Video: How to Build Game-Changing Channel Partnerships with Theresa Caragol, CEO of AchieveUnite

Channel partnerships expert Theresa Caragol shares proven strategies, AI insights, and co-selling best practices to help businesses build high-impact partner relationships.

Written By
Katie Bavoso
Katie Bavoso
Aug 13, 2025
1 minute read

Transcription

Hey channel insiders, welcome back to channel insider partner POV. I'm your host Katie Bavoso and today my guest is the speaker, mentor, author, founder, and CEO of Achieveite as well as the all-around partnership champion Terresa Caragle. You may have just seen Teresa at GTIA Channel Con, or maybe you've read her acclaimed book, Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth. But today, she talks about why she started her own business to help companies build successful partnerships, what those look like, and what's impacting those partner decisions across industries right now.

If you're looking for a crash course in building successful channel partnerships and how to get your leadership team on board, this is the episode for you. Welcome, Teresa. >> Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here with you today. >> I am so excited to have you. I met you when I was at Scale Computing Platform 2025 this year and instantly was like, how do I get this powerhouse of a woman onto my podcast? So, thank you for being a part of this.

Oh, we're going to have fun today, I'm sure. >> 100% 100%. So, I want to jump into it by discussing Achieve Unite. You have many titles. You're an author, you're a speaker, you are an advocate, you are a mentor. It just kind of goes on and on and on and that's how I've learned about you in the short period of time we've known each other. So many titles, but I want to discuss the the the business one uh essentially out front first with Achieve Unite.

You've got a rich background first of all in the channel. You led channel sales and partner alliance teams and initiatives at major companies like Extreme Networks. And now you've been CEO of your own business, Achieveite, for 10 years. I think this year is year 10 officially. >> Technically 2026 is going to be year 10. >> All right, we'll round. >> Yeah, we're going to do a big party next year for sure. >> Perfect. Perfect. Okay. Well, congratulations just a little bit ahead of time, but still. >> Absolutely.

So you continue to be all about building partnerships in the channel. This is still very much a part of your blood. So describe to me first of all what Achieveite is at its core and why you chose to start your own company. Well our tagline is the partnering success company and to me partnering is it is a huge just like we talk about in the book. It is a force multiplier. And I remember being a channel chief way back at Sienna and saying like if companies can get partnering right, it can be an exponential growth for them.

But part companies didn't get partnering right. And it's taken, you know, that was probably 16 years ago. It's taken 16 years to see channels and partnerships and alliances and all of these become much more mainstream. And you know like we assert in the book every organization needs to learn how to partner. Everybody needs to do it. And there's external partnerships. There's partnering with your customers and there's partnering internally you know with your teams and with your cross functional teams.

And so that's you know that is at the highest level what we stand for. And what we do on a day-to-day basis is strategy and program work and education and people development and growth programs and amazing work with our clients which I just love love love. >> So uh you brought up the book and I do want to talk about that in a moment but I also kind of want to dig into the why for you of why say let's go out on a limb start our own company. That is a stressful thing to do in any industry that you're in.

And something I really have to say before we continue is I read an article about you that you did with Virginia Tech, uh, where you went to college. And what I love is you said, "Well, I figured boys could do it, so why can't I?" And that hit me in my chest. I was so excited about it. >> I know. Tell me why. >> And I really do say that, you know, I was sort of like, it was this epiphany, you know, I was consulting and helping people. I'm like, I can remember the day that I shifted from being a consultant to becoming an entrepreneur.

And it was like well gosh if boys could build companies why can't I build a company you know and like I can do this and you know my dad always told me I could do this so why couldn't I do this and that is what we started to do and um you know was some of the hardest work I've ever done and some of the most rewarding work I've ever done. >> Absolutely. What did that feel like when you said I'm an entrepreneur? Like when that moment, you know, and I didn't study entrepreneurship in school.

