Success Is An Inside Job – An Interview with Philip Zaldatte

How does a spiritual guide find his calling not in a cathedral, but in the boardroom—among the high-achieving and the heartbroken? 

For Philip Zaldatte, the path from Catholic school and collegiate wrestling to interpreting dreams on radio, coaching Wall Street executives, and guiding international leaders has been anything but linear. Marked by radical transitions, a brush with chronic illness, and a deep mentorship with prophetic leader John Paul Jackson, his story is one of spiritual resilience, emotional intelligence, and unwavering faith.

In this conversation, Philip shares what it means to be a “coach for the spirit,” how vision gives pain a purpose, and why our dreams—both the kind we envision and the kind we wake up from—are sacred blueprints for healing and transformation. Whether you’re in a season of disruption, reinvention, or searching for deeper purpose, his words will meet you right where you are. Continue reading or listen in by subscribing for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or YouTube to be inspired by the power of transition, intuition, and living a legacy worth leaving.

One way you describe yourself is as a “coach for the spirit.” Tell us what that term means to you.

Philip Zaldatte: Just from my experience working with business people, that’s what they started calling me—a spiritual guide, or coach for the spirit. It’s about helping them look inside and guiding them through an inner transformation. Because it takes a change of heart, and a shift in how you think, to get a fresh start—to see bigger dreams, a bigger vision, all of that starts on the inside. So that’s what “coach for the spirit” means to me. It’s about spiritual transformation.

Tell us about your spiritual development over the years. Did you grow up in a family with some faith, or did it come to you later in life?

Philip Zaldatte: Yeah, in fact, my parents put my brother, my sister, and me in Catholic school. That was my upbringing—Catholic school, dealing with the nuns and all of that.

How are your knuckles? Did that really happen to you?

Philip Zaldatte: Yes, really—with a ruler. Oh man. It took some inner healing after I left Catholic school. But the education was excellent. When I entered public high school, I was about a year ahead of everyone.

How did things unfold for you after high school?

Philip Zaldatte: I wrestled in college, and then went in a whole different direction. I got into the partying scene, and it was a ruptured Achilles tendon that slowed me down. I ended up in the hospital over Christmas, had to get surgery, and it made me start rethinking my life, rethinking what direction I was going in.

A friend of mine—you may have heard of him, as I think he’s been on your magazine cover—Tim Storey was the only one who came to visit me while I was in the hospital. He brought a Good News Bible and showed up every day to encourage me. He kept reminding me that there was a call of God on my life, and that got me thinking.

And you were in your early twenties at that point.

Philip Zaldatte: Yes.

So, you get out of the hospital. What path did you take in terms of kind of spirituality and career?

Philip Zaldatte: I was rethinking everything, but I kept getting “haunted” by all these Christians telling me there was a call of God on my life. Tim Storey was one of them—we grew up right around the corner from each other. I’d go down to the park to smoke a joint, and I’d turn around, and there’s Tim. I’d think, “Oh my gosh, what a way to quench a good buzz.”

Then I’d go to a pub, come out after it closed, and there’d be a group of Christians waiting to remind me of my calling. I’d go surfing, and up the bluff would come another group doing the same. It just kept happening.

Some time later, a couple of friends I’d met a few years prior called me up and said, “Hey, we’re going to a Christian concert and thought we’d swing by and pick you up.” I went with them—it was my first experience with evangelical Christianity, at a Calvary Chapel.

That night, I had what I can only describe as a God encounter. I kept hearing a voice saying, “Flush all your drugs down the toilet.” I couldn’t sleep. That voice just kept repeating. Finally, I did it—I flushed everything. I went straight to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning, all desire to get high was gone entirely. I walked outside, and it was like I could smell the flowers for the first time in years. I could see the beauty around me.

Then a car screeched to a stop in front of me—it was Tim Storey and his sister. They hung their heads out the window and said, “What happened to you?” I told them the whole story, and they jumped out and started dancing in the middle of the street.

That was the beginning of my life of faith in Jesus Christ. I stayed on that path for several years and eventually crossed paths with a man named John Paul Jackson. He told me that God had given him a vision of me two months prior, and that he knew he’d run into me in Oceanside, California. That’s where we met.

He said, “I believe I’m supposed to open the door to mentor you in your spiritual gifting.” I ended up traveling the world with him. One of his primary gifts was the ability to interpret dreams, like a modern-day Joseph or Daniel. And that’s how my spiritual journey deepened.

Now, for people who aren’t familiar with John Paul Jackson, tell us who he is in terms of his level of influence in the Christian Pentecostal world.

