Turning Compliance Into a Competitive Edge: Inside May Guevara’s Visionary Approach

May Guevara’s journey from high-stakes compliance expert to founder of Guevara Group LLC and creator of GalaxiTron™ is a masterclass in intentional entrepreneurship. In this Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, she reveals how burnout sparked clarity, and how clarity led to building scalable systems that now empower regulated industries to lead with precision and integrity. By rejecting reactive fixes and embracing disciplined design, May redefined compliance as a strategic advantage—transforming not just her business, but how companies approach audit readiness and risk. Her story is a bold reminder that real impact starts with ownership, structure, and purpose.

Hi, May! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

Guevara Group LLC is a woman-owned compliance and quality consulting firm supporting companies operating in highly regulated industries, including aerospace, defense, and space, where compliance, quality management systems (QMS), and risk management are mission-critical. We serve manufacturers, suppliers, and emerging technology companies that must meet demanding regulatory and contractual standards such as AS9100, NADCAP, CMMC, and U.S. government contracting requirements.

Our work focuses on designing and implementing clear, auditable, and scalable management systems that do more than pass audits. Through hands-on consulting, audit readiness, and strategic compliance leadership, we help organizations reduce operational and regulatory risk, strengthen internal accountability, and build sustainable quality management systems that support long-term growth. The impact is tangible: safer products, more resilient supply chains, disciplined operations, and organizations equipped to compete confidently in global regulated markets.

GalaxiTron™ extends this mission through technology. GalaxiTron™ is a digital compliance infrastructure platform designed to modernize how regulated organizations manage compliance, quality, and audit readiness. Rather than relying on fragmented documentation and manual processes, GalaxiTron™ provides a structured, system-driven environment that connects regulatory requirements, documentation, risk, controls, and objective evidence in one traceable framework. The result is greater transparency, improved audit readiness, and more informed decision-making across the organization.

Together, Guevara Group LLC and GalaxiTron™ enable organizations to move from reactive, checkbox compliance to proactive, disciplined, system-driven operations. The broader impact is helping companies in critical industries operate with greater confidence, integrity, and long-term resilience—where compliance becomes a strategic advantage rather than a constant burden.

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

For a long time, I carried the vision in my head while still relying on the safety of a traditional role. I had the expertise, the ideas, and the ambition, but part of me was still standing with one foot in certainty and one foot in possibility.

The shift happened when I made the decision to fully step into ownership — not just of a business, but of the responsibility and risk that come with it. When I left the comfort of a stable, predictable path and committed myself to building Guevara Group LLC with intention, discipline, and accountability, everything changed. Clients were no longer hypothetical. Results mattered. My decisions carried real weight, and there was no one else to defer to.

That feeling became undeniable the first-time organizations trusted me to represent them in high-stakes compliance and audit environments — situations where precision, integrity, and leadership aren’t optional. I wasn’t “preparing” anymore. I was executing, delivering, and being held accountable at the highest level.

GalaxiTron™ emerged from that same moment of clarity. It wasn’t born from an idea scribbled on a whiteboard, but from lived experience — years of seeing how broken, manual, and fragmented compliance systems slow good companies and teams down. Choosing to build a scalable platform to solve that problem meant thinking beyond myself and committing to long-term impact.

I knew I had crossed from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur when my focus shifted from dreaming about what could be built to taking full responsibility for building it — for my clients, my team, and my family. At that point, I wasn’t just building a business anymore; I was building something my children could look to as proof that discipline, grit, courage, and integrity matter. There was no going back. The work became real, the stakes became personal, and the commitment became permanent.

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

The period that ultimately motivated me to make the entrepreneurial leap was marked by burnout and defined by clarity. After years of working inside highly regulated industries—particularly environments where compliance, quality, and risk management are mission-critical—I reached a point where I could see the problems clearly, repeatedly, and systemically. I also reached a hard realization that I was giving everything I had to systems that were not designed to work the way they should or to optimize the workforce supporting them. The work was meaningful, but the constraints were constant, and the inefficiencies were impossible to unsee.

I watched capable teams struggle under fragmented compliance processes, outdated quality management systems, and reactive decision-making, even when the stakes were incredibly high. In regulated industries, inefficiency doesn’t just slow progress—it increases risk. What became increasingly difficult to ignore was the widening gap between what I knew was possible and what organizations were actually equipped to execute.

I had the experience, judgment, and credibility to solve those problems, but I also recognized the limitations of doing so from within someone else’s structure. I could influence outcomes, but I could not architect compliance and operational systems the way I knew they needed to be built. That was the turning point. I realized I wasn’t meant to keep optimizing within someone else’s framework—I was meant to design the framework itself.

That realization created a quiet but persistent tension. I didn’t feel compelled to escape anything; I felt compelled to build something better. Something disciplined, scalable, and grounded in how regulated organizations truly operate in practice—not how theory says they should.

The leap came when I accepted that staying comfortable would eventually cost more than taking the risk. I wanted ownership over the standards I set, the integrity of the work delivered, and the long-term impact of the solutions being created. Founding Guevara Group LLC, a compliance and quality consulting firm serving regulated industries, allowed me to lead with direct accountability and precision. Building GalaxiTron™, a digital compliance infrastructure platform, was a natural extension of that same motivation—addressing root causes instead of symptoms through structured, system-driven solutions.

Ultimately, the entrepreneurial leap was driven by responsibility: responsibility to clients who needed stronger, more defensible systems; to industries that demand precision, trust, and audit readiness; and to my children, who deserve to see what it looks like to lead with conviction rather than convenience. Burnout may have opened my eyes, but clarity is what gave me the conviction to move forward and build with intention.

