When Anton Diego founded EveryMundo, his goal was to make the company the leader in airline marketing technology. EveryMundo would provide solutions to scale an airline’s digital presence and attract travelers with the best real-time fares. He knew from his work in consulting for airlines that it was difficult for airlines to market the best prices because fares change so rapidly, creating a need for a real-time digital marketing solution. To make his vision a reality, he would need the help of an expert engineer and began searching for someone with the necessary skills to build this technology from the ground up.
Marilyn Rodriguez came from a small family in Cuba, and the women in her family were teachers if they worked outside of the home. When she was 15, her school offered a programming class, and she immediately loved how much she could do by writing code. Her father told her that computer engineering was the “career of the future,” and she decided to study Computer Science in college. Marilyn says she was attracted to engineering because she “liked building things that are useful and make people’s life easier. I also like a lot of challenges, to be given a problem and find solutions.” After graduating with her degree, Marilyn went on to work for the Cuban Post Office on a two person team tasked with creating automation processes for the mail system.
In 2011 Marilyn immigrated to the United States and began looking for a job where she could use her skills. She heard of EveryMundo from a friend of Anton’s and learned they were looking to hire someone that knew PHP, which was what she had been working with after graduating. While interviewing for the position, she was impressed with Anton’s passion for creating his idea for a product that would sell tickets online, which would later become “airTRFX”, and she knew she was the right engineer for this ambitious project.
Once Marilyn was hired, she was one of two engineers at the company and needed to wear all hats: BE developer, FE developer, designer, DevOps, architect. She also faced new challenges as she had to learn to manage servers online because she had only experienced working with limited internet access in Cuba. Together with the help of another engineer, they were able to launch the first version of airTRFX in only three months.
Today EveryMundo products provide real-time marketing capabilities to more than 90 brands, covering 35 languages and operating globally. As Principal Engineer, Marilyn continues to build and improve EveryMundo’s products. In December of 2021, PROS acquired EveryMundo for $90 Million and the company now has set its sights on expansion into new industries, including hospitality and events, and will create new products to meet the needs of these customers.
When she thinks about women’s participation in STEM fields, Marilyn believes that “women’s minds are designed to multi-task because we are constantly thinking. To create valuable solutions, we have to think about all scenarios as much as possible.” She has seen in her own career more and more women take up careers in computer science, and is excited to see how women will shape the future of technology.