Born in Saigon, Vietnam to her American parents who worked in the U.S. Embassy in the State Department, Vicki Murphy started her life in an exotic place that seemed to portend she would follow a road less traveled. Although her family moved back to Michigan before she was old enough to be influenced by the culture, she has retained her sense of adventure and combined that with her love of art. In 1997, Vicki graduated from Wayne State with a BFA. A chance meeting with, Bob Vito, in Detroit who had just started a fledgling cable news station called CNN, allowed her to explore that avenue. She did all of the drawings for them and had the opportunity to do the illustrations in a particularly high-profile crime trial. She absolutely loved it, and they loved her.