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

One tool that has been a game-changer for my business is Apollo. In highly regulated industries like aerospace and defense, success depends on precision—not volume. Apollo allows us to clearly define and refine our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) so we can focus our time and energy on organizations that are genuinely aligned with our services and expertise.

For a niche consulting firm like Guevara Group LLC, hours spent searching for the right decision-makers or manually qualifying prospects is time taken away from delivering high-value compliance and quality work. Apollo streamlines that process by enabling targeted outreach based on role, industry, company maturity, and regulatory environment. This ensures that our engagement efforts are intentional, relevant, and respectful of the complexity of the industries we serve.

The platform has helped us reduce wasted research time, improve outreach quality, and maintain discipline around who we engage with and why. That clarity is critical when working with regulated organizations where trust, credibility, and alignment matter far more than aggressive sales tactics.

More importantly, Apollo supports a systems-driven approach to business development—the same philosophy we apply to compliance and quality management. By pairing precise targeting with thoughtful engagement, we’re able to grow sustainably while staying focused on delivering measurable impact for our clients.

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

One of the most important lessons that shaped my direction came from an early realization that expertise alone is not enough—you must also be intentional about structure, positioning, and scale. Early in my journey, I believed that working harder within existing compliance and quality frameworks would be sufficient to drive meaningful change for organizations in regulated industries. I focused heavily on execution, problem-solving, and delivering results, often absorbing complexity rather than redesigning it.

The failure wasn’t technical—it was structural. I underestimated how much fragmented compliance systems, disconnected documentation, and reactive audit cycles limit even the most capable teams. I was solving problems repeatedly instead of addressing the underlying system that created them. Over time, that approach became inefficient and unsustainable, both for organizations and for me.

That realization marked a critical pivot. Instead of continuing to operate purely in a reactive, service-driven mode, I shifted my focus toward building disciplined, scalable compliance and quality management systems that could stand on their own. This shift directly influenced how Guevara Group LLC was structured—moving from ad hoc support to intentional compliance architecture, audit readiness, and long-term system design for aerospace, defense, and other regulated industries.

The same lesson ultimately shaped the creation of GalaxiTron™. Rather than continuing to rely on manual processes and disconnected tools, I recognized the need for a digital compliance infrastructure platform that could connect requirements, risk, documentation, and evidence in a traceable, system-driven way. What initially felt like a limitation in how much impact I could make became the catalyst for building something far more scalable.

The lesson was clear: growth doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from designing better systems. That pivot fundamentally changed how I operate, how I serve clients, and how I think about impact. Today, both Guevara Group LLC and GalaxiTron™ are built around that principle—helping organizations move beyond reactive compliance toward disciplined, resilient, and sustainable audit-ready operations.

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

One unconventional strategy that significantly impacted my business was deliberately choosing to lead with systems and execution credibility rather than marketing volume or rapid scaling. In industries like aerospace, defense, and other highly regulated environments, trust is built through demonstrated competence, audit readiness, and operational discipline—not visibility alone.

Instead of chasing broad exposure or aggressive client acquisition, I focused on building Guevara Group LLC around deep compliance architecture, quality management systems, and high-accountability delivery. That meant saying no to misaligned opportunities, limiting growth intentionally, and allowing results, referrals, and reputation to compound organically. This approach ran counter to conventional startup advice, but it aligned with how regulated organizations actually make decisions.

At the same time, I treated compliance not as a service to be sold repeatedly, but as a system to be designed once and scaled. That thinking directly influenced the development of GalaxiTron™, a digital compliance infrastructure platform built to address the root causes of audit fatigue, fragmented documentation, and reactive compliance cycles. By investing early in infrastructure and systems thinking, I was able to extend impact beyond one-to-one consulting.

This strategy shifted my role from problem-solver to system architect. It allowed the business to grow with precision, maintain credibility in high-trust environments, and build long-term value instead of short-term momentum. The result has been a more resilient operation—one grounded in disciplined execution, scalable compliance systems, and trust earned through performance rather than promotion.

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

One thing I wish I had understood sooner is that building a successful business is less about intensity and more about discipline. That momentum doesn't come from motivation - it comes from consistency. Early on, it’s easy to equate progress with constant activity—more ideas, more outreach, more effort. But especially in regulated industries, sustainable success comes from designing clear systems, setting boundaries, and making deliberate decisions that compound over time.

I would advise newer entrepreneurs to focus on building strong foundations before chasing scale. Understand your operating environment deeply, define your standards early, and be intentional about how you structure your work. In areas like compliance, quality management systems, and audit readiness, shortcuts eventually create more work, more risk, more fatigue and expensive mistakes. 

Another lesson is to resist the pressure to grow in every direction at once. Clarity around who you serve, what problems you are uniquely qualified to solve, and how you deliver value will save years of frustration. Saying no to misaligned opportunities, to rushed growth, and to unnecessary complexity is often what creates the space to build something durable.

Finally, recognize that entrepreneurship is a long game. Your credibility, reputation, and systems matter more than short-term wins. Whether you’re building a consulting firm like Guevara Group LLC or developing scalable infrastructure like GalaxiTron™, the goal should be to create something that can operate with integrity and resilience long after you’re no longer in every decision.

If I had known earlier that progress comes from disciplined design rather than constant motion, I would have worried less—and built faster, better, and with far more intention.

Want to dive deeper into May's work? Check out the links below!

• Visit Galaxitron's website: galaxitron.com
• Visit Guevara Group LLC's website: guevaragroupllc.com