We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Faith Koltak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Faith, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

Sometimes in life, we’re asked to put our money where our mouth is.

I’ve had a number of moments that determined future trajectories. For instance, when I realized that my tarot readings were often mini coaching sessions that focused on an individual’s internal obstacles, I knew that coaching was a skill – or, rather, a set of skills – that I needed to add to my toolbelt. In that way, my path has been laid out for me.

My defining moment though?

When I thought I wanted to give up and end it all. When I thought I couldn’t take it anymore. When I didn’t see a reason to continue.

That may seem odd as a defining moment, but hear me out: Two years prior, during the pandemic, a combination of asthma and COVID sent me to the emergency room at a time when the hospital was the most frightening place you could be. There, while waiting to find out what the prognosis was, I had the sudden thought of, “No, this is not how my life ends. This isn’t it! I haven’t yet done what I came here to do.”

So, two years later, when I found myself wanting to end my life, I thought back to that moment and I had to ask myself if I believed that. Did I genuinely think that my life had meaning and purpose? If so, I needed to try to access that will to live in order to see that purpose fulfilled.

I assessed my internal toolkit and I began to reach out for support. I stood in my shame to admit to those closest to me that I was suicidal and genuinely feared myself. I made, and kept, appointments with doctors and therapists, even when I didn’t want to be there. Even when I thought I didn’t want to be here. I cried oceans of tears. I received a diagnosis of delayed-onset cPTSD from childhood trauma, and so much began to make sense. And I realized that I was trained for exactly this moment.

You see, the year before, in a bid to lead an authentic life, I made a number of sweeping changes. I underwent a number of different training programs, ended my marriage, and quit my job. Those programs included certifications in coaching, trauma-conscious coaching, and neuro-linguistic programming. That training ended up saving my life.

I reached out to my teachers, mentors, and colleagues. I did the work – the very same work that, as a coach and a healing practitioner, I ask my clients to do – and I slowly began to heal old traumas and learn to respond in healthy ways.

I understood that to be my purpose. I knew that I had been called to examine the depths of my own pain and trauma so that I could hold space for my clients as they do the work to heal their own wounds. I had to fully understand that darkness before I could hope to guide another through it and back to the light.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a certified trauma-conscious authentic alignment Master coach who specializes in neurolinguistic programming. I am also a tarot reader, Reiki Master practitioner, and Shamanic healer. My gift is guiding souls to heal through their own Perfect Wisdom. My superpower, according to a recent note I received, is making others feel seen and heard.

I empower others to live their best, most authentic lives by moving out of fear and into a place of love to honor their truths, use the power of their individual voices, and take up their space in this world.

Revealing your inner Perfect Wisdom comes in many forms – reiki, tarot, Infinite Possibilities teaching, Money Magician classes, and trauma-aware eNLP coaching.

​For me, tapping into Spirit, feeling my way through big decisions while sitting in my heart space, and the inner Knowing of what to do next – intuitively – to heal and support myself was what started me on this journey.

If you’ve struggled with trauma or with feeling as though you’re out of alignment with your Self (and who hasn’t?) and you’re hearing the call to reclaim your Self… for yourself… I’m here, because I’ve been there.

I hold judgment-free space for all of my clients, and I am particularly proud to say that I am LGBTQIA+, kink, and ENM informed and friendly.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Oh, there are so many!

I think the largest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the idea that fear somehow protects us. The job of fear is to keep us in fear. Fear and love vibrate at completely different frequencies, so you cannot sit in the energy of fear and the energy of love at the same time. You have to make a choice and, though fear makes promises to protect you, it lies.

True protection requires nurturing and care, which can only come from love. Thus, the very vulnerability that feels so threatening in its exposure is what keeps me safe.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

The ability to hold safe space for my clients.

I remember talking with my therapist a couple of years ago and wondering about getting another certification, or going back to school for another degree, when she finally looked at me and said, “Faith, look, you could certainly do those things. There’s always something more you could learn. But it’s not the certifications or the degrees that prepare you to do the work. It’s the willingness to sit in a cesspool of shit with another human being – just sit there, while they sort through that mess to collect the treasures that are hidden in it. THAT is what your clients need from you. They don’t need you to have another certification. They need you to sit there next to them while they sort through their shit.”

She was right, and sometimes that’s the most challenging part of my job, but it’s also the most rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.perfectwisdom.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourperfectwisdom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaithKoltak
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithkoltak/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FaithKoltak
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcE7cs6W51MgfBA9MMZX9xA

Image Credits
@Photos by Jovana