I didn't even back when I went to school, they didn't even those programs didn't even exist, you know. So now people are studying entrepreneurship and it's really a a field and a way of life and a culture and a mindset and all of those things. But I that was all new to me. I come from a big company. So I had to relearn a lot and we can talk about that throughout the morning. Yeah. >> Well, thank you. Yeah, we're getting into it. So, I do want to bring up the book that we've referenced a couple of times because you absolutely wrote the book on partner success.

But for those who haven't heard of it, it is called Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth. >> Yes, this is the book and it did hit bestseller in 28 categories. I just got this beautiful LinkedIn note this morning from this gentleman who follows me in overseas who I had no idea and he said that it's his northstar for helping his clients build partnerships and um channel strategies which is exactly what we wanted it to be.

So that made me really happy. >> Incredible. I love to hear that. And yeah, let's dig into it because this has been a tool that I've heard quite a few people reference as far as being such a guide for them. So what I really want to know about that is what is your definition of a successful partnership that you help your readers achieve with this book? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So I think there's partnerships at different levels, right? You help companies build an ecosystem that is a strategic asset for them, that is a differentiator for them, that is a growth multiplier for them.

And there's metrics for success. Of course, there's revenue for that one, right? there's new opportunities, there's market share gains, you know, there's all of those things for the organizations that are doing it. And then there's metrics for the people that are doing it, right? The people that are responsible for doing that out in the field. And that might be that they have new partnerships. That might be that they have, you know, new market share or more opportunities coming.

You know, there's different all different sets of metrics depending on where you are in the journey of partnering. And then for teams, you know, there's a whole thing around trust building, which you've heard us talk about in the book and PQI, the psychometric index that measures trust. That's a whole metric in itself, right? Like, do you have a high trust team? Are they working effectively together? Is there a high trust culture in your organization?

Because we know that higher trust cultures drive more innovation. More innovation comes out of companies where there's high levels of trust in the among the people. They drive more employee engagement. They drive more employee satisfaction. They drive more customer satisfaction. So there's this whole other thing that is was kind of a byproduct of the work that we did externally. We found, oh my god, it applies internally in organizations. So anyway, that's in a whole another piece of this that to me is really fun and really uh at the edge because it's so new for for companies and people.

Is there a common mistake that you see businesses running into when it comes to building successful partnerships or at least how they prioritize them or don't? Yeah. You know what? Ross Brown just wrote a really good article and I loved it because it was a common mistake that organizations make, which is maybe their strategy should be 100% partnering, >> but because it's such a new motion and the CEO doesn't understand it, they're hedging their bets and going back and forth and indirect and direct and, you know, and then they don't get any momentum.

And then the other side of that, maybe it should be a hybrid strategy and they should have, you know, a certain market that's all for partners and a certain market, you know, that is a hybrid model and you have to figure that out and maybe that is the right strategy, but getting that strategy right is what makes you successful two or three years later. And a lot of companies don't understand partnerships at the level to get that right or they're afraid to give up control and go all you know just do direct or they are half indirect half direct and confused and you know and then you don't get momentum that way you confuse your customers your partners you make it hard to do business. >> Yeah.

You mentioned the CEO sometimes if if they don't get it that they kind of pull back. Is that usually where you see the partnership conversation hit a wall at that level? >> And that is such a great question because historically the boards and the CEOs weren't really interested in partnerships and alliances and channels and they didn't really get it. I have been on a mission and along with Jay McBain and several others to really elevate the conversation at the CEO level whether that's public company CEOs and boards whether that's private equity companies venture capital companies and I'm definitely beginning to see a shift in the tech industry that they're they're starting to pay attention and they're starting to recognize that it's a muscle that they all need to build.

You know what I want to see is I want to see it get partnering and you know I want to see this book in colleges right and I want to see this become a field just like sales has become a field in universities and colleges and and that that'll be the next level of growth but I definitely see a shift starting to happen right now which I'm super happy about >> for sure it's so interesting actually because I hadn't thought about that sales now that it is a curriculum base in so many colleges for business Why isn't partnerships just >> Yeah.

