Wood appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Seattle Opera, and New York City Opera, among other companies. Her roles includes Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.

She launched the New York Opera Newsletter in 1988 to provide career information to singers. The newsletter eventually evolved into a national publication and was renamed Classical Singer. More recently, she created a national convention and a college expo for singers.

Alan S. Gordon, president of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the singers' union, said, "Carla was a friend of mine, of AGMA's, of classical singers everywhere, always ready to put her magazine and her reputation on the line to fight inequality and discrimination in the arts."

Donations in Wood's memory can be made to the Carla Wood Vocal Scholarship at Brigham Young University.