The very first use of the system was as a way of separating key areas of activity in business and personal life, to assist clients with prioritising and time management. Before long, however, extraordinary results started to occur.

The turning point came when one client was having trouble adjusting to the demands of a recent promotion to a Board of Directors and felt under pressure to prove himself in the role. Asking whether there was a particular person who seemed to be a barrier to him, Vanessa was told about a key person from a public stakeholder organisation, around whom her client felt intimidated and powerless. She asked a simple question: ‘How do you feel about this person – tell me in colour?’ Faced with a tray of different coloured ribbons, the client selected a colour in which Vanessa immediately recognised limitations. Clearly, he felt anxious and frustrated with very little freedom to change the situation. The second question she asked was: ‘Have you ever seen him differently?’ Immediately, the man’s demeanour changed and he selected a brighter, fresher colour, bursting with promise. Laying the ribbons side by side, she invited the young Director to choose which one to take with him to the next meeting. Needless to say, the man chose the second one. A week later he returned to report on what had happened. ‘We signed an agreement worth 1.5 million pounds,’ he said.

Vanessa went on to apply the colour system to her coaching and training work. She studied hypnotherapy to learn more about the psychology of emotion and to enhance the underlying sensitivity of her coaching. In her teaching of speed reading, she discovered yet another extraordinary way in which colour could be used to pinpoint problems and solve them in a fraction of the time taken by other methods.