Partnerships have to become that, right? And like that's the next wave that I'm on is how do we make that a way of life and how do we get this taught in universities and schools? >> Yeah. When you think about it, a lot of us out here that are inside of the IT channel and even just any other channel that doesn't specifically refer to themselves as the channel uh in their own industries are kind of trailblazers on that level of figuring that out, just blind.

Mhm. Well, and pharma is a very big strategic alliance industry. The tech industry is very leading in this. You know, I think in some ways automotive and the dealer channel, you know, in the automotive space and in some of these others, but there's so much to be learned from these different industries and they need to go to another level, you know, and that's where I think tech and pharma are probably the two most advanced >> in the world as it relates to partnering. >> Very well put.

I hadn't thought about pharma, so that's an interesting angle to to also take that on. What are you seeing impact partnerships right now when it comes to building partnerships? When it comes to partnering decisions, who to partner with? Is it economic decisions? Is it worried about internal budgets? Anything related to to even money at all? What's impacting those decisions? >> AI. So, I mean, you know, why gosh, we made it 20 minutes without talking about AI.

So, we better talk about AI right away here. So I believe from an efficiency and effectiveness and an innovation and a partnering propeller motion you know there has to underpin AI. We are taking a right angle turn as a company. We are diving deep into the AI space. Um we're going to be making some announcements in the next month about that and our organization um becoming much deeper into AI because AI can be a propeller for these partner programs.

It can be a propeller for the partner people. It can be a propeller for the partner organization strategies and people need to learn how to do that. So that's one. The second propeller I think for this is really it feels like there's a motion where everybody's starting to figure out they have to have a partner strategy but they're not really sure exactly how to do it. And you know so that I think this awakening let's call it that I need to do it right and that if I do it right it'll give me growth if I don't and there is a science to doing it right you know and so I I see that shift happening also right now you know economics like look right like we both look at the tariffs you know they announced uh India tariffs this morning and so some of these economic drivers are also making companies pay attention to what they have to do because it is a growth multiplier for you if you do it right.

It is a protector of your business if you do it right. It is a um strategic weapon if you do it right, you know, and and so I I see that clearly the economic drivers as well. >> Speaking about AI that you brought up, I did want to ask about that. It it sounds like the channel hasn't quite caught that momentum in mastering AI in business. Yeah, >> just ruminate on that for me about what you've seen. >> Yeah. No, I completely agree. I would encourage if you haven't um subscribe to Jessica Baker's AI Unpacked newsletter.

Please do that. We teach prompting certification classes. We have a platform that's very progressive and leading edge with deep deep knowledge and expertise in partnering. So, yeah, there's some ways to get going, but you do you have to kind of lean in. the people that lean in are the people that are going to be really successful later. >> Is there a way in addition to what you just said about some of the some of the classes they can take about prompting and and some of those communities, is there a way they can figure out how to build it into their business?

How do they approach that sort of focus? that is you know any we're doing we do these assessments and we really lay out where and how they can use AI and in what areas will they get the most impact out of it where are their biggest challenges what would then help them do that >> you don't have to name drop but I am curious to know have you seen some mistakes in the use of how people are using AI and you went what exactly is this doing for you did you think about that >> yeah you know I think like some people are just using it for um efficiency or basic like just chat GPT and you know and yeah sure that does work.

I wrote my dad's eulogy with AI a little bit using that in my um the poem that I did and it definitely helped you know but that is like the most rudimentary use of AI you know there's now we have these sophisticated databases and we can leverage AI to take multiple data points and come out with something that independently we never would have been able to triangulate or it would have taken us years and it now takes us minutes you know and those are the things that I see as just unbelievable opportunities. >> Yeah, I look forward to where this goes in the next few years as far as a a driver for revenue.

It's saved a lot of time. It's in some case been able to decrease bloat uh in in the workplace at some companies. But I think as far as saying how does this make us money, people are still struggling with that. But I absolutely see the connective tissue that leads to better partnerships using AI and even just more quickly figuring out is this going to be a right fit for these two companies to do saving a lot of time. Yeah. >> And helping the people, you know, because I think there's a big efficiency for the people that are leveraging AI, you know, we're doing that in the in business planning and in some of these motions that historically were really hard QBRs to make much easier for them. >> For sure. and knowledge at their fingertips. >> Yeah, it is here.

