Caroline Caldwell is a powerhouse. After witnessing systemic racism in the mental health industry first-hand, Caroline was inspired to start her non-profit New Mind Health and Care to make a difference in the lives of individuals reentering society after incarceration.
As a successful founder, Caroline now spends her time mentoring other Black and queer entrepreneurs along their founder journeys. As Co-Founder and President-Elect of the Upstate LGBT+ Chamber, President of Upstate Pride, and Vice Chair of 864 Pride, Caroline pours her time, energy, and love into the Greenville community.
What inspired you to start your company?
In one word: racism.
During my time as Director of Admissions at a state mental health agency in Greenville, I witnessed the implementation of an incredibly exclusionary policy by the Director of the agency. This policy involved denying services to individuals with a history of imprisonment seeking help from the mental health center. His rationale was that these individuals were just faking their illnesses to exploit the system and didn't deserve assistance.
I opposed my director’s policy and tried to fight against it, but nothing I did helped. The weight of the situation kept me up at night, and as a person of strong spiritual faith, I prayed for guidance. I felt deeply frustrated because the people being turned away disproportionately consisted of Black men. His policy decision would literally affect families for generations, and I couldn’t let that stand.
After praying and seeking guidance, I got an idea. I realized that Greenville really needed a reentry center, a place specifically designed to support individuals transitioning from prison back into society. Many of these men, even if they didn't have chronic mental health issues, often suffered from adjustment disorders due to the challenges of reintegration.
A significant number of them faced homelessness and struggled to adapt to the norms of society and the expectations of the workforce. It wasn't that they couldn't work, but rather, they lacked essential employability skills and didn't understand the work culture, making it difficult for them to maintain employment.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your founder journey?
I don’t have a business degree. My undergraduate degree was in human ecology and social sciences. When I started this business, I had to go into research mode. I had to learn a lot about running a business on the fly.
But the most fulfilling part of this entrepreneurial journey now is giving away the knowledge I gained. It brings me joy to empower others to make an impact in this world. I've proudly assisted in launching five nonprofits and five businesses, almost all of them run by black, gay, and trans women founders. Knowing that I've gone through challenges so others don't have to is incredibly rewarding to me.
Any lessons learned that you would like to share?
I often tell the people I mentor that because we are people of color, we must be twice as good. Everything they do, I advise them to ask a simple question: "Is it white man ready?" I always get a laugh out of that, too. But it means, is it up to the highest standard, where even a white man couldn't find fault with it? It's not about the delivery or presentation but about its organization, legality, and ability to withstand criticism.
We have to be meticulous and thorough, but that's just the minimum. The ultimate goal is to be "white man ready," meaning, when facing criticism from anyone, we can confidently stand with our products, services, words, essence, and character, knowing that there's nothing wrong to be found. If criticism comes up based on racism, we can't control that, but we can ensure we're steadfast in all aspects of our business and presentation.
Our media company’s motto is, “where aha, meets oh shit.” Tell us about your biggest aha! moments. Tell us about your biggest oh shit moments.
My “aha” moment came when I realized that success in this world depends not only on skill and talent but also on effective presentation and storytelling. As a Black business, I understood that having all the necessary resources might be rare, but I discovered that presenting myself in a compelling manner and connecting through storytelling can capture people's attention and inspire action. So that became the key to my approach.
My second “aha” moment was understanding networking with purpose. Networking goes beyond merely handing out business cards. It involves actively engaging with others, fostering mutual connections, and building meaningful relationships where both parties are proactive and engaged.
My "oh shit" moment came when I realized the significance of adversity and resilience. As someone without a business background, I quickly grasped that for entrepreneurs, resilience is not a choice—it's a necessity. There will be challenging times, and even though I had invested my own and my family's money into the business, things didn't always go as planned, leading to moments of uncertainty and doubt.
Part of that was realizing that taking a part-time job wasn't a failure; it was an act of resilience to keep going. As an entrepreneur, I often tell people that it's okay to supplement your dream with other sources of income to make ends meet while you continue to work hard towards your goals.
I never stopped striving, but I had to dig deep and make adjustments. The founder journey is more of a marathon than a sprint. It took about four and a half years of continuous effort and balancing to reach a point where my business could fully support my lifestyle and financial needs.
Do you have a personal mantra or motto?
