Cat Lantigua is Transforming Solitude Into Sisterhood

Salomé Gómez-Upegui
3 min readApr 30, 2019

Solitude can be a beautiful thing, it can afford us space to think, listen to ourselves, and find peace. Yet in today’s world, where we’re hyper-connected and hyper-isolated at the same time, it seems increasingly less attractive, and at times outright scary.

With this backdrop, ventures that aim to heal isolation and promote connection are exactly what we need, which is why Goddess Council’s mission is so important. This organization “serves to create fun and nurturing gatherings within local homes and spaces to begin repairing the wounds of toxic competition and separation within the sisterhood.”

Founder Cat Lantigua candidly spoke to Mindful Feminism and shared the story preceding her fabulous creation.

“Your mess is your message,” Cat says as she begins. “I think sisterhood is important because quite frankly I lacked connection and community for a very long time.” Growing up in Miami, more specifically the suburbs of Kendall, Cat often found herself “feeling very alone and isolated.” “For many years I wished I had people who understood me and didn’t know how to find them.”

Upon turning 25 and moving to New York, Cat decided things had to change: “I decided I was going to find my people, I was going to make real friends, and find a group of women who understood and accepted me. I thought ‘ok, I don’t have these people right now, but let me manifest them. What would we do together? What would we talk about?’”

After actually answering each question on paper, Cat decided she’d post her vision online. “I did it as an experiment more than anything else,” she mentions. “I was so desperate to make new friends, that I was open to having strangers come over to my house,” and very soon that’s exactly what happened.

For the first gathering four women showed up, then fifteen, at one point forty, and before she knew it, Goddess Council turned into an organization.

Cat says realizing that, has been one of the biggest challenges until now. “What has been both challenging and interesting is understanding that what I provide for people and the space we’re cultivating is a service. It takes time, effort, and as much as I love it, it’s something that I have to understand can be valued monetarily…

Salomé Gómez-Upegui

Colombian-American Writer. Fluent in Spanglish.