An entrepreneur with a knack for Main Street businesses
Photo / Tim Greenway
Lisa Liberatore, an entrepreneur with a range of businesses and a book, “Power of Transparency.”
Lisa Liberatore’s business portfolio is vast. She’s the author or “Power of Transparency,” CEO of Denoma, co-founder of CoVort, managing partner of Fractional Executives of ME and founder of Lisa’s Legit Burritos. The Brewer resident also has real estate investments. Mainebiz honored Liberatore last year as a Next honoree, and we caught up with her again for some business talk. She also encourages small business owners to reach out to her at lisa@poweroftransparency.com if they seek advice.
Mainebiz: Since we talked to you last September, what else have you taken up?
Lisa Liberatore: Well, COVID struck. I was working on a workbook to go with the “Power of Transparency,” but I quickly pivoted that to create a workbook called “Navigating the Crisis of 2020.” It’s really the framework that I used very successfully across all of my companies to prioritize my thoughts and get an ability to create some sort of plan in chaos. I just recently published that. My son, Dorian, who is 7, started a company called thedmax.com. He created a bunch of artwork, and since we’ve been homeschooling since March, he learned how to build a website. He has YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and we track the analytics. It’s been an incredible opportunity for me to be his cofounder and his mentor through his business journey. I was getting ready to launch my first scalable startup, Denoma. That was really focused on helping women on their mindset, helping them to unlock all of their potential because running a scalable company really requires as much work on the person as it does on the company. That has been put on hold.
MB: How have your business survived the pandemic?
LL: Lisa’s Legit Burritos has done incredibly well pivoting. We actually have signed a lease and are moving into a new space into Gardiner, so we’re really thriving. CoVort, the coworking space, is treading water. We are kind of in a holding pattern for that company. With my real estate, we’re still filling apartments. I lost all of my Airbnb. I lost thousands of dollars one day because I had to turn it off once COVID hit. We’ve been fortunate to fill the spaces with traveling healthcare professionals, but that’s not nearly what Airbnb was like.
MB: Did you get any PPP money?
LL: We did, some of the PPP and the EIDL loans. In the early frenzy days, it was making a list of all of the companies and seeing who qualified for what and where we could get the assistance that we need, just really trying to conserve cash as much as possible. Honestly, we worked with our lenders in the real estate portfolio. They’ve been incredible in helping us get the paperwork done, deferring payments for a couple of months. I think the key is communication with all my business partners across the industries and all the lenders, being super up front because it’s not like anyone is not suffering right now. It’s trying to own the reality of it, trying to come together to create a plan forward.
MB: What kind of environment does Maine have for startups?
LL: In a normal world, I think it’s incredible. There are so many resources available and it’s a supportive environment. I think COVID has completely changed that because nobody knows what the future is. In general, the state of Maine has been absolutely incredible. I have had the opportunity to own and operate a lot of business, and the number of people that has supported me is in the 100s. There is a sense of wanting to see you succeed and really looking out for one another.
MB: How are small businesses sustainable in perilous times? What sacrifices did you have to make?
LL: I think there’s a couple of keys. One is just stopping and doing a check-in with yourself and what you can handle and what you can sustain. And then, also doing that from a financial perspective. It’s recognizing that sometimes it’s going to be really painful, but you have to pause or close. It’s really taking into account how you can be creative or collaborative. How can you leverage other people that are doing things in similar spheres and really use that momentum, and the power of social media to help your message get across? It’s thinking about how to work with others and how to be viable and pivot if you have to.
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