Trisha Adams was born and raised in California. She went to college at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri with a year's honor study in Oxford, England. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology, but it was her work as college yearbook editor which sparked her choice of vocation. She moved to Virginia and began working in the advertising department of a local newspaper. Because of her interest in computers, she quickly transitioned to desktop publishing and opened her own graphic design firm in 1985. After selling her business in 1990, she joined a color printing company establishing their electronic prepress department and retail service bureau.