Some people escape to other realities by reading books, but my preferred method was always through fashion magazines and catalogs. I am a very visual person, and those pages held my dream worlds and instantly took me to other destinations. I would flip page-by-page, mesmerized by the various colors the models wore, and I was equally as captivated about where the photo shoot had taken place. It was all very enchanting to me.

Like many people, my early teenage years are when my love of fashion started.

By the time I reached eighth grade, I had set my sights on moving to the big city, finding my bliss, and working in the fashion world. I just didn’t know how to get there. A few years later, when one of our high school senior year English class assignments was to write a paper on where I saw myself working and living in ten years, my goal hadn’t changed. There was no doubt in my mind that it was doing something in the fashion industry.

Fast forward to my freshman year at West Virginia University. When it came time to choose a major, even though I’d spent years imagining myself working within the industry, Fashion Merchandising suddenly didn’t resonate with me. The common jobs during the mid-’80s were being a clothing designer, slogging away at a publication, or working in a retail store. I knew I didn’t want to pursue any of those careers. So, in keeping with my love of creativity, I chose an Interior Design major.

I liked building things and designing spaces, but I was more interested in the mechanical and technical segments of the profession than I was in decorating. I didn’t end up working in an interior design role after college, but the curriculum I studied during that time would later surface in my life in an unexpected way – in the future formation of MyTwinkleColors.

While working in the corporate world, I started making jewelry and selling my collections at a farmers market in the Aspen area because I missed being creative. It was during this side-hustle that my specialized skill clicked: color, and how people wear it.

I found myself guiding my customers to pieces I knew immediately and instinctively would complement them – which allowed me to observe an actual transformation take place when they tried on befitting colors. This is what sparked my quest to formally start studying color analysis and meet with industry experts across the US.

Part of my coloring analysis education came from having personal appointments with a few independent consultants, and this was when I found myself discouraged. While the women were great and the consultations were fun, I walked away with a mere 15–20 colors that were “mine” from being labeled a “Spring.” I realized right away that another woman with similar coloring to mine would also be labeled a “Spring” and handed the exact same generic colors that I’d been given. We would almost certainly have varying flecks of colors in our eyes, different brow colors, dissimilar skin undertones, and different lowlights and highlights in our hair, yet there were no nuances that would make my colors versus hers distinct.

That’s when I knew I could expand on the concept of color analysis, modernize it, and create my own method and theory. By including these additional variables that make each person unique, I could create a result that would be 100 percent customized and my technique would offer dozens of complementary color/hue options for each client instead of only a handful.

For the next ten years, I enthusiastically worked on my side gig every weekend – performing in-person and virtual color consultations for people all around the country utilizing my proprietary method – while working full-time at my “real” job during the week.

MyTwinkleColors was born.

It wasn’t long before I saw that color could also be therapeutic. When I realized that wearing certain colors made me feel a particular way, I understood the wellness aspect of MyTwinkleColors. For example, when I’m feeling stressed and anxious, I gravitate toward wearing calming colors such as lavenders, teals, and blues to provide and surround myself with an aura of serenity. When I’m tired and sluggish, I wear corals, oranges, and pinks to energize and pick me up.

Color is a vibration, an emotion. It’s a collective melody of how you feel while going about your day and a celebration of your personality and character. Once I realized the enormously positive influence MyTwinkleColors had on my mood, and therefore on my confidence and mental health, I wanted to share it with the world. It’s a simple thing to do but has an enormous effect on how you start your day and live your life.

It took me fifty years to get back to being that five-year-old little girl who knew intuitively what her colors were and dressed in her way, before outside influences directed her on other paths that didn’t feel right. Even with my inherent understanding of color, love of fashion, and architectural sensibilities, it was decades before I discovered my differentiator, caught my rhythm, and understood my unique positioning in the fashion and beauty worlds.

I am now doing something I’ve loved since I was a young girl and have finally found my life’s mission – color and empowering others to wear it confidently. It’s been a long journey, but one that’s been magnificent, challenging, and gratifying – and I am just getting started.

It gives me great joy to help others feel happy and dress authentically in “their” colors by using my proprietary method, theory, and Color Library.

Talk about a childhood dream come true.