"I Was Building Someone Else’s Empire" Interview with Gloria Park

Crystaline Lopez
Jul 30
3 min read

Featuring insights from Rebecca Contreras, entrepreneur, mentor, and founder of AvantGarde

When Rebecca Contreras made the leap to start her own firm, she wasn’t chasing a dream. She was waking up from one.

“I was generating 90% of the revenue,” she told me, describing her role as a senior executive at a private firm. “But I wasn’t a partner. I didn’t own anything.”

The numbers were great. The title sounded impressive. But none of it was hers.

So she did something most people never do—not just because it’s hard, but because it’s disorienting. She stepped out.

The leap wasn’t immediate—and it wasn’t clean. Rebecca had been generating nearly all the revenue at the private firm she worked for, yet was never offered equity or partnership. Instead of being celebrated, her success became a source of tension.

The more indispensable she became, the more her influence was seen as a threat.

Leadership began to remove her from decision-making roles. They started to silo her, minimize her voice, strip her oversight. And that’s when it hit her: she was making great money—but building someone else’s dream. She didn’t own any of it.

That’s when a mentor—someone who had seen her rise through both government and private industry—offered the words that would change everything:

“Rebecca, what you’re doing for them… you can do for yourself.”

Those words stayed with her.

She left the firm. She took her experience, her network, and her values—and built something new. Drawing on years of relationships from her government service, she reached out to people who trusted her. She didn’t start with cold calls. She started with credibility.

She built a practice based on who she already was: a strategist, a culture shaper, a leader in change.

Today, that leap has become a thriving firm serving both federal agencies and private clients—with mentorship, integrity, and people-first values at the core.

“I’m a product of my network.”

“Eighty percent of our initial business came from people who already knew me. Trust is everything.”

She didn’t stop at networking. She built thought leadership around three pillars:

Change management
People strategy
Culture building

Her advice to early entrepreneurs? Don’t just market your offering. Become known for your lens.

Ask Rebecca about leadership, and she won’t give you a book title. She’ll give you a motto:

“We lead with love.”

Leading with Love Isn’t Soft—It’s Scalable

At AvantGarde, client partnerships must align with the company’s values.

“If someone mistreats our team, I step in. That’s not who we are.”

She’s grown her firm not just through contracts, but through consistency—mentoring her project managers, advocating for her people, and staying rooted in her values, even when the stakes are high.

The result? A retention rate that would make most firms jealous. And a culture where performance and care aren’t opposites.

Business is only part of her story.

Rebecca also co-founded Girls a Legacy, a nonprofit that provides scholarships and mentorship to Black and brown girls from Title I schools. In just three years, she’s awarded over $100,000 in scholarships—and personally mentors each of the 16 girls in the program.

“They’re our diamonds in the rough,” she said. “Not all will make it. But if even one does—and goes on to change the world—it’s worth it.”

From mentoring young women to speaking at national education events, she’s turning her personal journey into a public mission: To invest in human potential before it’s polished. To see people not just as they are—but as they could become.