She Left a 16-Year Banking Career to Build Her Own Business | Rachel Garcia
She Left a 16-Year Banking Career to Build Her Own Business | Rachel Garcia  
Podcast: Harder Than Life
Published On: Tue Sep 22 2026
Description: The hardest part isn't always taking the leap. Sometimes it's staying in the unknown long enough to see what you're building. In this episode of Harder Than Life, Kelly Siegel sits down with Rachel Garcia, a former banker who spent 16 years inside major financial institutions before walking away from the security and building her own businesses. Today, she has closed over $100 million in commercial real estate financing and built a software platform designed to make commercial lending faster. Rachel opens up about the fear and uncertainty behind taking the leap, the years of setbacks that tested her, and how a failed first attempt at building her software eventually became part of the foundation for something bigger. She also shares why discipline, faith, routine, and learning to trust the process kept her moving when the results weren't there yet. This conversation is about entrepreneurship, commercial real estate, AI, failure, purpose, and the uncomfortable space between knowing you want more and actually going after it. What are you calling “safe” that you already know you need to leave? Key Points 🟥Why security can become your ceiling 🟥How to take action when fear wants control 🟥Why invisible progress tests your belief in yourself 🟥How failure can create something better 🟥Why discipline matters when results are slow 00:00 Intro 06:02 Why Banks Say No 09:50 Fear Control and Unknown 13:18 Discipline When It Gets Hard 18:11 Built to Not Quit 21:34 CRE Underwriting Software 31:03 Who The Platform Serves 32:12 Deal Collapse Case Study 34:13 AI Screening And Better Loans 35:37 Three Businesses Explained 37:57 Vendor Lessons And Hiring 40:53 Love Life And Alignment 48:31 Dating Non Negotiables 53:02 Final Advice And Rapid Fire 57:03 Closing Challenge And Links 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes that help you heal, lead, and live Harder Than Life. Harder Than Life: ⚫ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellysiegelhtl/ ⚫ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.siegel.71 ⚫ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-siegel-0146a3/ ⚫ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kellysiegel71 ⚫ Website: https://www.trustntm.com Rachel Garcia: ⚫ Website: http://app.crecapitalfinders.com/ 🔴 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre_capital/?hl=en #HarderThanLife #KellySiegel #RachelGarcia #Entrepreneurship #CommercialRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #Business #Entrepreneur #AI #Mindset