top of page
Search

K-Love Interviews Rebecca: Government Shutdown November 2025


*To listen to full interview visit:


Texas CEO Helps Out Employees During Government Shutdown With Zero-Interest Loans (+podcast)


(AUSTIN, TEXAS) Business leader and author Rebecca Contreras is a woman of strength, confidence, and purpose. But her story began in heartbreak, abandonment, and poverty. Through God’s intervention, wise mentorship, and relentless courage, Rebecca’s life became a testimony to the power of redemption. 


Today, Rebecca is the CEO and co-founder of AvantGarde, a consulting company with more than 100 employees across seven states, and the author of Lost Girl: From the Hood to the White House to Millionaire Entrepreneur. Her journey spans government service, entrepreneurship, ministry work, and advocacy for young women. But perhaps what defines her most is her commitment to lead with love.


During the recent government shutdown, nearly half of AvantGarde’s workforce—many of whom serve government clients—were suddenly without work and without the promise of back pay. Rebecca and her business partner knew the stakes: rent payments, groceries, childcare, dignity.


So they took action.


Instead of waiting for the government to fix the crisis, they opened their own wallets. They offered zero-interest loans. They provided grocery gift cards. They organized Thanksgiving meals. And employees still working gave generously to support those who were temporarily without income.


“People were so moved,” Rebecca shared. “They said, ‘Now we know you truly lead with love.’”


The gesture wasn’t charity—it was covenant leadership. It was faith expressed in practice.

Rebecca’s compassion did not come from an easy life. She grew up in poverty along the Texas border. Her mother battled addiction and mental illness, ultimately abandoning Rebecca and her siblings when Rebecca was just five years old. Trauma marked her childhood.


Jeremiah 29:11 became real in her story: “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to give you a hope and a future.”


At nineteen, Rebecca encountered Jesus in a way that changed everything. She joined a church community, sought healing, and began to confront the emotional and spiritual wounds that shaped her early years. She entered a welfare-to-work program, was mentored by influential women of faith, and eventually worked her way into government service—ultimately serving in the White House under President George W. Bush.


“I wish I could say I just pulled myself up by my bootstraps,” Rebecca shared. “But God placed people in my life who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. And I had to be willing to do the hard work on me.”


For those feeling stuck or overlooked, she says it's important to own your story--stop blaming others. Healing starts when we confront our own patterns. Rebecca also wants to stress the power of forgiveness. Forgiving others releases us from our past. She also says it's important to surround yourself with the right people and to seek counsel and remove toxic people.


“Your beginning does not determine your end,” she says. “Not when you allow God to work.”

Because others poured into her, Rebecca now pours into others. Through her Girls Legacy Initiative, she mentors and provides scholarships to young women from inner-city backgrounds. She is also in development discussions to bring Lost Girl to the big screen, continuing to share a message of redemption with a wider audience.


“We need to be part of the solution,” she says. “Healing starts with us—and then it moves outward, one person at a time.”


Comments

bottom of page