From Lost Girl to Legacy Builder: Poverty, the White House, and VEO’s Main Stage

Rebecca Contreras did not come to VEO with a tidy origin story. She came with the kind of journey that makes a room go quiet.

Contreras is the president and CEO of AvantGarde (AG), the women-owned human capital, IT, and strategy consulting firm she co-founded in 2011 and scaled across multiple states. Before joining AG, she spent 15 years in public service, from Austin to Washington, culminating in her role as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief Human Capital Officer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Her bestselling memoir, Lost Girl: "From the Hood to the White House to Millionaire Entrepreneur", mapped that arc. At VEO, she connected the dots for service-sector leaders who build teams, bid work, and hold culture together in uncertain times.

She opened with an image that many in the room recognized: hard work done the hard way. As a child in Texas, she helped her mother, who was on welfare for most of her life, clean empty apartments before move-ins. "We would clean with a toothbrush, a bucket of soap water, and a little bit of bleach, because bleach fixes everything," she said. Those hours on tile and tracks stuck with her, not as a career path, but as a lesson in effort, detail, and the dignity of service work.

The early years were chaotic. Contreras shared a memory from when she was five years old. "My mother told me she was going to the grocery store and never came back," she said. A neighbor's call-"Graciela se fue, Graciela has gone again. You need to come with the kids, or I'm going to call social services,"-set off a chain of moves, separations, and survival. She described the mix of poverty, addiction, and abuse that shaped her childhood, and how repeating that cycle at 15 led her to what she called a rock-bottom moment.

Then came a pivot she described: "I had an epiphany and an encounter with God who changed the course of my life forever." Not long after, she met David, who became her husband and, in her words, the first person to show her that she had inherent value. She entered a welfare-to-work program and found herself in the state government during Ann Richards' tenure as State Treasurer. Early in her career, a manager named Donna changed everything by seeing potential, investing in her skills, and providing her with a path. The mentorship was both practical-encompassing training, stretch assignments, and professional development-and personal. It helped her picture a future that looked nothing like her past.

That lens-leaders who see people and build their capacity-ran through her VEO talk. Contreras urged owners and managers to anchor on a handful of truths that guide action in a noisy environment. First, choose to lead with conviction. She challenged attendees to step into the gaps that uncertainty creates and to take ownership of their immediate sphere of influence. Second, ground leadership in values that people can feel. "We are going to lead with love as a company," she told her team at AG, a decision that shaped how they handled growth, change, and even setbacks.

One of those setbacks arrived suddenly. "I was affected by sizeable budget cuts early 2025 at the tune of millions in loss of revenue in like six months," she said, describing a rapid revenue shock that forced furloughs and a reset. Rather than retreat, she met with every affected employee, promised outreach and support, and set about diversifying the business. That response balanced care with urgency, and it reinforced her belief that people stay when they feel seen.

For the VEO audience-operators who depend on frontline talent-Contreras' third point landed squarely: Be intentional. Decisions, words, and timing matter. She practices what she calls "the power of the pause." That pause, she said, brings clarity and protects relationships. She shared an episode with a high-ranking client who came in hot and critical. Instead of escalating, she stepped back, looked for what he might be carrying, and asked whether AG was still the right fit. The temperature dropped. Work continued. The lesson was not about appeasement; it was about the tactical discipline to slow down, read the room, and choose the response that moves the mission forward.

Fourth, take your own self-care condition seriously. "You matter," she said, emphasizing body, mind, and spirit. She discussed personal routines that help her reset, including early-morning grounding and time in nature, and she connected these disciplines to her performance. Leaders who are constantly depleted tend to make reactive choices; leaders who are centered make more durable ones.

Finally, cultivate grit. Contreras watched leaders up close, such as when serving in the White House for President Bush during the 9/11 crisis, and came away convinced that composure and resolve are contagious. Teams look for cues. Owners, CEOs, and leaders set the tone. In practice, she pairs that grit with a hiring lens that many VEO attendees shared. Soft skills often surpass hard skills in terms of fit and longevity. As she put it, she will train project management; she will hire for humility, service, collaboration, and emotional intelligence. "The soft skills of leadership are more important than the hard or technical skills of leadership," she said.

The room also heard her speak directly to Latino entrepreneurs and first-generation strivers in the audience. She answered a question in Spanish and returned to the idea of community over solo heroics. Progress, she said, accelerates when you gather mentors, accept accountability, and surround yourself with people who pull you forward.

Contreras did not shy away from the most complex parts of her story. She talked about addiction in families and on teams, how often it hides in plain sight, and the mix of spiritual support, therapy, and community that helped her and David build a different kind of home. She described the long journey of forgiveness with painful honesty. "Forgiveness is for you," she said. It was not a tidy bow; it was a practice that freed her to lead without bitterness.

So what does all of this mean for a service business owner heading back to the office after VEO? It means culture is not a poster; it is how you handle a rough quarter, a demanding client, or a crew member who is having a bad day. It means you hire for heart and coach for skill. It means you make time to pause before posting, texting, or planning. It means you commit to the four feet of influence around you today and watch it expand.

And it means you tell the truth about the work. Cleaning and restoration professionals operate close to people's lives. They notice what others miss, they keep places healthy and usable, and they often carry more than one job, one language, or one family story at a time. Contreras remembered being ten, on her knees with a toothbrush, and she sees that same perseverance in the field now. The job is physical. The stakes are human. The opportunity is leadership.

At AG, that looks like clearer roles, better managers, and retention built on respect. For VEO attendees, it can resemble a redesigned onboarding process that teaches expectations and fosters a sense of belonging in the first week, a frontline career ladder that ties training to wages and responsibilities, and supervisors trained in conflict de-escalation and coaching. It can resemble monthly town halls that share numbers and invite questions, so people understand the rationale behind decisions. It can look like a simple commitment that echoes hers: Lead with love, measure what matters, and keep moving.

Contreras closed by inviting conversation. She did not present a perfect path. She offered a set of choices-about values, pace, and people-that any company in the room could make. The resume explains her credibility. The story describes her urgency. And the message, plain enough for a Wednesday toolbox talk, was this: Choose to thrive, invest in your people, and stay aligned with what you say you value. As she put it, "the power of the pause" helps you do it on the days it feels hardest, and the results show up in better work, steadier teams, and customers who can feel the difference.