A busy mortgage broker and family woman, she always finds time to help the community, as an example, organising a recent ladies charity lunch that made $11,500 for St John and the Queenstown Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Also well known as a singer and former karaoke jockey, the 46-year-old moved to Queenstown from Queensland 23 years ago.
She grew up in Rockhampton — "I call it the Invercargill of central Queensland, full of bogans and cow cockies" — and played the piano and guitar at school.
"I was always that kid that would sing."
She thinks that came from her grandmother who immigrated from England and used to tour Australia performing.
Having impressed with her karaoke singing at a local bar, she was offered a job as a karaoke jockey on her 17th birthday.
She went back to explain she wasn’t 18 "but can I still please have a job?", and the boss fortunately said ‘yes’.
That was just one of many jobs she took while at Rockhampton High, and afterwards.
"I did door-to-door insurance sales in rural Queensland and got screamed at a lot, I’ve done fruit and vege, I’ve done most things."
Working for a Rydges-owned resort in Yeppoon, running karaoke, working in their bars/restaurants and organising activities like archery, she was attracted by a job posting at Queenstown’s Rydges hotel.
Rebeca was taken on as a corporate cadet in 2002, and also ran karaoke at its Maggie’s Bar.
Within two weeks she met husband-to-be Mark Barnes, who was bouncing with his twin brother at the popular Chico’s nightclub.
"I didn’t realise there were two of them, I thought I was chatting up just a moody guy who would engage with me sometimes and not others."
She brought Mark to Australia the next year, working a ski season at Jindabyne before returning to Queenstown.
Not wanting to work in hotels any more, Rebeca got a job managing a retail store in ’06.
Meantime she’d been taken on as the karaoke jockey at the former Pig & Whistle Pub which she did for about eight years.
She also performed in many shows including imitating Cher for Margaret O’Hanlon’s Starry Eyed.
Another spin-off was becoming vocalist for local band Rock Felony.
A special year was 2009 when Rebeca and Mark married, they had their first child, Nikau, and bought a Fernhill house.
To survive they’d work several jobs — "we definitely hustled to live a good life in Queenstown".
She had daughter Ngaia, too, and on Mark’s suggestion joined the banking world with ASB in 2016.
Rebeca became assistant manager at the Remarks Park branch, then ASB’s first home ownership manager in the country.
Then in 2022 — "I kind of hit the ceiling in what I was doing" — she joined a mortgage broking company in a self-employed capacity, then, a year ago, launched her own brokerage, Get It Mortgages.
"I’ve been really lucky with the business, I’ve had people follow me all the way through [from ASB]."
Meantime, Rebeca continued her heavy involvement in the community.
"I think that growing up it was really important, like I used to go with mum and do Meals on Wheels, my gran used to do Blue Nurses, I did modelling competitions where you were raising funds for people.
"It was instilled in me, you’re in a pond and you have a ripple effect to the people around you.
"And, moving here when you’re in a really small community and everybody’s away from their families, what you do to create the community around you is really up to you."
At ASB, Rebeca had a community liaison role and was nominated for an excellence award through her involvement with Winter Pride.
She helps with Baskets of Blessing, often on deliveries, sometimes with baking.
She’s treasurer of the Fernhill Sunshine Bay Community Association and co-chairs the St Joseph’s School PTA, and got inducted into Rotary two weeks ago.
Rebeca had the idea for a ladies charity lunch from a successful local men’s lunch.
"I’m like, why do the boys get the fun lunches?
"I approached Lauren Ludlow from Soda and she had the same idea at the same time."
The result was a first lunch last year, raising money for Central Lakes Family Services, followed by a second lunch three weeks ago.
Rebeca says "I really want my business to be successful, but one of the reasons is so I can pick and choose my time and prioritise my family".
"My husband is amazing, we’ve been together 23 years and I still couldn’t imagine being with anybody but him.
"And my kids are awesome."
Proving the apple doesn’t fall from the tree, Nikau, then only 15, trekked with a mate around Lake Whakatipu last summer after conceiving the walk as a fundraiser for the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust.
