From the hood to the White House

Apr. 13—Mentorship from women of influence helped change the course of one woman's life, who recently shared her story with the Women in Leadership during their annual luncheon.

Rebecca Contreras, a best-selling author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and speaker, shared her journey as an entrepreneur, from being a government employee to a successful business owner.

Born into poverty to a drug-addicted mother, she has had to fight for survival since she was born.

"When I was 5 years old, my mother told me she was going to the grocery store and never came back," Contreras said. "My baby sister was 6 months old and in the crib. Three days later, a neighbor called my grandmother, telling her that she was calling social services and she needed to come get the kids. None of my three siblings her I knew our fathers. My father was from Yugoslavia. He was the owner of a nightclub my mom was a dancer at."

What she and her siblings experienced throughout their childhood would rival any Hollywood dysfunctional drama, she said.

"I felt like I was born into a pit and I had to keep digging my way out of a hole that just kept sucking me back down," she said.

Contreras said she repeated the cycle of dysfunction, poverty, addiction and abuse that had grown all too familiar to her. At 17 years old, she got pregnant and dropped out of high school.

"By the age of 18, my life had spiraled out of control and was a complete train wreck," she said. "I put myself in compromising positions that should have landed me in prison or death."

Through a miracle intervention, her life changed. She enrolled in a Welfare to Work program, obtained her GED and landed a job as a single mom as a temp, working for Ann Richards before she became Texas governor. She also worked for Kay Bailey Hutchinson when she became governor.

"All of a sudden my lens and life began to change," she said. "Because I saw women in power I saw women of influence in my community."

The mentor who hired her as a temp receptionist saw her potential and hired her permanently.

"Donna saw in me potential that I had never recognized in myself," Contreras said. "She saw the eagerness for me to learn and a spark that was just waiting to ignite. In little Becky, she was a game changer in my life. Donna took me under her wing and taught me everything I knew about HR. Donna believed in me and invested in me as a professional woman when I didn't even believe it."

From there she worked her way up the ladder and eventually became an advisor to at-the-time Gov. George W. Bush, and later served during his presidency.

"I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me when I was 17, a high school dropout, riddled in poverty and addiction, 'Rebecca one day, you're going to be the adviser to the president of the United States. Rebecca one day, you're going to be a mother and a grandmother. You're going to be married 34 years, something I had never seen. My grandmother wasn't married. My mother wasn't married. Rebecca one day you're going to be part of a fast growing entrepreneur journey and the fastest growing demographic in the state of Texas — a woman entrepreneur.'"

Contreras shared photos of her in Bush's Oval Office just days after Sept. 11, 2001.

After leaving the White House, Contreras founded AvantGarde LLC, a 130-plus consulting firm with teams spread across nine states, including Texas. She also published her autobiography, "Lost Girl: From the hood to the White House to Millionaire Entrepreneur."

"Here I am loving and living my God life-giving purpose," she said. "Today, I have not allowed the 'Lost Girl' story to keep me down or make me riddled in shame. But I lead with my mess. I'm going to allow it to empower me to continue to inspire and encourage others. 'Lost Girl' will always be a part of my life. But 'Lost Girl' does not define me. I define me and how I lead and how I empower as a woman leader, and what I choose to do with my own influence of what I've gained, and to pay it forward. That is what defines the legacy I leave."

In 2022, she launched the Girls of Legacy Scholarship and Mentoring Program through her nonprofit, LanchPad. The Girls of Legacy benefits disadvantaged girls out of Title 1 underprivileged schools in the Austin area post high school graduation as they pursue professional development, a trade or higher education.

"I'm all about impact," she said. "There is a group of businesswomen that mentor these girls, which I'm scholarshipping and helping them to go through college. It's all about the give back because ladies, we can accomplish so many things as women, but we can't leave the next generation behind. We have to invest and take time to mentor and to invest into and empower and enable those young women and those young men that are going to go after us."

Contreras' book, "Lost Girl," is available on Amazon. To learn more about her and her foundations, visit rebeccacontreeras.com.

The event was sponsored by BATES etc. Travel.