The young Colombian couple, Cielo Gómez Galvis, 32, and Juan Carlos Cadena Solano, 31, fled violence in their country, came to the United States, and are now the owners of Graphic Line, a visual advertising company that serves five to six clients per day. “More clients are coming in requesting larger services,” says Cielo, who is in charge of the business’s finances and administration, while Juan is the creative director and works on the operational side.
Graphic Line offers vehicle visual advertising, digital printing, window tinting, and graphic wrapping services. The company is located at 2015 Saw Mill Run Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15210. You can also find them on Instagram and Facebook or call +1 412 887 9318.
Cielo and Juan Carlos faced death on June 1st morning in 2022, when they were held at gunpoint in their home in Bucaramanga, the capital of Santander, a department in the northeastern part of the South American country.
They never imagined that this event would be the beginning of a journey with no return date that would take them across borders, endure hardship, and reach the United States. In Texas, they boarded a plane on August 5th, 2022, and arrived in Pittsburgh, where Cielo’s brother was waiting for them. They settled in this city to make their new life, but not before facing serious difficulties. They have applied for asylum and their case is ongoing.
Cielo describe herself as a brave young mother, selfless at home and at work, but when she talks about the violence she and her husband and son suffered in Colombia, an event that marked their lives forever, she breaks down, her voice cracks, and tears stream down her face. However, she breathes deeply and continues her story. Juan Carlos clasps his left hand in a gesture of support in his company’s office.
Full of hope
Once settled in Pittsburgh, «we decided to apply for a job at Auto Image with a lot of fear, with shame, with our self-esteem on the rocks. We had no clothes, we walked around in borrowed shoes, we didn’t have internet, we didn’t have access to our cell phone, but we had all our hopes set on the project we started building since we arrived here,» Juan Carlos recalls.
At that time, they only had $200, with which they had to survive, the two of them and their five-year-old son. Juan Carlos and Cielo went out looking for work, and when they stopped by Auto Image—a company that specializes in window tinting, among other things—they asked if there was any opening for him. However, the language barrier (he didn’t speak English and the owner didn’t speak Spanish) was making things difficult for him.
However, Cielo asked for Wi-Fi access at the company and managed to get her husband to communicate with the owner through Google Translate. And so they began to understand each other. The owner of Auto Image tested him at that moment and saw that he could trust Juan Carlos’s work and gave him the job.
Juan Carlos says that, seeing that he was prospering with work outside the company, his employer offered him a partnership, which he accepted. However, ten months later, by mutual agreement and on good terms, they parted ways because the young Colombian was growing in his side job, and his partner recommended that it was time to grow on his own because he had so much potential. However, he emphasizes that this American citizen supported him greatly and is grateful for the help he received during his most difficult times in the United States.
They start a business in Pittsburgh
With the savings he earned during two years working at Auto Image, Juan Carlos and Cielo decided to launch their project, a vehicle visual advertising company. The idea for their company came to them on one of their first nights in the United States while they were sleeping on a mattress on the floor next to their child.
Juan Carlos states that the business formally started on December 28, 2024, but they opened the doors to the public on January 10, 2025, because they had to distribute the space for the work equipment. “Thank God, after January 10th, we started receiving clients, and they’ve been increasing exponentially,” she says.
Cielo, for her part, said that Mr. Brent G. Rondon, a senior management consultant at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Pittsburgh, helped them formally establish the company.
Juan Carlos estimates that the investment made over the two years since he started working amounts to about $40,000, which was invested little by little to grow his business and launch it last January.
«You have to fight for what you want. When you have the will and the dreams, anything is possible, and (especially) when you work as a team, it’s even easier,» Cielo reflects.