It is exciting to know that that knowledge is it's something that we're starting to grow now that we have the tools. We almost got the tools first before we even knew what to do with them. That's kind of how I look at it. >> So, the way that we're all reacting to it is exciting to me because I can only imagine how this is going to be thought about in a microcosm because everybody's doing it. Everybody is applying it. Somebody's going to come up with something. >> Uh so, I'm looking forward to that.

And as we go on from there, Teresa, I I talked to you a little bit before we had this interview, just kind of getting an idea of what you're seeing out there in in the space, and you travel a lot. You go to a lot of these events and workshops, so you're really you really have your finger on the pulse. You mentioned co-selling was a big priority for you at Achieveite in helping people do where. Talk to me more about the co-selling method. Co-selling with who?

Co-selling, how what is the big priority there that you you're pushing? Yeah, it's so interesting because much like we just talked about the companies learning how to get partnering right and it becoming a thing and it becoming sort of mandatory. Well, that manifests itself at the street level, right? Because at the street level, we've got these sellers who've been selling the same way for 30 years and it was a primarily direct motion and I went into the customer and I get my business and that's how I sell.

Well, customers are buying solutions now. Customers are buying outcomes. Customers want new ideas. Customers want innovation. Customers want new services. Customers want to save money. Like, and so you can't go it alone anymore. And these reps. Oh, and did we mention that there's hyperscalers and marketplaces and you know, there's AWS and there's Microsoft and there's Google and there was all of this benefit of doing business through those that customers want.

And so now these companies, these tech vendors, these partners, they all have to work better together and they have to learn how to co-sell better and they have to learn how to leverage each other and but guess what? They better trust each other or they're not going to work together well, right? And so we have to teach them that. And so this whole like I think it's going to be a movement, you know, in this co-ell arena because people think they know, but what got them here won't get them there and they're not going to be successful.

And I actually think the younger generation, they're like more comfortable. Just like they're more comfortable with their iPhone, they're more comfortable with their apps. They're more comfortable working with people and learn how to sell with people and, you know, low ego. And so I think that they're going to help make this motion go faster and easier. And those of us that have been doing this a long time, we have to stay, we have to relearn like what we thought we knew, we need to amend and update.

And you know, it's sort of like skill will. Like the older generation, 40s, 50s, 60s that have been doing this, they need high will right now to relearn what they think they know to be true and to like expand their mind on how they're approaching their businesses, >> right? Because it is possible. We It just has to take a a leap of faith. Yes. And being able to get over your own ego and hubris. And I know that's hard. It's hard to do. As an elder millennial myself, I definitely struggle with that sometimes.

Uh, so it's important to get out of your comfort zone for sure. >> And for some, you know, for some senior reps it's a no-brainer. For some it's not a no-brainer. And that, you know, and we have an assessment to help people figure out where they are on that and what they need to be doing differently. But it is a new era and it is it does require new muscles. >> That's interesting that you have that assessment. So you can literally show somebody if they look in the mirror and say, "I want to know what I look like or what I'm thinking." They they go, "This is it. this is what you're doing. >> This is what you have to do and you have to embrace and you have to approach differently.

Yeah. >> And you can't just do it one time. You have to do it consistently differently. You know, >> that's a great point. >> That was the conversation I had with my friend Tiffany at Autodesk is, you know, you do a motion and now they have to keep going with that motion and she's doing she's quite pioneering in this space and doing it really well. >> Oh, exciting. Well, well, speaking of that, actually, are there some companies that you would feel comfortable calling out and shouting out here that have been doing partnerships really well, uh, that you think that it lays the blueprint for how you should approach that? >> I think Autodesk is doing some amazing things right now and they're doing it in the midst of some changing business models, but they're doubling down on their partnerships and their partners' ability to drive services and revenue.