Philip Zaldatte: Yeah, he grew up in the Assemblies of God from a young age—that’s where he got his start. But as he matured, he began to realize he had a strong revelatory gift. He began teaching on dreams and visions, developing courses to help people hear the voice of God, cultivate their intuition, and deepen their prophetic and revelatory abilities. His work wasn’t just about the church—it was also about making an impact in the marketplace.

I learned so much from him during those seven years of mentorship. But over time, I began to realize that my calling wasn’t to stand on church platforms. I felt a deep desire to take these spiritual gifts beyond the four walls of the church and help businesspeople understand how their spiritual makeup could equip them to lead and influence with greater impact. So I started traveling the world, teaching a form of prophetic evangelism—helping people connect with the heart of the Father who created them and casting a vision for their future.

Over time, I began to notice something: I was returning to the same places and countries, but the leaders weren’t growing. They weren’t evolving in their leadership capacities. That’s when I realized something essential was missing.

One day, I was getting ready to speak at an event and came across a website for a marketplace conference. One of the speakers was Lance Wallnau, and another was Dr. Joseph Umidi, a professor from Regent University who had written a book on coaching. I ordered the book, and by the second chapter, I knew—I’d found one of the missing pieces.

So I enrolled in his school and took his professional coaching course to become an accredited and certified leadership coach. I went back again and got certified as a business consultant. Later, I added training to become a certified behavioral analyst, which allowed me to guide clients through personality-style assessments. That’s usually how I start the coaching relationship—I walk them through their report, and they’re always amazed.

They’re like, “How did answering just a few questions generate a 17-page report about me?” It’s a great icebreaker, and it opens the door to a powerful coaching dynamic. I usually ask for a three-month commitment from every client because, in my experience, it takes about that long to achieve the breakthrough they’re looking for.

And how many years have you been coaching people in the business context?

Philip Zaldatte: Over 20 years.

Is there a particular topic or area you’ve focused more on?

Philip Zaldatte: Transition—that became my specialty and area of expertise. I started getting invited around the world to teach on it. There’s a scripture that says God desires for us to prosper in all things, even as our soul prospers. That usually refers to five areas: spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and materially.

I coach every client in all five of those areas.

Are there particular countries that you spent more time in than others?

Philip Zaldatte: Probably Europe. I’ve gone to Spain a few times—once to do a workshop at a historic guitar factory in Madrid. That’s where one of my favorite pictures was taken. The family who invited me included a 2008 Tour de France cycling champion, and I stayed at his parents’ house. They brought me out to encourage small business owners because the economy was struggling, and they needed hope.

I’ve also been to England, South Africa, and Romania, where I coached and interpreted dreams for both the very poor and the very wealthy. It’s been public speaking that’s opened those doors, and through that, I’ve had the opportunity to coach people from all walks of life.

I remember teaching a workshop in Las Vegas when a man came up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Paul Henry—you’re going to be my coach.” I told him, “I don’t know you yet,” and he said, “No, but you’re going to be my coach.” Turns out he was the chairman of the Democratic Party for the state of Nevada. I ended up coaching him for five years. He opened doors for me in Hollywood and even among casino owners.

Once, I received a call from him while he was in Washington, D.C. He said, “Phil, say hi to so-and-so—I’m in the limo with him.” I won’t mention his name, but he was connected to the White House. He’d had a troubling dream two nights before, and Paul told him all about me. So they called me, and I ended up coaching him for a month just around that dream.

Well, I’d like to delve into the gift you have for dream interpretation in just a moment, but I’d like to segue for a second about the last five years. You’ve had a bump in the road and developed, well, some deeper levels of character in the process.

Philip Zaldatte: Yes. I was being groomed to have my own TV show on a platform based in London called Transformation TV. But then the pandemic hit, and the lockdowns were so severe over there that the platform folded.

Not long after, I started having strange symptoms at night—chills, aching joints, heart palpitations, and brain fog. I thought it might be just a flu strain or something, so I didn’t go to the doctor right away.

Turns out I had Lyme disease, and it had gone undiagnosed for nearly two years. By the time they figured it out, I was in what they called late-stage or chronic Lyme. Once I began treatment, the symptoms worsened. My business came to a screeching halt.

It gave me time to reflect on my future, my values, and what I wanted my life and business to look like when I started again. There’s a scripture in Psalms about Joseph: “Until it was time for his dreams to come to pass, those dreams purged his character.” That’s what it felt like for me. This experience purged my character and forced me to think differently.

