About Donna Collins

Donna Collins is a 42-time world award-winning chef, feng shui master, artist, imagination expert, and founder of two charitable organizations. Guided by a passion for transformation and a fearless belief in the power of bold choices, she has built a career that defies boundaries—spanning art, design, culinary innovation, and peacebuilding.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, to Lois and Paul Anderson—a decorated U.S. Army pilot for whom the Anderson Flight Training Center in Fort Eustis, Virginia, is named—Donna’s adventurous spirit emerged early. She attended more than 19 schools across two continents, an upbringing that fostered resilience, adaptability, and a global perspective. As a teen, she modeled for Seventeen Magazine and Bonne Bell Cosmetics, and performed at both the Washington National Cathedral and the Kennedy Center for two U.S. Presidents. She graduated with honors and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with studies in Studio Art, Religion, and Oriental Art History under distinguished art historian Constance Armitage and famed sculptor Mayo Mac Boggs. In 1980, she was named to “Pride of the Carolinas” for her contributions to North Carolina’s creative and cultural heritage.

Her first professional chapter unfolded in the fashion, cosmetics, and spa industries, where she excelled for over a decade while continuing advanced studies in art and feng shui. In the early 1990s, Donna traded Chanel suits for paint-splattered jeans and a bicycle, selling her car and antiques to fund a new venture. Her simple ceramic pieces soon grew into a thriving business with prestigious clients such as Neiman Marcus, Escada, Stanley Korshak, The Dallas Museum of Art, The Crow Collection of Asian Art, Southwest Airlines, Oppenheimer, Merrill Lynch, Toni & Guy, The Crossings (now Miraval Austin), and Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.

As primary artist for the Royal Family, Donna supported more than 300 artisans worldwide and pioneered new ceramic techniques. She later launched Feng Shui for the Body™, a jewelry line of handcrafted semi-precious designs based on the five elements and trigrams of the I-Ching, carried by Neiman Marcus, Lilly Dodson, and Escada.

In 2003, she earned her first Feng Shui Master Certification under Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai of Malaysia, followed by a second Master/Instructor Certification with the Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics in 2005. In 2007, she was named a Master of Distinction in BaZi, an ancient Chinese system of destiny analysis. As the U.S. Representative and Master Instructor for the Mastery Academy, she brought Classical Feng Shui’s highest standards to North and South America, while also founding The Everyday Feng Shui Company and the Texas Chapter of the International Feng Shui Guild, where she served as Southwest Regional Director.

Her dedication to service runs deep. In 2003, she co-founded the Texas Circle of Gather the Women with Unity Church of Dallas and helped organize the Gather the Women International Congress, which brought together 333 women leaders from over 40 nations and 20 UN partner organizations. Donna hosted the 2004 Congress in Dallas, applying feng shui principles to foster a harmonious space for global dialogue.

Her spiritual journey has taken her to audiences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the hosting of the The Heart Shrine Relic Tour and The Maitreya Project at Unity Church of Dallas, where over 2,000 visitors viewed sacred relics of the historical Buddha. She is also a licensed practitioner with The Institute of HeartMath, teaching scientifically validated techniques to improve health, resilience, and performance.

In her role as Executive Director of the Women’s Satellite for Peace Network—appointed by Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ada Aharoni—Donna advanced media and storytelling initiatives to cultivate a culture of peace. She also co-founded the Spiritual Cinema Community of Dallas with film producer Stephen Simon (What Dreams May Come, Somewhere in Time), leading national conversations around transformational film.

Her culinary career began with a 2011 appearance on MasterChef with Gordon Ramsay. Since then, her company, The Jelly Queens, has won 42 world and national awards for artisan jams, jellies, gourmet creations and delicious events . She has prepared private dinners for an extraordinary list of luminaries, including astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Deepak Chopra, Caroline Myss, Gregg Braden, Dato Joey Yap, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Arun Gandhi, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche and Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche.

Donna co-authored A Healthier You with Deepak Chopra and other wellness leaders, and launched the Global Peace Project: Building Peace in Dallas, a pioneering initiative that used collective meditation and intentional consciousness to measurably reduce local violence. Through a series of “magical dinners,” she facilitated a visit from His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche to Dallas, culminating in the consecration of the Cathedral of Hope’s Interfaith Peace Chapel—Philip Johnson’s final architectural work—as Tibetan holy ground. Her Interfaith Peace Plate Installation, depicting prayers from 21 world religions, remains a permanent feature there.

She is also the founder and host of the World Biscuits and Jampionship at the World Food Championships (WFC). WFC is the largest food sport event in the world with over 400 fierce foodie teams from 40 countries competiting for glory abd a sweet $450,000 prize.

Donna continues her work through The Everyday Feng Shui Company, The Jelly Queens, and IkigaiDonna, offering transformative classes, workshops, and culinary and etiquette camps for all ages. She is currently developing a bed-and-breakfast retreat center where generations can gather to learn, heal, and celebrate.