My personal motto, tattooed on my arm, is "Let love be your brand." This goes beyond the easy, romantic aspects of love; it's about embracing love even when it's difficult, as that's when its impact is most profound. Demonstrating true agape love means showing compassion and empathy, even when someone may seem unlovable.
There are three levels of empathy: cognitive empathy, where you understand someone's situation; emotional empathy, where you truly feel what they're going through based on your own experiences; and compassionate empathy, which is the level I strive to live by. It involves not just understanding and feeling but being moved to take action, alleviate suffering, support others, and make a positive impact in their lives.
When I encourage others to let love be their brand, this is precisely what I mean. It's about practicing compassionate empathy, going beyond understanding to actively showing care, support, and solidarity with others in their struggles, so they know they are not alone.
If you could hit rewind, is there anything you would do differently?
I'm going to be honest–I don't do regrets. Everything is for the greater good. I believe that every mistake I made was a lesson learned. Every joy that I experienced was a reward for something I may have done in this life or a past life. There’s nothing I would do differently.
Did you have any “game-changing” resources or tools that helped you start or grow? Why was that resource a game-changer for you?
One of my most significant resources was Community Works Carolina, an organization founded by Deborah McKetty, an African American woman. Initially, it served as a small business center and later evolved into a credit union. Deborah played a crucial role in my journey by providing my first business loan, even though I was a Black single parent with a terrible credit score.
As part of the program, I was assigned a business coach who conducted a SWOT analysis and guided me through finding resources and grants. This support was invaluable as I had set up both a 501c3 nonprofit and an LLC social enterprise to complement it. Community Works Carolina and Deborah's assistance were instrumental in helping me establish and grow my ventures.
What do you want your company to look like a year from now – from the market, your product or service, your team or people, the culture, or revenue – describe how you would like things to look a year or two from now. What have you put in place – or going to put in place – to make that a reality?
Over the past five years, my focus has been on building programs that address violence, following a holistic model of help. I believe that individuals should find comprehensive support in one place. Looking ahead, my nonprofit will have three parts in the coming year.
The first part will consist of general reentry services, offering assistance to men and women coming out of prison, as well as those on parole and probation. We'll provide support in finding work, offering career coaching and life coaching to help them thrive in this phase of their lives.
The second part will be a juvenile diversion program, specifically targeting youth and young adults involved in community and group violence. Our aim is to guide them towards better choices and opportunities.
Lastly, the third part will focus on trauma-informed care and training. We recognize the impact of trauma on individuals, families, and communities and aim to integrate trauma-informed approaches into all our services and activities.
All of those three programs will be up and running by next year.
Thinking about the local entrepreneurial community or ecosystem, what do you believe is working well? What do you think is missing or a gap that needs to be filled?
The business community in Greenville really benefits from an abundance of networking opportunities. The Greenville Chamber of Commerce played a crucial role in my journey, as they connected me with other businesses through events like lunch and learns.
What works particularly well here is the abundance of learning opportunities. As a business owner, you can access numerous resources and events that provide valuable knowledge and insights for growth and development.
What’s missing is access to financial resources. Systemic oppression persists, even in this domain, resulting in a scarcity of financial assistance and other practical resources.
Entrepreneurs, particularly minority businesses, face significant challenges in accessing unrestricted funds. These funds are essential for paying themselves, acquiring equipment, or compensating other team members. This gap in financial resources hinders the growth and success of many minority-owned businesses.
As a minority founder, what challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them? From your perspective, what can the local entrepreneurial ecosystem do to better support minority and women-owned businesses?
That financial resources are harder to come by and that you’re held to a much higher standard.
During a Function hosted by the Greenville Chamber, I participated in a panel discussion focused on reentry, which is my specialty. Another panelist was a gentleman who had previously been to prison but successfully built a career at an electric company, now holding a supervisor position.
After the panel discussion, a white man approached me and condescendingly questioned if I even had a board. I chuckled and assured him that I did have a board before walking away. But that just goes to show the scrutiny and assumptions that black nonprofits and business owners often face.
Stereotypes persist, and people tend to view black nonprofits as suspect, assuming mismanagement of funds and a lack of understanding of business ethics. We are constantly forced to prove ourselves and confront these biases. I make sure to show up confidently, speaking truth to power, and not holding back. I stand up to these prejudices, knowing that my professionalism and expertise are just as valid as anyone else's, regardless of race.