[1] Her father, Stephen Fulton, was a jazz trumpeter who was often visited by musician friends such as Clark Terry and Major Holley.

When her father was hired to run the Clark Terry Institute for Jazz Studies, the family moved to Iowa.

[2] Fulton graduated from high school in 2003, then attended State University of New York at Purchase, where she studied with trumpeter Jon Faddis.

At some of those venues she played with Jimmy Cobb, Scott Hamilton (musician), Frank Wess, Lou Donaldson, and Louis Hayes.

[4][2] She also admired Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Sonny Clark, Red Garland, Hampton Hawes, Wynton Kelly, Thelonious Monk, and Art Tatum.