Meet Catherine De Freitas

We recently connected with Catherine De Freitas and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

My confidence and self-esteem grew from doing the inner work — choosing to face myself honestly and rebuild from the inside out. For a long time, I tied my worth to achievements or external validation. It wasn’t until I walked away from my corporate job, experienced heartbreak, and began dedicating myself to yoga, therapy, and mentorship that I learned what true confidence really is.

Confidence, for me, came from keeping promises to myself — showing up when it was uncomfortable, starting my business even when I was scared, and trusting my intuition when logic said otherwise. Through mindfulness and spiritual practices, I learned to quiet the noise and listen to my inner voice.

Over time, I realized self-esteem isn’t about how you look or what you achieve — it’s about how deeply you know and accept yourself. When I began leading from that space of self-trust and authenticity, everything — my relationships, career, and energy — aligned naturally.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Tell us more about what you do, your story, and what you’re focused on professionally.

I’m the founder of Vida Boa, which includes both the Vida Boa Event Agency and the Vida Boa Wellness Community — but more than anything, Vida Boa is a lifestyle, a philosophy, and an energy that I’ve embodied my entire life.

I was born in Miami and raised in Parkland, Florida in a warm, spiritual Brazilian family. Growing up, I was surrounded by love, intuition, and the belief that life is bigger than the physical world — that everything is energy, that we are creators, and that magic is real if you choose to see it. That foundation shaped everything about me: my optimism, my compassion, my leadership, and my desire to help people grow.

I’ve always naturally stepped into leadership roles — from student government to mentorship programs to eventually serving as Vice President of the Student Government at the University of Miami. I’ve also always been entrepreneurial. I launched my own Brazilian bikini line in college and later built a career in corporate sales where I worked closely with CEOs, VPs, and major executives. My career was thriving, but my soul was craving something deeper — something that aligned with my spirit.

That calling led me to yoga, spirituality, and ultimately, Vida Boa.

Becoming a yoga teacher changed my life. It reminded me that confidence, inner peace, and freedom come from within — from presence, discipline, breath, and connection to something bigger than ourselves. I started hosting small gatherings and realized that people weren’t just craving wellness… they were craving connection, purpose, joy, and authentic community.

That’s how Vida Boa Wellness was born.
And later, as the community grew, I expanded into Vida Boa Event Agency — helping brands create beautiful, intentional, transformative experiences with the same magical, heart-led energy.

🌿 The Three Pillars of Vida Boa — the heart of everything I create
1. FREEDOM

Freedom is the inner shift people feel at a Vida Boa event.
It’s the moment someone realizes wellness isn’t just a workout or a gift bag — it’s a release, a breakthrough, a spark of inspiration.
Freedom is helping people feel something inside their soul.
It’s watching someone leave feeling motivated, empowered, lighter, and more connected to themselves.

2. FLOW

Flow is the movement, breathwork, and healing work we incorporate.
The practices aren’t just physical — they help people drop into their bodies, expand their consciousness, and return to their intuition.
Flow is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual — where presence deepens, clarity arrives, and people reconnect with their truth.

3. FUN

Fun is the heart of the Vida Boa lifestyle.
Wellness shouldn’t feel rigid or intimidating — it should feel joyful, playful, and exciting.
We laugh, dance, sing, move, connect, and celebrate life.
Fun teaches people that wellness is a lifestyle — something you can weave into your daily routine, something that brings you happiness and community, something that feels good.
Fun is what makes experiences memorable and magnetic.

✨ What I do today

My work blends all of this:

community building

experiential event design

spirituality

wellness

creativity

storytelling

and inspiring people to live the vida boa — the good life — every single day

Through the Event Agency, I help brands bring their visions to life with intention and beauty.
Through the Wellness Community, I create spaces where people can transform, connect, and return to themselves.
Through my personal page, I share the Vida Boa Lifestyle — a reminder that life is meant to feel magical, expansive, and full of possibility.

My purpose is to help people believe again.
Believe in themselves, in their intuition, in love, in magic, in freedom, in the beauty of life.

Vida Boa isn’t just a business — it’s a movement, a frequency, and a homecoming to the soul.

