A graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Architecture, Carolyn began her career in New York as an architectural designer before transitioning to NYU film school and set design for theater and film.

Seeking more wilderness in her life and richer content in her work, she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she completed a Master's degree in St. John's College's Great Books Program, reentered the world of furniture and lighting design, and was later published in Metropolitan Home for the renovation of her own residence.

Upon returning to Northern California, she launched Shih & company, a luxury fashion accessories line sold in upmarket boutiques and department stores across the US and Canada.

Today, Carolyn considers herself an imaginal storyteller, harvesting the rich diversity of her past to fuel a blend of her first loves: image and storytelling. Sketching, model-making, somatic psychology, archetype, myth, and an obsessive attention to detail are all elements of her current visual work.