It’s really about a renewed mind. And that’s what I needed—a new way of thinking. I always tell my coaching clients, “If your mind isn’t renewed, your past will continue to be your future.” And none of us wants to live like that.

I learned a lot about myself. I discovered I’m more of a fighter than I ever knew. I’m stronger than I thought. And now, I have more anticipation and excitement for the future than I’ve ever had.

How’s your health doing now?

Philip Zaldatte: I’m going to the gym five, sometimes six days a week. I’m doing much better—getting my strength back. I’m ready to launch out again.

Well, I love that we get to help be a part of that.

Philip Zaldatte: And there are so many people out there struggling with chronic illness. I truly believe I can now encourage them and help guide them through it, because I’ve been there.

I know that through your business, Prolific Leadership Solutions, you still offer one-on-one coaching, but you’re now shifting more toward group work, speaking at events, summits, and webinars. Over the past 20+ years, you’ve helped many business leaders, including those who identify as spiritual or mindful rather than religious, and who seek holistic well-being—physically, emotionally, spiritually, and materially. One area you focus on is lifestyle design. How do you define it, and what key shifts are needed for someone to redesign their life truly?

Philip Zaldatte: The stage we’re in now—we’ve gone through the agricultural age, the industrial age, and the information age. But now we’re in what’s being called the conceptual age.

In this age, we need to recognize that we’re all creators. We can create our future. The best way to predict your future is to make it.

Many of the business leaders I’ve worked with—often alpha males—are excellent at making money. But they tend to have low emotional intelligence and operate heavily from the left brain. My work is to help them access more of that right-brain intuition, creativity, and vision, and begin building something bigger than what they’re currently living.

Let me read you something from a book called The Artisan Soul:

“We’ve been given a gift: the ability to dream.
We’ve been given a curse: the ability to dream.

The dream is meant to be the beginning, not the end.
The dream is our hope for our future—our dream of love, our dream of significance, our dream of sobriety, our dream for a better world, our dream of success, our dream for a better us.

When we imagine but do not create, we’re left with an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction.
When we imagine a better world but don’t risk creating it, we find no fulfillment in our success.
When we imagine ourselves as better or different than we are but do not change, we’re in danger of despair and hopelessness.

Humans must create, not only to express ourselves, but to find ourselves.”

That sums up the heart of lifestyle design.

I also tell my clients: “Your dreams are the product of your longings, a portrait of your potential, and a promise of your future.”

So the work becomes helping them shift toward that right-brain visioning—getting in touch with the dreams they’ve buried or forgotten. Because vision gives pain a purpose. And change is hard. But when you have a vision for your future—when you can see that end product—you can walk through the difficulty of change with more resilience. That vision gives you something to hold onto.

You were discussing dreams in terms of having a dream for your life, but we’ve also been exploring the interpretation of dreams. John Paul Jackson mentored you in this area. Talk to us about why we have dreams, what their purpose is, and how you help people interpret them.

Philip Zaldatte: I had to do a lot of research to understand that everyone has their dream language. So, interpreting dreams isn’t just about having a one-size-fits-all answer—it’s about using intuition and engaging with someone as they share their dream. It involves asking questions. Like, “What does that blue car mean to you?” or “What does that red car represent for you?” Because colors have meaning, numbers have meaning—but how they show up in a person’s inner world is often deeply personal.

Let me share a quick story.

I was invited onto a local radio station here in northern New England after they heard about a life coach who could interpret dreams. During the show, they opened up the phone lines, and the response was overwhelming—calls poured in with people eager to share their dreams. It went so well that they invited me to start a regular segment. So for four years, I hosted a show called The Coach’s Corner with Phil Zaldatte. Every week, we’d open the phone lines and I’d interpret dreams live on air for an hour.

One time, a military veteran who had served in the Gulf War (also known as Desert Storm) called in. He told me about a recurring dream that was tormenting him—he’d wake up screaming in the middle of the night. It had gotten so bad that he lost his marriage, started using drugs and alcohol again, and eventually lost his job. He said that every time the sun began to set, he would feel dread because he knew the dream was about to come again.

As he described the dream, I told him, “The issues we run from tend to run to us.” In his dream, this terrifying, demon-like creature kept chasing him, but he never turned to face it. I explained that this was a form of lucid dreaming. I coached him to do something different: “Tonight, when you go to sleep, stop running. Turn around and face the creature.”

He did. And the creature disappeared.

The tormenting dreams ended. I ended up coaching him for a little over a month after that. He regained his marriage, his job, and his health improved. The dream had unlocked something deeper—it connected him to childhood trauma that had been triggered by his time in Desert Storm. That one dream interpretation changed everything.

