Teresa Caro on Building Liminist, Living a Prioritized Life, and Giving Yourself Grace

After decades of climbing the ranks in marketing and building high-performing teams, Teresa Caro made a big pivot—one rooted in purpose, leadership, and a love for helping others grow. Now, as the founder of Liminist, she works with executives and leadership teams to help them show up as their best selves at work and beyond.

In this conversation, Teresa shares how she turned mentorship into a mission, what keeps her going during the tough moments, and why joy and grace are her non-negotiables.

You spent much of your career in marketing. What led you to coaching?

I began my career in marketing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it—I loved the work. I predominantly worked on the advertising agency side, yet I spent some time on the brand side as head of marketing for a credit card company.

As I grew as a leader, I realized I really enjoyed mentoring and sponsoring future leaders—helping them become the best possible versions of themselves.

I started leading bigger teams, and I loved optimizing, designing, and building those teams. I always tease that I nearly put myself out of a job because they became so high performing. They were launching amazing campaigns and winning new business. In 2022, I had a moment to pause and reflect. I realized that while I still loved marketing, I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted to help others do it well. That’s when I launched Liminist. And I haven’t looked back.

Who do you typically work with?

My niche is predominantly chief marketing officers, chief product officers, and heads of marketing and their leadership teams (on the brand side). I also specialize in the advertising agency space. Yet that isn't to say that I won't work with other members of an executive team. For example, I love working with CEOs as they form new executive leadership teams, helping them come together as a trusting organization.

You’re a marketer at heart. How do you approach marketing yourself?

I am very much a marketer at heart. I like the idea of account-based marketing, which means asking: Who's my ideal client from a company perspective? A leader perspective? And then building a list and reaching out and creating relationships with the people on my list. That’s my power base. I reach out to them not to “sell” and instead to have real, cultivated conversations. What challenges are they facing? What do they need? If I’m not the right person, I refer them to someone else. If I am, we create something unique together. Over time, that power base advocates for me to their power base. So now I’m seeing that second layer coming in.

And then I also use content and thought leadership to build awareness. I'm a huge fan of LinkedIn. I'm a prolific writer and I love sharing my thoughts and engaging with my audience. 

My followers get to know me and get to know my perspective. I am a unique coach with a unique approach, and using LinkedIn and other methods of content communication helps people get to know me and how I approach things.

Any advice for women looking to grow their presence on LinkedIn?

First, I don’t assume I’m the expert. Even though I’ve led social media teams, LinkedIn changes constantly, so I hired a strategist to help me build a plan. We looked at business objectives, my target audience, and content variety.

I also think a lot about the algorithm. When I intentionally connect with CMOs and agency leaders, I start seeing more of them in my feed—and they start seeing me. LinkedIn rewards meaningful engagement, especially with the right audience. You can’t just ask your friends or other coaches to like your posts if they’re not your target market.

You’ve said you’re happy to refer people to other coaches. Why is that?

There are so many directions someone can go when they’re looking for help. Mentoring, therapy, coaching—they all serve a purpose. Mentors give you advice. Therapists help you unpack and address deep-seated issues. Coaching sits in the middle. We don’t tell, we ask. We assume you’ve resolved the deep stuff. We're helping you create new behaviors and move forward.

So if someone comes to me and really needs a career coach (an expert in resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and job searching) or a therapist, I send them that way. I get to focus my energy on the clients I’m meant to work with. And often, people appreciate that and come back when the timing or need aligns better.

What’s been the most challenging part of starting your business?

I would say money is really the biggest area of self-doubt for an entrepreneur. A lot of us think, “If I just do this, I’ll be rich. If I write a book, I’ll be rich.” Yet it takes time. There’s a lot of noise out there. There are 50,000+ coaches in the U.S. alone. And by year three, if you haven’t replaced your old executive salary, you start to wonder, “Can I really make this work?”

Luckily, I have a very supportive husband. We’ve looked at the numbers. We know our runway. We even do quarterly planning—me, my project manager, and my husband—so he feels looped in and knows I’m doing the work. I also get messages from clients who say, “Thanks to you, I got through this,” or “Thanks to you, I feel better.” That keeps me going. That’s when I know I’ve found my purpose.

Have you faced any gender-based challenges along the way?

Yes. One of the worst pieces of advice I ever got was, “You don’t have to be smart—you’re pretty.” In the 90s, comments like that were not uncommon. I could have been offended, yet I opted to lean into these types of comments… How about I be both smart and pretty!

In coaching, I find that women are generally more open to mental fitness work, to discussing emotions, and to doing deeper reflection. And we don’t see therapy as a weakness—we see it as a strength. That makes a big difference.

That said, stress, burnout, and imposter syndrome, those don’t have a gender. Everyone’s dealing with it. I also see ageism and other “isms.” But here’s my advice: Look for the bigger truth. Is it really that you’re a woman or a certain age? Or is there something else you can shift or address?

You can’t control everything. Yet you can control how you show up and who you focus on serving. Not everyone’s going to care how many years I’ve been a coach. The right people will care about how I think, how I work, and what I bring to the table.

If you could go back to the beginning of your coaching journey, what would you tell yourself?

I'd say the common theme throughout my career is don't be passive, be active. And be open to possibilities. 

Also, learn from your mistakes. You're not going to get it right every single time. So what can you learn from that moment? How can you become stronger mentally? How can you create something new?

I believe the thing that I would tell myself on January 2, 2023, when I announced that I was becoming a coach is to be patient. Be patient with yourself and keep moving forward. You will get there and it will be worth it.

You mentioned “work-life balance” is a myth. Tell us more.

I like to talk about living a prioritized life. The whole idea of eight hours of work, eight hours of sleep, eight hours of leisure—it doesn’t exist anymore. I look at each year and ask: What do I want to prioritize?

In the Spring of 2025, my daughter graduated from high school. Before she graduated, she decided to stick with club volleyball, and I wanted to be there. So I made a conscious decision to free up time to support her, which meant less business development.

I also realized I was taking on more and more administrative work. So I hired a project manager, which was the best decision. This frees up time for me to focus on business development.

And because we always give to everyone else, give to our children, give to our spouses, give to work. I wanted something that was truly mine, which is 9-Holers Golf with a bunch of amazing women. And that's on Tuesdays.

You co-authored a book—what was that experience like?

I always wanted to write a book. One day I reached out to a friend and author, Jeff Hilimire, to ask if he had any materials around PVTV—Purpose, Vision, Tenets, and Values. He said, “Funny you should ask, we’re writing a playbook. Want in?”

I jumped at the chance. It was an incredible experience, and Ripple Media was a great partner. The book is the Purpose Playbook. Now I feel ready to write one on my own when the time’s right.

What’s next for you?

I want to build Liminist into a real business, not just a solo practice. A business with services, products, and a team. I want to bring in revenue in different ways so I can keep working with the clients and teams that bring me the most joy.

I’m also working on creating destination workshops combining leadership and golf. I hope to launch my first workshop at Pinehurst in North Carolina in 2026. If anybody listening is interested, just give me a call!

What’s your biggest piece of advice for women just starting their entrepreneurial journey?

Give yourself grace. It’s not going to be perfect. Everyone will have advice. You’ll stray from your niche, you’ll worry about money, and you’ll try things that don’t feel aligned. Learn from each step and just keep moving forward.