After a childhood wrestling razorbacks in rural southern Arkansas, Cari studied architecture at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and in Rome, Italy. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2007. Cari moved to Chapel Hill that year and worked for various local architecture firms before earning her license and founding Cari Filer Studio in 2014. She now calls North Carolina her home, and the vernacular of this place is very influential to her work.