Meet Rebecca Paredes

The following article was originally published on Canvas Rebel on May 16, 2024. Minor grammar and style revisions have been made for clarity, but the core content remains unchanged.

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

Hi Rebecca, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Born into a traditional Hispanic family in the vibrant city of San Antonio, Rebecca emerged as the youngest of five siblings in a low-income household. Rooted deeply in the rich cultural tapestry of her upbringing, family values were instilled as the cornerstone of her identity.

Rebecca’s journey began at KSAT 12, responding to a newspaper ad,  that set the stage for a remarkable sales career across various stations, including Cable, Fox, CBS, and Univision. In her career, it was a strictly corporate experience. You feel the safety net, being brought up with your parents. You don’t quit a job until you have another. However, after years, you start realizing, “Maybe I can do a better job for my clients by telling them the real truth…not just some corporate dictate to increase revenue.” The rules of the game started changing with new technology and increasing budgets. The stations were getting desperate and put that desperation on to their employees. At the end of the day, are we trying to improve the corporate bottom line or take care of our clients???

Witnessing industry shifts that eroded values, she decided to chart her own course by establishing Paredes Marketing, named after her father. It was not about the volume but about the service that you, as a company, can be proud of. Knowing you cannot service 40 clients a month but service 15 you can help the business owner and really target all avenues of their business.

For Rebecca, Paredes Marketing is not just a career; it’s a lifelong mission. Fueled by the values of her traditional Hispanic upbringing, she remains dedicated to ensuring that businesses thrive and grow, just as she learned from her father.

So, to answer your question, hell no.

The Team

We are a growing team of digital marketing experts and innovative thinkers who bring passion and creativity to helping companies thrive. We take a collaborative approach, contributing diverse skills while remaining humble and focused on delivering meaningful growth for your business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the Industry by going to the newspaper TO FIND a job; I NEEDED MONEY, and that ad said “Secretary Needed” for the ABC staff at KSAT 12. Not only did I enjoy the past atmosphere, but I also knew I found a career path in sales.

During the many years I worked at several affiliates, Fox, CBS, and Univision Management, I learned firsthand that industry shifts eroded the values of wanting to help clients thrive and having to sell them something they don’t need due to corporate dictates. I decided to chart my own course by establishing Paredes Marketing, which I named after my father.

My business that garnered several clients. During COVID-19, I knew the one thing that I wanted to venture into, which was digital. I am now able to help any client with any budget. We handle every marketing tool needed to grow a business in the way and time they need to plan success, on their terms. We still handle traditional media buying such as TV, Radio, Billboard, Print, Production, and Event Marketing. However, we can now do any type of digital marketing, including Web Design.

What makes us different is that I do not have my reps do a cold call, drive by, or email until they have done a complete investigation on every account. So, basically, we go in totally prepared so that we don’t waste our time or the client’s time. I ask my team, “Why does the client need us? What did you uncover from your research?”

The definite difference is that I am hands-on. The client will have an Account Executive, a Social Media expert, and myself. Most agency owners you only see periodically or just for the close. I don’t need or want to have a business that cannot have our full attention. Plus, I love mentoring and talking to my reps, with my same line “When I started in the business, my leads were from the phone book” They hear it a million times, and I made a successful career out of it for 35 years, nowadays all the technology is there at your fingertips. I laugh and say, “No excuses!”

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

This will teach an easy lesson that can be used every day. Be kind to anybody you meet, just a little gesture, a hello or a smile is usually returned and builds relationships that could lead to a new client.

I was at a restaurant, the place was packed. The only table that was available was for a table of 6. I saw an elderly couple and a younger couple walk in. Since I was close to the door, they all had expressions of disappointment. I also heard the elderly woman state, my feet are killing me.

So, I got up and told them to take my table. I could stand and wait for my friend at the bar. The elderly man said, “Oh no, you won’t.” We at least owe you a beer. Come sit with us. We introduced ourselves. Then I learned that they were waiting because they had concert tickets and found out the younger couple were their children visiting from out of town.

When the woman asked me, so what do you do? I proudly answered with a grin, I own a marketing company and love it! I asked what about you? She responded that I am with **** Foundation. She proceeded to mention that she actually founded the ****Foundation, which educates and gives talks to Breast Cancer survivors and holds an annual convention every year that brings in doctors to speak about the newest research revolving around BC.

I said my goodness that sounds wonderful. Do you have a marketing team helping you? She said yes, but I think they charge too much. plus, they were not local, so her organization incurred hotel, flight, etc. This is a week-long event. I then asked her if I could set up a meeting with you to discuss in detail what needs to be done. She said “YES” That year was during covid. This organization kept me in business when I needed a new client to make it through the year. Always remember to do the right thing 100% of your day.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

At the age of 50, on my birthday, I decided to give myself a present. I started my own business. With just 2 clients and a savings account. I managed to start and basically have a new attitude that I KNOW I can do this! I was basically in a NO FAILURE mindset.

Leaving the security of a corporate life-long career was, believe me, a challenge. I wanted to at least make six figures, Since quite frankly, I made the Affiliates millions, why can’t I do that for myself. The first couple of years the transition was tough. I needed to enjoy the pace of not being in such a rush. In corporate life, I was servicing an average of 30 accounts a month, big and small. I was billing from 1 million to up to 8 million per year. I was also used to heading up a team of 10-12 sales reps.

I found that I had so much anxiety about how slow business owner life was. I really noticed it when I went to the grocery store. It may sound stupid, but it was true. I now could actually read the labels, and I was not in a rush to get back to the office and any client meetings or having to constantly read crazy text messages in the evening about something negative. All that was gone, but the anxiety I did not prepare for was actually having more time.

My clientele was like family, and I was handling anywhere between 6-8 clients a month. After year 6 I still was not satisfied with the number of clients, I knew I needed more. Every now and again, you have Negative Nancy family members, who would tell me, well, you can always go back to a job. Which led me to start questioning myself. You will always get some negative response because people either wish they could do it or people that don’t believe in you. Fast forward now with 7 employees, and life is so different than when I started. I have a new chapter of my life, I will be turning 60 this year. So I will have been in business for 10 years. I love learning new technology every week, having people depend on me and I have no plans on retiring soon, I am have too much fun, proving those naysayers wrong.

Contact Info:

Scroll to Top