And professionally, I’m focused on expanding this vision to new cities, working with conscious brands, and creating even more transformational experiences for people all over the world.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, the most impactful parts of my journey weren’t skills I learned in school or in corporate — they came from my personal life, my healing, and the moments that forced me to grow. The three qualities that shaped me the most were self-awareness, emotional resilience, and balance.

1. Self-Awareness
Everything shifted for me when I started doing the inner work — really looking at myself, my patterns, my emotions, and the beliefs I picked up from childhood or society. Instead of falling into a victim mindset when things got hard, I asked, “What is this teaching me?”
That awareness helped me evolve, soften, and step into the woman I am today.

My advice:
Start by getting honest with yourself. Journal. Reflect. Listen to your intuition. Self-awareness is the foundation of growth and freedom.

2. Emotional Resilience
There were seasons in my life when I felt overwhelmed, anxious, scared to take risks, and overly attached to my emotions. Through healing, yoga, mentorship, and spiritual work, I learned how to hold my emotions without letting them consume me.
Instead of shutting down, I learned how to breathe, observe, and alchemize my feelings into strength and clarity.

My advice:
Resilience isn’t about being unbothered — it’s about knowing you can move through anything. Build emotional resilience by spending time with yourself, doing the healing work, and learning to respond rather than react.

3. Balance
This was the greatest lesson of all.
Most of my life felt like an emotional rollercoaster — everything was intense, overwhelming, and dramatic. When I found true balance — mentally, emotionally, spiritually — everything changed.
I now live the Vida Boa lifestyle: grounded, free, joyful, and deeply present. My work feels like play. My days feel light. My creativity flows. This is where the magic is — in harmony, calmness, and alignment.

My advice:
Prioritize balance in everything: your body, your emotions, your schedule, your relationships. Balance brings clarity, ease, and inner peace — it’s the secret to creating a life you don’t need to escape from.

Ultimately, the most impactful part of my journey has been choosing to learn, grow, and evolve from every challenge.
Doing the inner work allowed me to build a life and business that feel joyful, heart-led, and aligned — a life where every day genuinely feels good.

That’s what Vida Boa is all about:
✨ living freely
✨ feeling at peace
✨ finding fun in your purpose
✨ and building a life that feels magical

If you invest in your inner world, your outer world transforms with it.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

The past year has been the most transformative year of my life. It truly feels like I went from being a girl to becoming a woman. At the beginning of the year, I made two major decisions that changed everything — I left an unfulfilling relationship and pressed pause on my business. On the surface that might look like a step back, but it was actually the beginning of a profound rebirth.

For the first time ever, I gave myself permission to slow down and focus entirely on me — not work, not a partner, not performance — just my healing, my inner world, and my truth. I moved home with my parents in Port St. Lucie, a quiet and nurturing environment, and began a deep mentorship with an intuitive medium. Through that work, I finally uncovered the root of so much of the overwhelm, anxiety, and old belief systems I had been carrying for years.

I realized how many of those beliefs were never mine — they were inherited, conditioned, or shaped by past versions of me who didn’t know her worth. This inner journey helped me dissolve the limiting patterns that were keeping me small and disconnected from my true potential.

Over these 12 months, I’ve developed self-value on a level I never had before. I learned how to love myself, how to hold boundaries, how to say yes when something feels aligned and no when something doesn’t. I learned how to honor my feminine energy, my intuition, and my emotions without being consumed by them. I returned to the magic of life — the part of me that believes in possibility, creativity, energy, and the unseen.

This has been my biggest area of growth:
✨ developing emotional maturity
✨ healing my inner child
✨ rebuilding my identity from the inside out
✨ learning to value myself deeply
✨ stepping into the confident, grounded woman I always knew I could be

And because of that, everything else — my business, my relationships, my creativity, my energy — has aligned beautifully. I now live the Vida Boa lifestyle not as a brand, but as my truth. I feel free, empowered, joyful, and deeply connected to myself.

This year didn’t just change my life — it changed me. And I am so grateful for the woman I’ve become.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidaboawellness/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathydefreitas/