We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kika Vila Nova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kika below.
Kika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I am not sure if many would consider this a risk, but staying in the USA after my divorce was a big risk that I took. I’ll explain… My daughter’s dad and I got divorced when she was 2 years old. It was a very amicable divorce and we have remained friends to this day, however I can’t deny it was a very difficult time for me. The comfortable thing to do would be to pack my things and move back to Brazil, where I am from. I had no family here besides my daughter and all I wanted then was to be closer to my family, especially my mother. My daughter’s dad remained so present in her life that I just couldn’t bring myself to take her away from him… so I stayed. And hustled. I changed careers, I moved from UT county to SLC county, I relied on my close friends for help when needed and I did therapy. LOTS of therapy. And two lines I was told during that time that still impact me to this day when I go through a challenge are: “you may not get over this, but you WILL get through it” and “take one day at a time, just one day at a time.” Divorce is hard. the end of a relationship you wanted to last forever is painful and the future after that feels very blurry and scary. We are stronger than our challenges though, and often times stepping out of our comfort zone is the biggest risk we can take. The payout is amazing, though! To be able to look back and see that I have provided for my daughter for all those years (yes, her dad helps a lot, but I am still the head of my household), to have pivoted careers and succeeded at all of them, to have secured a vehicle, a home and travel opportunities… none of this would have been possible if I hadn’t stayed. If I hadn’t taken that risk. If I hadn’t done what, then, seemed so impossible and hard. You can do it too! If you’re going through something hard right now, please know that you are stronger than your fears. And you’re not alone. Never truly alone :)
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I post on instagram about my adventures outdoors and about my travels. When I say I love hiking, PLEASE understand that I don’t go on hard or steep hikes. I like walking in nature – that’s more accurate. One of my passions is to make sure everyone feels welcome in the outdoors and I do this by hosting events and creating community. I am am ambassador for Women Who Explore (a community with over 230k followers) and Salomon, a shoes/clothing brand. I have LOVED working with WWE and have become an international trip leader, hosting my first trip to Iceland in March this year. It’s truly amazing to fly to another country, meet 12-15 strangers, experience that new country with them for a week and then go back home with 12-15 new bffs! I think every single person should try one of these trips, especially women. We give too much of ourselves to others, and these trips and events help refill our cups for weeks and weeks to come.
If you’d like to check out my posts, and maybe even collaborate with me on an event, please visit me at @kikassadventures :)
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
There is a goal and mission for sure! In a perfect world, I want EVERYONE all over the WORLD to be able to enjoy the outdoors and to benefit from its healing aspects. It’s easy for me and many others to enjoy the outdoors in Utah – you step outside and can see the beautiful mountains. It is not as easy in very populated places, especially places where the social and economical disparities are huge. It’s not easy to enjoy the outdoors when you have to drive (or catch public transportation) for hours, or when you have to pay sitters or take time off from your regular jobs. I think a lot of us who live closer to mountains, or national parks, take all of this for granted, and we might think that it’s easy for everyone else to access the same places we do. It’s not, and I wish it were. So my goal is to hopefully inspire people to, when possible, plan an outing. And it doesn’t have to be epic, but I understand that for some people, planning to spend a few hours at a local park may feel like planning to climb Everest. Additionally, you don’t have to “look a certain way” to enjoy the outdoors. Nature belongs to ALL OF US, regardless of our shape, size, gender or background. YOU ARE WELCOME, believe me, you are!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I have always strived to be authentic and myself. My posts on instagram are funny when I feel funny, serious when I feel there’s something serious to talk about it, motivational when I need motivation myself, and educational when I’ve learned something that I think others can benefit from. My pictures are captures from places I have been to and loved, and my captions come from my heart and mind, not someone else’s. I have actually been told, several times, that I “should post like this” or “caption more like that” and, honestly, I do listen to the feedback but at the end of the day it’s my voice that’s out there. I am not posting to gain followers and collaborations. If that comes, of course I feel grateful, however it’s not my end goal. My instagram is a mix of a journal + a hike/travel log + things to remember + things that are important to me. I know I am not everyone’s cup of tea and that is fine. I hope we can all accept that we all have a story to tell, and there will always be someone out there who will appreciate the fact that we’re telling it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @kikassadventures
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyntia-vilanova/
Image Credits
The pics are from hikes in Draper (group photo, Women Who Explore event in May), Iceland (rainbow road and a waterfall, Women Who Explore event that I led in March 2023), Pride Parade in SLC in June, other miscellaneous pics.