Richard W. Rodriguez
Growing up with both parents working for a company they had started, Carolyn Phillips says her entrepreneurial spirit runs in the family.
“I didn't realize then how much creative problem-solving and opportunity recognition were baked into my upbringing,” Phillips says. “But I recognize now that it's the air I've always breathed.”
In 2015, Phillips launched Alchemy Pops, a gourmet frozen pop company, which she grew into a successful brick-and-mortar before COVID forced her business to close its doors in the summer of 2020.
As Phillips puts it, rather than throw a pity party, she and her husband recognized the experience as akin to earning an MBA. “Things can be hard and also be a jumping off point,” Phillips says, “but only if you have the strength to see it that way.”
The experience has no doubt come in handy as the operations manager for HF Custom Solutions, where she has created processes and procedures that have allowed the local advertising agency to greatly improve operating efficiency.
Carolyn has also been an executive board member for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth since 2021, where, according to Joe Brown of HF Custom Solutions, “her longstanding dedication and service have positively impacted the women in the program, our community, and our company.”
Podcast recommendation: The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish