Draft:Michael L. Siervo

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Michael L. Siervo
Professional portrait of Michael Siervo
Michael L. Siervo
Born
Michael L. Siervo

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CitizenshipCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto Scarborough
Honours B.A., Management & Economics
Minor in Sociology
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • Author
  • Public Speaker
Years active2000–present
Employers
Known forFounding co-chair of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta
WorksF*ck It! Let's Pivot (iUniverse, 2022)
SpouseVivienne Siervo (m. 2010)
Parent(s)Lou Siervo (father)
Alicia Siervo (mother)
RelativesAlfred Siervo (sibling)
David Siervo (sibling)

Michael L. Siervo is a Filipino-Canadian entrepreneur, author, and former financial executive based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is one of two founding co-chairs of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta (FCCA), a provincial business association established in 2018 to represent Alberta's Filipino-Canadian commercial community.[1][2] He previously held district vice president roles at Manulife Wealth Management and Sun Life Global Investments, and was recognised as a BDM/Wholesaler of the Year Excellence Awardee at the Wealth Professional Awards in both 2023 and 2024.[3][4] He is the founder and chief executive of Zilla Media, an AI-driven branding and media agency, and the founder, president, and chief executive of the Modern Institute of Business (MIB), an education platform aimed at professionalising Filipino digital talent for the global workforce.[5]

Early Life and Education

Siervo was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, to Filipino immigrant parents. According to the Alberta Filipino Journal, his upbringing was shaped by immigrant values centred on hard work and community engagement.[6] His mother, Alicia Siervo, has been recognised with the King Charles III Coronation Medal for contributions to Canada.[6] He has two siblings and has been married to Vivienne Siervo since 2010.[7]

Siervo attended the University of Toronto Scarborough, earning an honours degree in management and economics with a minor in sociology, and was among the founding members of FACES (Filipino Asian Cultural Expressions), described by the Alberta Filipino Journal as the first Filipino student organisation on that campus.[6] At the age of 20, he sustained a serious injury during a martial arts training session that tore multiple knee ligaments—including the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, and medial collateral ligament—and severed his peroneal nerve, resulting in temporary paralysis from the knee down.[6] Physicians indicated he might never regain full use of his left leg.[5] He completed rehabilitation and graduated while still using crutches and a leg splint, later describing the experience as formative to his subsequent approach to entrepreneurship.[6][5]

Career

Financial Services

Siervo spent approximately two decades in Canadian institutional finance, holding positions at Sun Life Financial, CIBC Wood Gundy, Manulife Wealth Management, and Sun Life Global Investments.[6] At Manulife Wealth Management, where he served as district vice president overseeing advisory distribution across Southern Alberta, he received the company's Emerald Award in 2013 and 2014 for sales performance.[6] He subsequently held the same title at Sun Life Global Investments from approximately 2016 to 2024. The Alberta Filipino Journal reported that he was the youngest person and the first of Filipino descent to hold a district vice president role at a major Canadian financial institution, and that he was named Sun Life's Top Sales Leader for Western Canada in 2017.[6] Over the course of his financial career, he grew assets under management from $19 million to more than $4 billion.[5] Wealth Professional named him an Excellence Awardee in the BDM/Wholesaler of the Year category in both 2023 and 2024.[3][4]

Entrepreneurship

In December 2005, Siervo co-founded VOSIER Enterprises Inc., a holding company with interests in real estate, private equity, entertainment hospitality, and food and beverage.[6] In January 2021, he founded Zilla Media, a Calgary-based AI-driven branding and media agency with Philippine operations at the Iloilo Business Park in Iloilo City.[6][5] He also founded the Modern Institute of Business (MIB), an accreditation and training institution for the Philippine virtual assistant and business process outsourcing sectors. In a 2026 interview with The Global Filipino Magazine, Siervo described MIB's purpose as providing Filipino digital workers with formal credentials and professional infrastructure, and argued for replacing the industry term "virtual assistant" with "virtual professional" on the grounds that terminology shapes employer expectations and remuneration.[5]

Writing and Media

In 2022, Siervo published F*ck It! Let's Pivot: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Surviving and Thriving a Crisis (iUniverse, ISBN 978-1-66323-511-4), available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, and Google Play Books.[8][9] He hosts the Ready Set RISE podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, and has appeared on CBC, Fox News, NBC, ABS-CBN, and the Cherie Mercado Show on FTV.[6]

Civic Involvement

Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta

In August 2018, CBC News reported that Siervo had been named one of two founding co-chairs of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta (FCCA), alongside Vangie Caoile.[1] He told CBC that the chamber existed because "there's a massive business community that doesn't have a voice," with an aim of raising "the visibility, the standards and the ethics of all the businesses."[1] The Canadian Filipino Net reported that the FCCA was established following a unanimous vote at the first Alberta Filipino Leaders Summit in June 2018, and was intended to serve some 175,000 Albertans of Filipino descent.[2]

Other roles

Siervo has served as a founding leadership ambassador and board committee member for the United Way of Calgary, and as a board member of the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, a settlement and mentorship organisation for immigrant youth.[6] He and his wife co-sponsor the Michael and Vivienne Siervo Scholarship Fund, which supports immigrant students and digital professionals pursuing advanced certifications, and the Michael and Vivienne Siervo Reading and Literacy Outreach Program in the Philippines.[6][7]

Recognition

At the 2019 Golden Balangay Awards in Winnipeg, Siervo received the Executive of the Year award and the World Vision Community Leadership Award; a third-party account in Straight From Lieron described him as the first person to receive two awards at the same ceremony.[10] In May 2026, his contributions to digital workforce development in the Philippines were acknowledged on the floor of the House of Representatives of the Philippines by Congresswoman Julienne Baronda of Iloilo City's Lone District during a session on May 20, 2026.

References

  1. McGarvey, Dan (August 27, 2018). "Alberta's Filipino business community forms its own chamber of commerce". CBC News. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  2. "Entrepreneurs get voice with birth of Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta". Canadian Filipino Net. October 2018. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  3. "2023 Winners and Excellence Awardees". Wealth Professional Awards. 2023. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  4. "2024 Winners and Excellence Awardees". Wealth Professional Awards. 2024. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  5. "Meet the Filipino-Canadian who grew billions in assets before choosing a bigger mission". The Global Filipino Magazine. June 17, 2026. Retrieved 2026-06-17.
  6. "Living Book: Michael L. Siervo". Alberta Filipino Journal. January 18, 2021. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  7. "Golden Balangay Awards — 2019 Winners: Michael Siervo". Golden Balangay Awards. 2019. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  8. "F*ck It! Let's Pivot". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  9. "F*ck It! Let's Pivot". Waterstones. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
  10. "Michael Siervo Is An Inspiration As Double Awardee Of Golden Balangay Awards In Winnipeg 2019". Straight From Lieron. September 2019. Retrieved 2026-06-07.

Category:Living people Category:People from Toronto Category:People from Calgary Category:University of Toronto Scarborough alumni Category:Canadian motivational speakers Category:Canadian philanthropists