Who am I
I’m Philippe Bartu.
I guide leaders and high achievers who’ve realized that the life they built, impressive as it may be, isn’t enough. They want more than success. They want alignment. Peace. Purpose. Joy and the feeling of being ALIVE.
I help them come home to themselves.
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My approach blends deep coaching, presence, and piercing honesty. I’ve hosted over 25 retreats around the world, worked with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and changemakers, and supported hundreds of individuals and teams through transformational change.
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But this isn’t where I began.
MY STORY
The Illusion of Success
I grew up in a world where happiness was measured by achievement.
Prestige. Performance. Being the best.
By 15, I’d already decided on a prestigious path: I’d become a hotelier. Not because it lit me up but because it looked perfect.
So I worked. I excelled. I shaped myself to fit the mould.
Eventually, I graduated from one of the world’s top hotel schools, EHL, and went on to work for the biggest names in luxury hospitality. At 27, I opened a celebrated fine-dining restaurant in Lisbon with my partner. We lived in a beautiful home with a view over the Tejo River. Friends. Financial Success. Recognition.
It looked perfect.
But inside? I felt empty. Tense. Disconnected.
I told myself it was normal. Everyone's faking it a little. So I kept pushing.
THE WAKE UP CALL​
Then one day, my body shut down.
At the end of dinner service, I had a seizure. That moment cracked me open. My body had been whispering for years. Now it screamed.
I couldn’t fake it anymore. I began to question everything who I was, what I was chasing, and why I felt so alone in a life that looked so full.
It was the beginning of a slow, painful unraveling.
So I did one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I LET IT ALL GO
The restaurant. The relationship. The identity I had spent years constructing.
It felt like failure.
It felt like death.
But it was the beginning of a new kind of freedom.
For a while, I was lost.
I didn’t know who I was without the title, the achievements, or the relationship.
I just had a longing to feel alive again.
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I got coached. Sat in circles. Learned to sit still long enough to feel what I had spent years avoiding. And I started remembering who I was before I became who I thought I had to be.
That journey took me across continents and within myself.
Since then, I’ve hosted over 20 transformational retreats, coached hundreds of heart-driven leaders, and joined The Collaborative Way® as a Leadership Development Consultant, supporting organizations to build cultures of authenticity, trust, and empowerment.
I found my wife Cristina. We got married and moved to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
We now have a beautiful son and a life grounded in clarity, joy, and depth.
But more than what I’ve done, what matters is how I now live.
I no longer hustle to prove I’m enough. I live from a deeper place of being. And that’s what I help others do now.
WHAT I BELIEVE:
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Success without alignement will cost you.
It costs your peace.
Your presence.
Your joy.
There is nothing you need to do as much as you need to be.
Because when you reconnect with who you truly are, everything changes, from how you lead to how you love.
READY TO COME HOME TO YOURSELF?
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If something in you knows it’s time to stop performing and start aligning. Let's talk.