Happy First® is a movement born of Debbie Vinyard’s personal philosophy. A dreamer, a doer and a survivor, Debbie’s fun-loving approach to living is the spirit behind Happy First® – a company devoted to inspiring people to pursue their passions and discover their infinite capacity for true happiness.

Debbie’s simple optimism emerged early in life and has never wavered. Blessed with both right- and left-brained talents, she began selling homemade candles at age 12. Her entrepreneurship and creativity carried her through college at the University of Oklahoma. But her original pursuit of fashion design yielded to her knack for numbers – she left with a degree in accounting and passed her CPA exam immediately upon graduation.

After marrying her college sweetheart, Randy, she started a career at a Big Eight international accounting firm and simultaneously launched a creative clothing company with her sisters-in-law. A few years later, Debbie again put her book-balancing act to use after-hours through joint ownership of a sportswear shop called BodyGear. By age 32, she had achieved an informal education in business ownership and was thriving as a wife, mother, accountant, entrepreneur and public speaker.

A bump in the road came when Debbie was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease – a form of lymphatic cancer.

Rather than seeing cancer as a life-threatening tragedy, Debbie approached her treatment with gusto and was cured within a matter of months. Though she never felt particularly cursed to have encountered the disease, it did make her “even happier to be here!”

Debbie has been cancer-free since 1995. Yet, she’s retained her empowered mindset – and remained committed to making every day worthwhile. She’s long since traded in her buttoned-up, desk-bound accounting job for her true passions. She maintains her vigor by volunteering in the community and enjoying life with her husband and two sons.

Now, after pursuing everything from monogramming to stationary design, Debbie has set her sights on her most ambitious goal yet.

Incorporating her love of fashion with her heart for leukemia and lymphoma research, she’s created Happy First® to inspire and enhance living. Because Debbie believes that we are all capable of achieving true, enduring, life-altering happiness.