Carol Marulanda Gutierrez
Carol Marulanda Gutierrez is a Customer Care Advisor at The Farmer's Dog and an Associate Pastor at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Murfreesboro. She is a detail-oriented professional with extensive experience supporting operations, data accuracy, documentation, and customer service across healthcare-adjacent, academic, nonprofit, and customer-focused environments. Carol has always had a desire to help people, particularly those who, for whatever reason, lack access to resources that can improve their lives. This commitment to service is reflected in her professional and volunteer work, where she consistently combines precision, reliability, and care to support both individuals and organizations in achieving their goals.
Carol shared that her customer service experience spans about five years, including on-campus jobs during her time as a student on a visa. She has leveraged this background in her current role at The Farmer's Dog, where she provides customer care for specialized dog food, helping both human and canine customers thrive. She emphasizes the importance of staying connected with her purpose and the needs of her community, integrating service-oriented work into every aspect of her professional life. Alongside this, she serves as an ordained associate pastor, working with the senior pastor to baptize, give communion, and officiate weddings and funerals, while contributing to church leadership in a supportive capacity.
In addition to her ministry and customer care work, Carol is actively expanding her professional skill set into operations, data analytics, and AI. She holds a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest University and a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University, grounding her career in both intellectual rigor and compassion. She specializes in process-driven work, CRM documentation, database updates, reporting, and program coordination, particularly in remote or hybrid roles that require independent work, accuracy, and consistency. Carol is committed to using her skills to help others, whether through ministry, customer support, or emerging opportunities in data and analytics, and she looks forward to growing her impact in both professional and community-focused endeavors.
• AIOps Foundations: Automating IT Operations using AI
• Grant Seeking Essentials
• Fundraising Essentials Certificate
• Fundraising Essentials
• College Reading and Learning Association Certified Peer Tutor
• Vanderbilt University - ThM
• Wake Forest University - MDiv
• Bethel College - BACS
• Women in Ministry Award at Bethel University
• Serving at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church as associate minister/associate pastor
• Ordained minister with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success probably to my mom. She got divorced when I was young and was a housewife, but when all that went down, she got herself into law school and started working as a lawyer so she could support me and my sister. She just always encouraged us to be our best, do our best. She's the one who really encouraged me to come here for college from Colombia, and she's been supportive to no end. She pretty much forced me to learn English when I was a little kid, and she always said you never know what opportunities that might open, what doors that might open. She put herself through law school, which was not easy, and her example has been everything to me.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was probably from one of my professors in college. She's a woman minister, and she told me, don't ever let others limit what you can do. You just do what you're called to do, and just have the strength and the patience to do it, to endure. That advice has stayed with me because it's true in every aspect of life - just knowing you can do it, whatever you're called to do.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don’t let others limit what you can do. Follow your calling and cultivate strength and patience to endure.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say staying connected and grounded with the purpose of what it is that you're doing and who you're doing it for is the biggest challenge. In my case, it's going back to basics - the people in my church, the people in the community, or my customers, both human and canine customers. Making sure I can do my absolute best to make sure that everyone is well taken care of. That's what keeps me focused and drives my work every day.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Staying connected and grounded with the purpose of what I'm doing and who I'm doing it for is most important to me. In my case, it's going back to basics - the people in my church, the people in the community, or my customers, both human and canine customers - and making sure I can do my absolute best to make sure that everyone is well taken care of.