I you know Atlassian with co-mystery and now there's a new leader there. They're really driving you know services capabilities and like building so that their partners can have very rich practices much like Salesforce did. I see Service Now doing that. You know, the work that Service Now with Mark Monday and Snal and Megan, you know, Ira, they're really pioneering and leading, changing how Service Now used to do business and how they do business going forward and that's really exciting, too.

Um, yeah, there's so many there's so many companies that are doing things really well and new and innovative. I was just with Barb and Andre at Solar Winds and they are really doubling down on partners and really helping to make sure that their partners are successful working with them and their mindset is outside in and I don't often see that. So, it was really exciting and invigorating to see them really looking at both the win-win, right? The win on the Solar Wind side and how do the partners benefit and profit and what's in it for them.

And yeah, it was quite it was it was a lot of fun. We had a good time. I like the from the outside looking and from the outside coming in sort of focus because it's it's not often that you see that it's easy for smaller shops to partner because that they see the growth opportunities but when you have a giant corporation and they have to look look down uh the ladder so to speak it doesn't look that beneficial for them to say well how do we make this smaller shop this partner this MSP this reseller whatever successful it's not as immediate to them but if you grow that uh I I remember one of my favorite sayings that has stuck with me forever.

Uh I had a back when I was a broadcast news reporter. Uh the sports anchor was such a mentor. He had been there for a long time. Still there, highly uh he said to me one day when I was struggling, he comes up and he he helped me. He got me what I needed. He uh steered me where I needed to go. And I just thanked him so profusely because we were all on deadline. We're all super tied with our time. And he said, "If you win, we all win." So it only helps me to help you and that has stuck with me forever. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah.

So I love that mindset. >> I love that mindset too and I I think that's the partnering DNA. You know >> the other thing we haven't talked about but I really see is there is a resurgence I just did a LinkedIn live on this around strategic alliances. So the depth, you know, I the tech channel is one thing, but you know, these two or three vendors coming together and building a really deep strategic alliance. Think about Disney and Coca-Cola, you know, those kinds of and that's a I think it's a 50-year-old alliance, right?

You know, those kinds of alliances. Coca-Cola and McDonald's is actually I think that one's 50 years. Disney and Coke might be a little less. But the the point is that you know they come together like this at all of these levels and there are these incredible propellers for businesses and that is that motion's coming back in the tech industry and is going to be really really important. Pharma knows how to do that motion very very well. So if you don't have you know those muscles the association strategic alliance professionals Nicole Boston she's doing a fantastic job and there that's a very good place to build those muscles and a wonderful community too.

Yeah, speaking of communities and places to build those muscles, are there any events or communities, which I know are two wildly different things but often overlap that you would say this is really what you want to put your energy into if you want to build your partnership strategy or meet new people to be able to network into new partnerships. Where can they go and who can they learn? Definitely ASAP for strategic alliances, you know, Rod Bapti and the team for channel focus, you know, for building.

If you're a tech vendor and you really want to build that ecosystem, you know, that's a really good place, you know, for the partner community. I mean, I just went to GTIA and I was blown away. I think they're going to really make a big comeback and be a really good home for the partner channel and the tech vendors and an anchor for for the industry which is really exciting and they're so well capitalized because of the endowment that they received when they did the exit of CompTIA that you know I think there's no risk for them.

It's I think they'll have a lot of fun too. Can you imagine being a company that's fine financially for a hundred years? That's pretty exciting, right? So, I agree. >> Yeah, I think they'll do a great job. >> That is another one that I'm hoping to feature on this show. So, stay tuned in the future, folks. For sure. Going on from there, Teresa, I also want to talk about something that's very near and dear to my heart, which is that you are a woman in tech.

And whenever I say that, that rings a lot of different emotions and kind of thoughts for a lot of women that I speak to. For me, it says that you are somebody who is trailblazed enough to be able to then turn around and help the next woman in line. Uh my my coworker actually my colleague Victoria Durgen the managing editor of Channel Insider saw you over at GTIA Channel Con and she said that uh during there was like a workshop that you were a part of and during that workshop she noticed that every woman in the room who was a high ranking channel executive every single one of them said that they were a protege of you that you were the one that really led them to where they are right now. >> It's it's true.

