A magna cum laude graduate of Duke University (A.B. History), Ms. Vinson was appointed to the University's Undergraduate Judicial Board and was awarded a grant by Duke's Public Policy Institute to work as a legislative assistant in health policy for Congressman William Roy (Kan.) in Washington, D.C. She served as a legislative assistant for members of the Texas Legislature and as a law clerk in the Texas Attorney General's office. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, and was an Armand Hammer Fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas.

Prior to joining Marshall, Roth & Gregory, in 2009, Ms. Vinson previously practiced for several years with one of Asheville's large law firms in the areas of trusts and estates, and worked in the trust department of a major banking institution.

Ms. Vinson is a member of the North Carolina State Bar. She is also a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, the 28th Judicial District Bar, and the Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She has lived in the Asheville area since 1985 and has been active in a number of community organizations. She was honored in May 2010 by the Western North Carolina Chapter of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys with a "Women of Wisdom Silver Service Award."