That’s why I encourage people not to dismiss their dreams.

I’ll share one of my own. John Paul Jackson and I were in Atlanta, and on the morning we were flying back home, I said, “John Paul, I had this crazy dream last night.” He asked what it was. I said, “I got into the shower and turned on the water, but instead of water, Neapolitan ice cream came out of the showerhead.”

He laughed and said, “What happened next?”

I told him it shocked me at first, but then I realized I liked it. He started laughing even harder and said, “Phil, that’s from God. You’ve been in the midst of one of the hardest seasons of your life, but something sweet and refreshing from heaven is about to be poured out on you to keep you going.”

You never know what a dream can mean.

Why do you think we have dreams?

Philip Zaldatte: Doctors say that if we didn’t dream, we would literally go insane. Dreams help us process and sort through what we’ve experienced, especially during REM sleep. That’s when most dreams occur.

But from my experience working with people, the dreams they remember vividly and take the time to write down usually carry some deep meaning. My role is to help them understand the symbols in those dreams, and I teach them along the way. Over time, they begin to recognize their dream language—and eventually, they’re able to start interpreting their dreams.

What are some of the most common lifestyle patterns that hold people back from living out the vision or dream you were talking about?

Philip Zaldatte: Limited ways of thinking. That’s the big one. You don’t want to get stuck there. Bono from U2 once said, “If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.” And it’s true—most people need to start dreaming bigger. The destiny you were created for is bigger than you.

But we tend to cling to comfort zones. We don’t like feeling stretched, but that’s exactly where growth happens—mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. You deserve to have big dreams. You deserve to pursue something greater than yourself. And in doing so, you grow into a more expansive version of who you’re meant to be.

One of the challenges that seems familiar among people who are type A, performance-driven individuals—as you mentioned earlier—is that even when they achieve a level of success, whether it’s financial or influence, there’s this internal pressure for more. That was true for me when I was pastoring. It wasn’t necessarily the world demanding more—it was this inner voice saying, “If I grow the church big enough, help enough people, then I’ll finally be enough.” What would you say to people struggling with that constant feeling of not being enough or never doing enough?

Philip Zaldatte: That comes up often, especially with alpha types. One of the first things I discuss with them is boundaries—boundaries for themselves, their families, and their time.

Many high achievers focus so much on making money and influencing people that they often shortchange themselves relationally and spiritually. So I help them turn inward and ask, “What area of your life would you like to see more mastery in? Your personal life? Your spiritual life?”

When they start to look inward, they often realize something profound: from the outside, everything looks polished—but inside, they feel insecure, like they’re never doing enough. That’s where coaching comes in. I help them reflect on what they’ve already accomplished. It’s like holding up a mirror. And they’ll say, “Wow—I’ve actually done really well.” But then we identify the areas that still need growth.

From there, I walk them through a process I call ‘transition’. The first stage is necessary endings. Something must come to an end before something new can begin. We explore what they want their future to look like—really look like. Then we break it down into tangible goals and small steps they can take now to start moving in that direction.

As a coach, I don’t need to be a stockbroker to coach a stockbroker. My job is to ask compelling questions that help them connect with what’s going on inside—what really matters, what they truly want to accomplish.

There’s a difference between legend and legacy. Legend is the lifestyle you’re living. Legacy is the impact you’re leaving behind. And that’s the most important thing. What will your children say about you? Your spouse? Your colleagues? I help clients reconnect with those deeper values and questions, because many of them have never had someone in their life play that role.

I’ll never forget one client—he’d been a managing partner at Goldman Sachs for 25 years. A couple of months into our coaching, we were on a call, and I heard him crying. I asked him what was happening. And he said, “Phil, this is the first time I feel safe enough to share what’s going on inside. You have no idea how many people just want something from me. I have to keep my guard up 24/7. But with you, I can finally let it down.”

That’s what coaching can offer—a safe space to be seen, heard, and reconnected with who you really are.

You talked about interpreting dreams for people in foreign countries who are struggling financially, and then you’re also working with someone who was a 25-year partner at Goldman Sachs. What enables you to connect with such a wide range of people from such different walks of life?

Philip Zaldatte: Well, like you, I spent many years in full-time ministry, and during that time, I developed relationships all over the world. So when people started hearing that I was no longer doing full-time ministry and had become a life coach, they began calling me, curious about what I was doing.

I’d explain the kind of work I was doing, especially in the area of transition, which I’ve taught globally. As those conversations unfolded, I began receiving invitations from around the world. Because I was out there speaking publicly, I could choose who I wanted to work with—from finance executives to small business owners in Romania.

