviews and events – all during the lockdown – and it was during this time that I returned to university to start my PhD. 

In October 2021, I decided it was time to leave Apple, and it was also when Apple offered me a leadership position to be a manager within the retail store. I’d always wanted something, but God told me firmly to turn down the offer. 

Instead of doing the leadership role, I did work in a development position, which was meant to last five months. In the fourth month, God told me to ask them for a permanent job. I thought ‘strange’ because I knew this had never happened before, but I asked anyway. My then manager said to me: “It was odd that you should ask. We were talking about you last night, and I thought about a position you should apply for.” 

The role was Global Leader for Apple. This would entail providing global leadership for Apple Music, Podcast, Beats by Dre, Shazam, Video and Sports. This role was totally out of my range, as I was working as a supervisor in an Apple store! Nevertheless, I applied. 

After being interviewed, I heard nothing for at least three weeks. Then the recruiter called me, overwhelmed, crying, and then said: “Congratulations, Shirleena, you’re now a Global Leader for Apple!”

It was hard to take in because I had gone from being a salesperson to now a global leader for “This has never happened in the company’s history. We had to build a brand-new system to move you to the level that you have been appointed to.” 

The role opened the door for me to work at Apple Music’s head office in Los Angeles. I have been blessed to have worked with many celebrities and creatives from the music and entertainment industry, including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Bobby Brown, LL Cool J, Ben Crump, Dotty, Estelle, DJ Khaled, and many more. 

Since working in this new role, I proposed a gospel music label for Apple – Platoon – and created and activated two of our biggest community programmes, Beats Academy and Apple Music Pathway. I am also a board member for Let It Break, a women’s network organisation led by April McDaniel and Savannah James, the wife of superstar basketball player LeBron James. 

The past four years have taught me a lot. I recognise that faith, God’s timing, and change are activated through obedience. I’ve been in church all my life, and I continued to get the same results year after year, attending conference after conference with the same results! 

I eventually asked God: “What am I missing? There has to be more! How do I activate walking in the blessings of God?” During the lockdown, God spoke loud and clear and said: “Shirleena, I can’t give to you when you haven’t given to Me, and you have no seed in the ground.” 

I was a part-time tither! I wasn’t giving my tithe consistently and God convicted me to give my tithe and to declare His Word over my own life. I started to give my tithe; give a regular offering; added faith and worship, and… BOOM!!! My WHOLE LIFE CHANGED!!! Not only did I begin to prosper financially, my whole life began to elevate to a whole other level. What I’m sharing is only the surface. I learned that God didn’t want my money! He wanted my obedience and my sacrifice. 

This is now my culture, and I, along with my family, we are blessed beyond measure. Moving from Sheffield to Los Angeles, California, is something only God could have done, but I needed to activate this by way of my obedience and sacrifice.

I know that God is just getting started. My hope for the future is to be able to connect with more people, especially women, in order to share my testimony.

I was the saint who sat in the pews; regularly attended church and conferences; and hoped that my time would come. I wasn’t particularly popular or even that well-known by anyone. But I’ve learnt that if you give God your obedience, sacrifice and worship, anything is possible! As my mentor, Bishop Norman L Wagner, said: “I know I’m called for such a time as this – a sacred call in a secular arena.”

You can connect with Shirleena Celestine on LinkedIn and Facebook