Great job. Thank you. >> I I just I really want to point that out because I think it's so important to show that there is a way that we can help each other to succeed in what is still very much a male-dominated industry at a lot of levels. And I just would like to know how can women continue to grow in their careers in the channel space, in the tech industry in general, and how can those who have already done it help them be able to get there into those leadership roles? >> Yeah.

Well, first of all, um I have an amazing group of senior women who we have lifted each other and they lift others and hopefully I've lifted them at times and vice versa. And we all need to be that for one another. And so, you know, that is like look in the mirror and you know, people have done it for you or you doing it for others and continue to pay it forward. And it all started with my mentor whose name is Karen Slatford. 15 years ago, she started helping me and still is one of my dearest and most favorite people in the entire planet.

And she just said, "Oh, anything from me, just pay it forward." You know, and so I love that. And that was absolutely the truth, you know, and and that's what we do. And she's been doing that for so many years to me and hopefully I've paid it forward and made her proud and that's really important to me. And then the other thing is the men because so many men really want to help and they want to lift and they want, you know, they don't want to be bashed and like I just had this conversation with Scott Barlo.

He's like, you know, we don't want like these women's groups that are like bashing men. Like we don't want any of that. I said, no, that's insane. You know, like we all want to all tides lift all boats, right? Like we all need to lift one another. And I think that's really important is how do we you know how do you my best mentors some of my most favorite people the reason I have a company Bob Ali and Ron Roner I mean there's just so many men that have are just unbelievably amazing and so we also need to be lifting them because we need to lift everybody. >> I agree with that.

It takes all of us. It takes all of us to succeed. And I think what's really special about the channel is that >> while from the outside you would assume there's competition, which there obviously is. I think that sometimes even when I speak to people outside of the industry, they go, "Well, what's the point of wanting to partner with each other even if you're competing with each other?" I'm like, "There's the thing that you have to understand. It takes all of us sometimes.

And sometimes if you focus more on the competition rather than the partnership, neither of you will grow. Neither of you will succeed." And so I think that applies across the the networking base as far as how to grow in your own careers. >> Well, and play the long game. You know, I tell my kids, play the long game. Who's who's your friend on social media now 30 years? You might work for them or they might work for you or you might live next to each other or you might do a joint investment together.

You know, like these relationships are for the long run. and those of us and I don't know that I always understood that but now that you know we have spent so much time researching trusted business relationships and building uh models and methodologies like it's really true and it really works and we have a concept called partner lifetime value which is the companies and the people who treat partnerships as not a transaction but as an investment for the long run they're the most successful with partnerships they're the most profitable they're the most you know trust Ed, like all of those things work.

It's really true. >> Are there any businesses, companies in in your opinion that you think are really helping to also lift up women in this space? >> Oh, yeah. There's um you know, I think it's amazing to see a lot of diverse, highly evolved companies and it's not just men and women, it's cultures, it's ages, it's all of it. And it's just an inclusive workplace where I mean what um Francois at F5 is doing and the environment that he's created you know the global environment the diversity and inclusion environment the capability to innovate like their results are paying off and it's showing that it's working and that is a direct credit to him and his leadership team Chad Whan Lisa that whole group you know they really have eaten their own dog food and taken that philosophy and it's worked and you know I see that Grammarly Co and the team at Grammarly are very evolved and they are a highly inclusive workforce and they're highly innovative and they're highly collaborative and you know I just it's so fascinating and it's you see the difference in the cultures. >> Well Teresa as we start to wind down here I want to know where we could find you on the road in Q3 because after this podcast I'm sure a lot of folks want to go how do I talk to this woman in person?

So where can we find you out there? We'll be in Seattle in a couple of weeks um with a client out there and doing some other um events in in October. We'll be at NACD, National Association Corporate Directors. Should be at Vince Menzion's event. Um of course, we'll be at Channel Focus. We'll be let's see there's some other events in November. Um, I think we're speaking we're speaking at several companies partner conferences with the book and doing what you saw we did at scale which was a lot of fun.