But it wasn’t just the boardrooms. I’ve also interpreted dreams for the gypsy community in Romania, one of the most marginalized groups in that region. I’ve spoken at a homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta called Blood and Fire—it’s no longer there, but back then, I would go and sit with people on the streets.

The most important thing to them wasn’t food or clothes. It was that someone would sit down, hear their story, and speak to them like they mattered. That meant everything. I’d listen, then offer them some coaching guidance on how to start rebuilding their lives.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was connected with a group of marketplace businessmen based out of Connecticut—guys who take the train into Manhattan every morning. Working with them was a challenge at first because they speak the language of business, not the language of Sunday morning church. That’s actually why they formed their groups—spaces where they could connect with like-minded business people and talk about the things Sunday services didn’t address.

They’d invite people like me to speak at their national retreats, such as those in Washington, D.C. I became their spiritual guide for those events, talking to rooms filled with 800 high-level professionals. I had to learn to speak their language… and also the language of the homeless. And everything in between.

Dr. Joseph Umidi from Regent University shared something with me when I graduated from his coaching program. He said, “Phil, your journey has just begun. You’re going to have to keep studying, keep reading, and keep practicing.” And he was right.

If you saw my office, you’d see that my bookshelves are filled. I joke that I feel smarter just walking into the room. But I keep learning. I want to grow and improve at what I do, and also become a better person.

You’re now in a season where you’re taking on a few one-on-one coaching clients, while also opening up to more speaking opportunities. What are the topics you feel most called to speak on? And what do you think sets you apart as a speaker?

Philip Zaldatte: The topic of transition. I teach on the different stages of transition. One of the most difficult is that in-between space—when you’ve reached a point of necessary endings, but you haven’t yet stepped into a clear new beginning. Vision might be lacking, and you know there’s no going back, but you don’t yet know where you’re going.

In that space, I help people develop new core values—often across ten key areas of their lives. I teach about the four human drives that we all share: to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy.

It’s not just about being alive—it’s about truly living. And loving isn’t just about receiving love, it’s about giving love everywhere you go, encouraging others, and uplifting them.

I also teach this core idea: what you were created for never changes, but the assignments along the way will. That looks different for everyone. My job is to help people get the tools they need to move forward and manifest that fresh vision or dream that’s on their heart.

Let’s say a listener is in the midst of a transition right now, and they’re feeling like, “I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this.” It could be a transition in marriage, kids going off to school, a career change, or a business shift. What encouragement would you give them today?

Philip Zaldatte: Boy, oh boy. I’d start by asking a lot of questions, but ultimately, I’d help them learn to be comfortable in the uncomfortable. Things change—but people transition. And in our human nature, we tend to resist that process because change is uncomfortable. We ask ourselves, What’s it going to look like? What am I losing?

So I teach people to be at peace with change—to welcome it. Because it’s often the beginning of something brand new, a new opportunity for growth. People struggle through transitions mostly because they don’t have someone in their life encouraging them along the way—someone reminding them, You’re headed toward something much bigger than yourself. Your future is going to be incredible. You’re building a legacy.

Sometimes it’s just about taking one baby step at a time. And as a coach, my job is to listen. Because there’s always more going on beneath the surface of what someone says.

I’ve been through it myself—again and again. And I thank God I’ve had people like Dr. Joseph Umidi walking with me through the hardest seasons, like when I was battling chronic Lyme disease and had to refocus my life completely. His encouragement helped me stay the course.

So my advice? Find yourself a coach. Someone willing to walk with you through your journey. Because you’re not meant to do it alone.

If people are interested in working with you as a coach or bringing you in as a speaker, they can visit ProlificLeadershipSolutions.com.

Philip Zaldatte: Yes. I’m also on Instagram, and they can reach me by email.

Phil, it’s been so great to be with you today. Thank you for sharing your story.

Philip Zaldatte: Could I share one last thing?

Yeah, of course.

Philip Zaldatte: It’s something called The Lion Manifesto, and I think it’ll encourage people:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions.
Go after a dream destined to fail without divine intervention.
Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God.
Stop pointing out problems—become part of the solution.
Stop repeating the past—start creating the future.
Stop playing it safe—start taking risks.
Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey.
Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can.
Live like today is the first day—and the last day—of your life.
Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God.
Burn sinful bridges—Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating.
Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks.
Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself.
Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith—and chase the lion.

Very inspiring. Thank you so much, Phil. Appreciate you being with us today.

Philip Zaldatte: Thank you—it’s been fun.