Soon Carlene decided to move to the United States . Finding that her credits from the Brazilian college did not transfer, she switched gears and began to study business and marketing. Her initiation into entrepreneurship began while attending Palm Beach Community College in Florida: Carlene began to make swimsuits for herself. She would travel to Miami from Palm Beach to buy fabric. Carlene's style and designs of her swimsuits were so popular that she started making the swimsuits for her friends. She then took 20 pieces to her Community College ( Palm Beach ), and remarkably the pieces sold out within 2 days. Carlene then started selling around 60 swimsuits a week. All the young ladies at the Community College were clamoring for her unique and exotic swimwear.

Carlene earned the nickname, Carlini Bikini! She realized that she was definitely on to something! Her increasingly popular swimwear was in high demand. Finding it difficult to keep up with the demand, she found a manufacturer in Brazil to produce the swimsuits that she designed.

After completing college, Carlene worked for the retail chain, Swim & Sport. The next major decision Carlene made was to venture out on her own and open a store. She also had the vision to create an eco friendly jewelry line from the Amazon. Subsequent to opening her own store, Carlene’s schedule had become overwhelmingly busy. She was involved with fashion shows, trunk shows and working in her boutique. Her line was so successful that she began selling her swimwear and resort wear wholesale to other vendors. After a few years of a steady stream of constant manufacturing and selling, Carlene was finding it difficult to keep up with the hectic pace of trying to do it all well. She reluctantly made the decision to close her store and to concentrate on designing for the wholesale market.

Carlene now spends her time designing, selling her collections wholesale, and participating in fashion and trunk shows. Her swimwear is amazing to all!