Meet Theresa Contreras

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Theresa Contreras. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Theresa below.

Theresa , so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

The first part is believing in yourself and what you’re doing. If you don’t believe in it, no one else will. Thats probably the hardest for all of us, because we want to fall victim to doubting ourselves because not everyone understands what we’re doing and why. You have to trust YOU. Stay true to yourself and why you’re even on this journey. Because it’s in your heart. Sometimes we don’t understand why we are programmed the way we are, but the more you embrace it, the more others will too.

Next is having the courage to stand out, because it can be a benefit that you’re not like everyone else. If we look at things in a negative way, then we’ll always see negative results. When you change your perspective and starting looking at how these are all positives, you’ll start to see positive ways that a situation can help you instead of hurt you. It really is all perspective and mindset. Become unstoppable. Show people who you are, because they’ve been waiting for YOU to inspire them!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My mission is to inspire & energize others through my love for the style and speed of motorsports! I am fueled by creating, building cars, trucks, motorcycles, and getting behind the wheel/handlesbars! With my love for motorsports, I am a serial entreprenuer with a few businesses that all revolve around it. Co-founder and CEO of BAJA FORGED, an off-road parts manufacturing business, co-founder/CEO of Real Deal Revolution, a non profit that teached skilled trades, and co-hosting a podcast, High Octane Hustle, about sharing the stories of other badasses in motorsports!

BAJA FORGED really came out of my love for going to Baja with my grandparents when I was a kid, and the adventures we would take off-roading with my whole family. Through the years I grew up riding motorcycle, and driving off-road vehicles. I started working at my family business out of college, and when I designed and painted my 2011 Ford Raptor, it was a huge hit, bigger than I anticipated, because it was different than what everyone else was building. As I started to fully embrace my design style, in 2017 I designed a Ford Expedition that won an award from Ford Motor Company, and got over a million views when it debuted. After that year, I designed a vehicle every year for 4 years, and when we were constantly getting asked why we don’t manufacture our product, I realized it was time to take the leap and beleive in what I was doing. In 2020, I co-founded the business with my sister, and my husband. Today, my husband and I run it together, and I hold title of CEO and lead designer. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but it has defintely been a rewarding one that’s worth it!
I learn new things eveyday. I went from customizing 1 off vehicles, to creating a product that any consumer can install, and it is such a diffrent world we are truly getting to know. Truly embracing my instincts though of design, has been something that I want to draw attention to. The more I went with my gut instincts on styling, the more people liked what I was doing. I think so many of us get caught up in thinking that if we ask someone’s opinion and they don’t like it, we have to change it because of one person. The truth is, I have had more people make comments about my designs before they’re done, and then after they win awards, their comments change to compliments.

Real Deal Revolution was co-founded by myself and the late, Jessi Combs, who passed away as the Fastest woman on Earth. We loved to build together, race together, and we wanted to create a female friendly community that embraced the same values that we did. So in 2014, we started RDR, with a mission to revolutionize the perception of skilled trades and womens roles in them. We were both very successful in our field, and we wanted to showcase other women doing the same, and inspire even more to come into the skilled trades industry. With it being such a male dominated industry, Real Deal continues to foster a supportive environment for women to get excited about skiiled trades and see what it truly all has to offer! We go all over the country with our traveling Real Deal Workshoppes with female insutructors teaching skilled trades to all. We look forward to growing our presence with the help of people like Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and Dickies Workwear supporting us doing what we do best.

And more recently, I started co-hosting a podcast with Jane Thurmond just over a year ago called, High Octane Hustle. It has been hugely successful, and what I really love about it, is we get to share other people’s journey’s just like you are sharing here today! We know how inspiring it can be to hear someone’s story and be able to relate to it. Here how they got from where we are to where we want to be. It truly is a dream come true to meet these people, and have them share some of their most personal stories with us and YOU!

I grew up in the family business. I was a machinist for a few years, went to college for graphic design, then started working at the family auto body shop after that. During that time, I taught myself how to paint and really enjoyed how redefining a vehicle felt to me and how it made an impact for the customer. These past few years, with starting my own business, I have truly been able to explore more of what I truly need to become on my own. What I was put here for. I’m embracing myself more each day, and not trying to be the person everyone else wants me to be anymore. I have always pushed myself, but I’ve also held myself back because I tried to fit into the box others wanted me to. Now, I truly embrace my motto: “STAY TRUE TO YOU” because I know how much it has truly changed my life to embrace me!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Going to school for Graphic Design, these are by far the best things I took away from it and I beleive is great advice that everyone can use too.
The first was doing critiques. At the beginning of every class, the first thing we did was put our work up on the wall and the entire class would critique it. This helped me to see my work from a different persepctive I would never have thought of, become a better designer through being open to hearing feedback (not taking it in a critical way), and be stronger in explaining my meaning behind my design to others. This truly helped me in all aspects of life. Just being more open to knowing eveyone has something to say, depending on the person, you have to decide if what they are saying is important to you or not. Trust in yourself and know your why.

The second thing was that in Graphic Design, its all about learning different mediums. When I started working at the family auto body shop, I taught myslef how to pinstripe. We were waiting for the pinstriper, and when he didn’t show up, I told everyone I would do it. they looked at me like I was crazy, but if you know me, if I say something its gonna happen. So that night, I stayed, and I pinstriped the car about 20 times before ti was right. The next morning, everyone was surprised when they saw it completed, but I wasn’t. This just opened up a whole new door for me to know that I just need to understand the medium, then the rest will follow. I tought myself how to custom paint over the next few years, and I am a PPG Top Gun painter today! We have more instincts in us to become good at something, once we take the time to understand it first. Then its just putting in the work.

The last advice kind of stems from the previous story and from this quote, “Whether you think you can or you CAN’T, you’re right, ” Henry Ford. I have always been a long time Ford fan, grew up around Broncos, but when I heard this quote, I realized I truly have been living my life like this. Some of it does stem from my upbringing, and my parents being go getters. But truly, once you wrap your head around mindset, everything changes. The words you speak are truly you prophecizing your future. If you say something is going to be hard, most likely it is becuase that’s all you will think about. And vice versa, if you beleive that anything is possible… gues what? IT IS!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I love working with other people! Some of my best friends and business partners have come through collaborations. I’m looking for people that want to help empower others through motorsports, skilled trades, and off-roading. I’m all about being hands on to show others what they can do. From hands-on workshoppes, to complete vehicle builds, to off-road racing, there are all kinds of ways to work together. I’m a serial entreprenuer because everything I do revolves around all these things, but they really all intertwine with eachother. And when you find the right people that just wants everyone to be successful and help them get there, it makes the world a better place. So I look forward to new collaborations that will help us all be more innovative as we sharpen eachothers skills to acheive new heights.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

John Jackson and Kim Botbyl

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