The Carahsoft headquarters in Reston, Virginia is your typical professional office setting, spanning rows of modern desks lined with computers and occupied by employees creating a cacophony of clicking and typing. Although the company’s trade is mainly IT solutions, it’s in this traditional office environment where Carah Abod ’14 has grown, shifted, and transformed her love for digital art into a place she calls home.

Carah’s knack for adaptation has served her well throughout her career, and it was the driving force behind her willingness to mentor a Flint Hill student for their senior project, a challenging task on top of her role as a Design Manager within Carahsoft’s marketing department. Still, at an alumni event back in November, she told Flint Hill’s Director of Alumni Relations Maria Taylor that she was more than willing to guide a student through their senior project. “I’d do pretty much anything Maria asks me to do,” she says with a laugh. 

Now seven years into her professional career, Carah remembers her time at Flint Hill fondly. “[Flint Hill] brought me lifelong friends, my whole friend group and I are still very close, still at each other’s weddings. I’m grateful to Maria and Flint Hill and I’ll do anything I can to give back.” 

Carah’s willingness to help others combined with her infectious enthusiasm is evident, especially in the voice of Sofia Kazembe ’25, who is eager to learn about graphic design throughout her senior project under Carah’s guidance. “I’m really excited to get hands-on experience with advertising strategies and platforms like Adobe and Illustrator, resources I’ll be exposed to when I start classes for my major next year.”

The standout student headed to Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall is well-known for her excellence in portfolio art, but she’s eyeing a change in college. “Art at Flint Hill has meant a lot to me. I’ve been involved with arts at the Upper School for all four years, but I never took any graphic design or digital art classes. I love painting and studio arts, but I wanted to keep that separate and keep doing them outside of my career.” Instead, she hopes to major in creative advertising, and is already excited to get a head start with her senior project. “The exposure to this work experience will set me off on the right path when it’s time to find a job.”

Carah is no stranger to changing career paths either. “When I went to college I took a detour,” she admits, graduating from Clemson University in 2018 with a degree in sociology and legal studies. However Carah always knew she wanted to return to the company that carries her namesake, where she has experienced a growth to 350 people in the Marketing Department since the start of her career.

“The team that I’m on now didn’t exist when I was 16,” she chuckles, remembering her time as a Marketing Intern at Carahsoft while still a student at Flint Hill. “It’s been interesting to grow with our company and see how our marketing team has grown since then.” Although Carah has already accomplished a lot during her time at the company, including building programs that pair designers with specific vendors and working on advertisement strategies, she still has plenty of ambition. “Hopefully our team will be even bigger,” she says when asked about her future goals. 

Her time interning throughout high school and college helped Carah understand the importance of early experience. “If your school offers a class on online courses such as LinkedIn Learning and Coursera, take those classes and take advantage of hands-on work within the program,” she recommends. “Internships and one-off certification programs are your only exposure to them before going to college, and a lot of them you don’t really get to touch in high school classes.”

Now, Carah is turning her advice into action. “Since we’re on the graphic design team, we work with a lot of the industry standard programs that [Sofia] will be using, and we’re definitely hoping she can get a leg up on some of the programs she’ll be working with in college.” Although the pair have only recently started their project together, their chemistry is already noticeable. “I feel like I’ve been given a lot of clarity with the projects I’ve been pursuing,” Sofia adds.

“We’re trying to make it a good mix of training, shadowing, and hands-on project work, so it doesn’t feel like school,” Carah says with a smile. “You’re not thrown to the wolves on stuff you’re not trained for.” Although Sofia is relatively new to graphic design, the senior is a quick study. “Being involved with the arts every year has pushed me to incorporate creative elements into my future career field. After college I hope to do something similar to advertising strategies, and be able to incorporate creative elements like art and design into advertising.”

Sofia looks to embrace her artistic passion as she takes the next step to college. When asked about her advice for the next generation of artists, she hopes that they can “envision ways in which they can keep art a part of their life and continue exploring their creativity.”

Carah’s journey is a testament to how creativity and adaptability can create a successful career. Her mentorship role in Sofia’s senior project will undoubtedly allow her to pass on her technical expertise, innovation, and the joy of creative freedom found in artistry. Through her dedication to nurturing the next generation of artistic visionaries, Carah is proving that a passion for art can evolve, inspire, and lead others to excel.