This study focused on mentors who worked with a university-based Educator Preparation Program (EPP) located in South Texas during the pilot of a teacher residency program. Our research aimed to explore the roles and behaviors of mentors working with teacher residents, with a particular focus on how the introduction of a critical conversation protocol influenced their profiles. Our goal was to increase the capacity for mentorship by strengthening and increasing the critical conversations that mentors had with teacher residents with the intention to inform our practice, grow our partnership, and refine tools that are necessary to effectively mentor teacher residents.