"It Completely Changed My Life" — Inside Catherine Paiz's Ayahuasca Journey

Influencer Catherine Paiz is widely known for her YouTube channel, The ACE Family, which she built with her now ex-husband, Austin McBroom. The former couple shares three kids, and since their breakup in January 2024, bits and pieces of Catherine’s personal life have surfaced, some shared by her, and others by Austin.

But not everything should be taken at face value.

While the two have remained mostly respectful toward one another, their divorce has stirred up some complicated emotions. Catherine has accused Austin of cheating with more than 20 women, and in return, Austin has made a few claims about Catherine that she’s publicly denied.

Among those allegations is that she used ayahuasca around their kids. Catherine has admitted to experimenting with the psychedelic. So, here’s where she first tried it, and how it’s impacted her so far.

During a really "dark period" in her life, Catherine Paiz said she turned to ayahuasca, something she revealed during a sit-down on the Call Her Daddy podcast at the end of May 2025. She had lost her house, her marriage was falling apart, her business partners had scammed her, she had just welcomed a child, and there was drama with friends and family. Simply put, Catherine had a lot going on, and it was clearly taking a toll on her mentally.

She started explaining how she got into ayahuasca, saying, "My brother had been doing this very sacred medicine work for many years," and that he often told her whenever she was ready, he’d be there to help.

So, according to Instagrammer @riristea_, Catherine said the first time she tried ayahuasca was on her 33rd birthday during a trip to Brazil with her dad and brother. At that point, she and Austin were basically separated, but it was that particular trip that gave her the clarity she needed to realize she wanted a divorce.

She also opened up about the practice as a whole, saying, "All it took was one night of ceremony and I had a full Kundalini awakening," adding that "it completely changed [her] life” and calling it "a very powerful tool." Catherine also clarified that she never did it with Austin.

During one of her ceremonies, her seventh, she explained, in a clip shared by TikToker @selinatheyapper, that "my universe within was expanding within," and then she "reached this stop" where she no longer felt in her body, but like she was "just energy." It was during that experience that she also says she peed herself during it, and while it might sound a little embarrassing, Catherine had no shame in admitting it.

While Catherine has been open about her ayahuasca experiences, she says the claim Austin made, that she held ceremonies in another room while their kids were asleep, is completely false. She believes he likely said it just to get under her skin. "I think people will throw stones at things they don’t understand, and I think that’s what happened with Austin," Catherine explained to Alex.

So while she’s comfortable exploring ayahuasca as part of her healing journey, Catherine made it clear she never did it with her kids around, putting that rumor to rest once and for all.