Lisa Liberatore: Builder, Connector, Growth Strategist

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Lisa Liberatore is a builder, connector, and strategic advisor to founders navigating growth, transition, and complexity.

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She is the creator of The Focused Founder, a limited advisory engagement designed for leaders who are making high-stakes decisions — and need clarity, perspective, and trusted partnership when the cost of getting it wrong is high.

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Lisa’s work is grounded in experience. Her entrepreneurial journey began with Baxter Tea Company, a coffee and tea brand she built from the ground up and successfully sold after five years. Since then, she has founded, scaled, licensed, and exited multiple ventures — earning a reputation for turning vision into durable, well-structured businesses.

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She went on to co-found an investment real estate company and later launched Lisa’s Legit Burritos in Gardiner, Maine, expanding the brand into Augusta. Rather than remaining tied to day-to-day operations, Lisa designed a licensing model that allowed the business to scale through partner-led management. She later sold the trademark, reinforcing her strength in systems, delegation, and building businesses designed for transition — not dependency.

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These experiences led her naturally into advisory work with founders.

For more than a decade, Lisa has worked at the center of Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving as Program Manager for Scratchpad Accelerator and now for UpStart Maine. Across these roles, she has worked hands-on with more than 20 scalable companies — helping founders refine strategy, build financial models, validate markets, and collectively raise over $15 million in equity.

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Lisa is known for her ability to create clarity in complex moments. She builds high-impact mentor networks, facilitates honest founder conversations, and designs spaces — from intimate strategy sessions to 200-person ecosystem events — where real decisions get made. She doesn’t just advise; she helps founders see what matters most and move forward with confidence.

She is also the co-founder of CoVort (now Rize Coworking & Collaboration Space), Bangor’s first coworking space, created to give entrepreneurs and remote workers a collaborative home long before community-driven workspaces became mainstream.

 

Beyond business building, Lisa is the author of The Power of Transparency, a candid exploration of leadership, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and navigating major life transitions. Her work blends strategy with humanity — recognizing that sustainable growth requires both clear thinking and personal alignment.

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In additional, Lisa is an ADHD certified coach and holds a bronze Coachability certification.

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Most recently, Lisa co-founded D-Max Merch with her son, Dorian, a social-impact venture focused on literacy, kindness, and youth-led leadership — reinforcing her belief that business can be both profitable and purpose-driven.

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Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Student Development in Higher Education with a focus on Educational Leadership, grounding her advisory work in adult learning, coaching, and behavior change. She also serves as an Associate Broker with NextHome Experience, supporting entrepreneurs and first-time investors in making confident real estate decisions.

 

Today, Lisa’s primary work is The Focused Founder.

Clients hire her when they need:

• Clear strategic thinking without fluff

• Honest financial and business modeling

• Stronger systems and decision-making

• A trusted partner during moments that matter

For Lisa, success isn’t just measured in revenue.
It’s measured in momentum, clarity, and sustainability — and in helping founders make decisions they won’t have to undo later.