Advising with purpose: Juan Brea and Lisbeth Dereaux on health, community, and growth
Juan Brea and Lisbeth Dereaux, co-founders of Avance Global Advisors LP (formerly J. Brea & Co.), sat down with Kristen Oliveri of Wealth Reimagined to discuss the launch of their firm and why health sits at the heart of their business philosophy. In this conversation, they open up about their personal journey, their vision for building purposeful growth, and the role community and events play in supporting entrepreneurs and families alike.
By Kristen Oliveri
You both bring over 25 years of experience in strategy, leadership, and operations. What moment or realization led you to take the leap and launch your own advisory firm?
JB: It started with a simple question: What do we want the next 30 years of our lives to look like? After decades of building and leading organizations, we realized we were ready to define success on our own terms. The acceleration of technology gave us the freedom to work from anywhere and also revealed how many business owners were struggling to keep pace with it. We saw an opportunity to create a lifestyle business that leveraged our combined experience to help others adapt, grow, and thrive in this new era of work.
Many professionals dream of aligning their work with their personal values. How did your focus on travel, health, and wellness shape the way you built J. Brea & Co.?
LD: Travel, health, and wellness aren’t side interests for us. After years of working in fast-paced global environments and travelling extensively, we came to understand that sustaining high performance means prioritizing well-being, not sidelining it.
We wanted to build a company where the “walk the talk” philosophy isn’t just a slogan but embedded in how we operate. From day one, we designed our firm to support a lifestyle that values clarity, energy, and purpose. That mindset shows up in everything from how we structure our workdays to how we advise growing businesses.
Your firm offers a broad range of services from business planning and corporate restructuring to legal operations and technology recommendations. How do you determine what each client truly needs?
JB: HAPIE (Holistic Analysis, Plan, Implement, Evaluate). We call it our HAPIE process! We start by listening to the client gathering the appropriate data necessary to determine a growth plan and implement a sustainable process. Then we evaluate to ensure that the original goals and objectives were met.
What gaps did you observe in the market for mid-stage companies that convince you there was a real opportunity for your hands-on, practical guidance?
LD: We kept seeing a pattern: companies with strong vision and momentum hitting a wall as they tried to scale. A delta exists between their internal capabilities and experiences and what’s necessary to optimize their growth.
We are uniquely qualified to level set that delta. We know how to bridge that gap with practical strategies, systems, and structure mid-stage companies need to scale efficiently.
Starting a firm together can be as challenging as it is rewarding. What have you learned about yourselves, and each other, through this entrepreneurial journey?
JB: We are both client-focused, driven and solution oriented. We learned that we both like solving puzzles. Also, it’s helpful to have a sounding board and learn from the moments that didn’t go as planned as well as to celebrate the victories.
And there’s a lot of work to be done to start a company, the ability to share the workload shouldn’t be underrated.
How do you see the connection between personal well-being and professional success, both for yourselves and for the clients you serve?
LD: We’ve seen time and again that when founders and leaders neglect their well-being, it ripples through the entire organization. Decision making suffers, team dynamics get strained and growth stalls. We believe personal well-being is important to success. We encourage our clients to invest in themselves as much as they invest in strategy and operations. Because when leaders are grounded and focused, they make better decisions, attract stronger teams, and build companies that are profitable and sustainable.
Tell us about your Circle events and how you’re bringing people together in an authentic way?
JB: The Circle events focus on getting a small group of folks together around a topic or concept. This ensures that the people have a commonality to have substantive discussions and make new connections that hopefully leads to enhanced business opportunities. Most of the people that come to a Circle event have one degree of separation. That practically guarantees authenticity. See you at the next Circle event!