Caralyn Rodriguez

Hello! My name is Caralyn, I am the founder and President of Exigent Creative Solutions. My entrepreneurial journey began by attending a business school where I majored in leadership with a minor in communications and graphic design. JUST KIDDING! That would have been a typical, expected path to running a small business, but I (like most entrepreneurs) tend not to take the obvious path. 

I started my undergrad studying secondary history education - that didn’t last long. I changed my major and ended up with a degree in history and biblical studies. During the summer after I graduated college I got a summer job working at a mid-size automotive supplier. As I said, this was supposed to be a summer job. My goals were to stay busy and make some money before I started a Masters's in theology. While I was working, I fell in love with the business. The complexity and diversity of the organization intrigued me. Being a part of a team that was producing a major consumer product was incredibly exciting and rewarding. The only problem was, I didn’t see where I could fit in or contribute because I felt I didn’t have the right education. 

The Journey of Starting My Own Business

What I did have, was a lot of life experiences that turned out to be invaluable in forming my career. For starters, I am severely dyslexic. Learning how to learn is not something that most people have to do. It turns out that in ‘overcoming dyslexia’ I developed essential skills like problem-solving, perseverance, determination, and creative communication. Not to mention, I was raised by a family of entrepreneurs that helped build these skills into my personality.

I started doing some art projects for the company, literally making paintings for the office. Then people started asking me to help with presentations, making them look cleaner and more professional - that is when I started venturing into graphic design. With several little baby steps, A LOT of online classes, hours spent reading articles and watching tutorials, I was put in charge of a rebranding project for the company. 

New Beginnings

I found my niche. After 4 years with that company, I decided to branch out. I wanted to continue to do the work I was doing but with a bigger team that could help more companies in a variety of industries. The most exciting part of my job at Exigent has been working with people who are better than me - people who are more talented than I am and who have different skillsets and backgrounds. Watching them become a team and successfully meet our goals and our customer's goals is extremely rewarding. I can’t wait to see where Exigent’s journey goes from here, and I am excited to see our team grow.

Interested in working with this woman-owned business? Learn more about our services here or check out our blog post on why outsourcing an agency might the perfect fit for your company's needs. For regular content, head on over to any of our social media pages.