Carolyn Jenks’ professional career began at age twelve in Chicago as an actress in film, television, radio and theatre. She studied acting with Flovia Drazy of the Moscow Art Theatre and voice with Titto Ruffo from the LaScala Opera in Milan. She earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a double major in Comparative Literature and Speech/Theatre.

While an unemployed actress in New York City, a chance introduction to publisher Ian Ballantine led to a second career in publishing, with a focus on subsidiary rights, and eventually the combining of her passions for books, theatre, film, and art into the establishment of her literary agency.