We recently had the chance to connect with Carla Calderas and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carla, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I try to start each day as mindfully as possible—sometimes that looks like deep breathing or meditation, other times it’s as simple as placing a hand on my heart and checking in with my body.
On a typical day, I’m either seeing clients for psychotherapy or coaching, promoting my new book Healing Is Within You, or connecting with local communities to see how I can support their healing journeys. Whether it’s a one-on-one session or a new collaboration, I do my best to show up as the most present, intentional version of myself. And when life gets overwhelming, I’ve learned to pause, breathe, and come back to alignment.
One shift I’ve made recently is listening more closely to my body. I rest when I need to, and I nourish myself with care. I’ve also started cooking more at home—three healthy, intentional meals a day filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and local ingredients.
I like to end my day with something light and joyful—karaoke in the living room, coloring in an adult coloring book, or watching a show with my husband. I’m learning to hold both: the depth of this work and the ease of everyday joy.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I help people heal—gently, intentionally, and with compassion. In my work, I walk alongside women as they reconnect with themselves, find balance, and remember that they are worthy of a life that feels joyful, peaceful, and fulfilling. I support them in leaning into their softness, reconnecting with their inner wisdom, and releasing the weight of doing and protecting that so many of us have learned to carry.
That intention lives in every page of my new book, Healing Is Within You. It’s a companion for the moments when you feel tired, stuck, or uncertain. It offers reflections, tools, and gentle guidance to help you come back to yourself—with clarity, trust, and love. I wrote it with the women I’ve worked with in mind, and with the hope that it reaches the hearts that need it most.
For those who are ready for more personalized support, I also offer coaching. I created this branch of my work for people who are doing well, but are ready to feel amazing—to feel more connected, more intentional, more alive. Coaching provides a space for that transformation to unfold with direction, care, and deep alignment.
Everything I do is rooted in the belief that healing is within you—and when we say yes to ourselves, everything begins to shift.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
One of my earliest memories is being in the driveway, holding a hairbrush as my microphone, looking at myself in the mirror. I was singing, fully in my own world—and I felt free, alive, beautiful, and completely at ease in my own body. In that moment, I wasn’t performing for anyone. I was simply being me.
But like so many of us, as I grew older, I started hearing stories about who I was—and who I wasn’t. That I was a child without a father. That I was overweight. That I was too emotional. Too much. Those messages didn’t just pass through me—they landed. And they began to shape how I saw myself, how I moved through the world, and what I believed I deserved.
Each one became a layer I put on to protect myself. And those layers grew thick around the pain—the bullying, the abuse, the rape. They became armor that helped me survive, but also kept me from building deep, connected relationships. From being fully seen. From being myself.
My healing journey has been about gently removing those layers. About returning to the truth that was always there. The little girl in the driveway, hairbrush in hand, singing with joy, full of love for herself and for life.
That’s what healing is to me—remembering who you are underneath it all. And choosing to live from that place again.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes. When I was 14 years old, I tried to end my life. And there have been other moments throughout my life when I thought about giving up. Not because I didn’t want to live—but because the pain felt too heavy, too constant. I didn’t know how to carry it, and I didn’t know who could help me hold it.
But even in those moments, something inside me—something quiet but strong—kept whispering that there was more. That there was still beauty left to feel, still magic to be found, still love waiting for me on the other side of the pain.
I’ve learned to lean on the people who love me. And when I haven’t had the words to reach out, I’ve turned to books, affirmation cards, long walks, breathing, crying, journaling—anything that reminded me of peace and safety in my heart and body.
I share this with tenderness because I know what it’s like to be there. And I want anyone reading this to know: you’re not alone. There is a way through. And you are deserving of an amazing life!
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They’d probably say that peace means everything to me—peace in my heart, in my body, in my relationships, in the spaces I move through. It’s not something I chase anymore; it’s something I’ve learned to create and protect with intention.
I find it in the details—an office where people communicate with kindness and clarity… a home that smells comforting and feels like softness… a car that plays music that soothes me between moments. I’ve built my life around what brings me back to center.
And when something doesn’t align with that, I speak up. I adjust. I walk away if I need to. Because peace isn’t just a preference—it’s a promise I’ve made to myself. A way of living that keeps me grounded in who I am.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they tell a story of transformation—a story that reminds them that pain doesn’t have to define us, and that healing is always possible. I hope they remember that I was someone who faced her own pain with honesty and courage, who chose to do the work, and who showed that it can be done—not perfectly, but wholeheartedly.
I hope they say that I made healing feel less lonely. That my words, my books, my talks, and the way I lived offered them something to hold onto. A tool, a perspective, a soft place to land. That I was a partner on their journey—even if we never met in person. That in some way, I helped them believe in their own power to change, to soften, to grow, to come back to themselves.
More than anything, I hope they remember that I made them feel like healing wasn’t just possible—it was already beginning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carlacalderas.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingwcarla/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@healingwithcarla
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@healingwithcarla