We're doing that in a number of other places too which is so >> yeah she gives away money at some points folks. So I'm just saying like >> right there's that. >> I've seen it in action. I've seen it. >> I know currency currency matters. So, if we'd like to get in touch with you or get in touch with Achieveite to learn more, to learn from you and your team, where can we go to reach out? >> You can reach me at Teresa Tsaunite.com. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Um, you can please, you know, visit our website and subscribe to our newsletters. Um, we do not spam. It's all thought leadership and really forward thinking thought leadership. I'm so proud of the work that we do. >> Is there anything that I missed? Is there anything that I didn't prompt you on that we think would be a really valuable thing to include? >> You know what, you know that my dad just passed away a few weeks ago and so it's a very raw wound and I think I'm in the process of really figuring out, you know, like it is about balance and it is about work life integration and it is about relationships.

And I just say, you know, really looking to making sure that you don't have regrets and that you're living the life you want to live, you know, in the way you want to live it. And I'm still figuring all that out right now, but I would say that would be my last thing. >> I love that. I think it's so important to always remember that you yourself are a human being that needs to prioritize you and your loved ones and don't forget about that in in this crazy world of success and moving forward.

These are the things that matter. >> Yeah, agreed. >> I love that. Thank you so much for including that. Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Teresa. This has been such a joy to get to talk to you and to feature you and I'm so excited to continue to follow you through the rest of the year. >> Oh, thank you so much, Katie. I appreciate it. I loved it. >> Thanks so much to Teresa for joining me today and thank you for watching or listening. You can watch every episode of Channel Insider Partner POV on channelinsider.com or watch us on YouTube at youtube.com/ channelinsider_news and trends.

You can also listen to us as a podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow wherever possible so you never miss an episode. Come connect with Channel Insider on X and LinkedIn, or connect with me, Katie Baboso. Once again, I'm your host, Katie Boso, and I'll see you next time.

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In this episode of Channel Insider: Partner POV, host Katie Bavoso sits down with Theresa Caragol — speaker, mentor, author of Partnering Success: The Force Multiplier to Achieve Exponential Growth, and CEO of AchieveUnite.

Theresa shares her journey from leading channel sales and strategies at major tech companies to launching her own firm dedicated to helping organizations create high-impact partnerships.

Discover what makes a partnership truly successful, the biggest mistakes companies make, and why executive buy-in is crucial. Theresa also dives into the evolving role of AI in partnership strategy, the rise and value of co-selling, and how trust drives business outcomes. Plus, hear her insights on uplifting women in tech and the companies setting the standard for inclusive leadership.

Topics & Timecodes:

00:00 – Introduction to Theresa Caragol & AchieveUnite 

01:46 – Why Theresa Founded AchieveUnite 

03:38 – Defining a Successful Partnership 

07:24 – Common Mistakes in Partner Strategies 

11:04 – AI as a Partnership Propeller & Industry Impact 

16:24 – The Co-Selling Movement: Why You Can’t Go Alone 

20:08 – Companies Leading in Partnership Excellence 

23:29 – Events & Communities for Building Partnerships 

24:44 – Uplifting Women in Tech & Inclusive Leadership 

30:45 – Where to Find Theresa On the Road & How to Connect 

32:01 – Final Advice on Prioritizing What Matters

If you want practical, proven advice to strengthen your channel relationships, increase partner trust, and stay ahead in a rapidly changing tech ecosystem, this conversation is a must-watch.

Katie Bavoso

Katie Bavoso is a 2017 Regional New England Emmy-nominated broadcaster with over a decade of professional content creation, production, hosting, and interviewing experience. Starting her career off in TV news, she pivoted to the IT channel to help connect vendors, solutions and services providers, and IT buyers through exciting video content and storytelling. Katie is now the host of Channel Insider: Partner POV, a video and podcast series shining a light on the most innovative solution providers of the IT channel.

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