Ackerman claimed to have been born with the ability to remember birthdates and developed her interest in astrology in her early teens. In 1974 she and her then-boyfriend,
Richard Belzer, obtained their first computerized astrological charts from Astroflash, a small booth set up in
Grand Central Terminal in New York City that offered the earliest computer-generated horoscopes. Her interest grew through the 1970s and as an amateur astrologer she collected data (birth dates, times, and places) of her fellow performers between shows at both
The Improv and Catch a Rising Star. Her first position as an astrologer was at
Gurney's Inn in
Montauk, New York on the July 4 weekend of 1992, and she made her first major contribution to the astrological community later that summer by obtaining
Bill Clinton's birthtime from his mother
Virginia Kelley. In 1996 she became the head of the New York affiliate of the
American Federation of Astrologers. She was also active in the New York chapter of the National Council for Geocosmic Research, and taught at the New York
Theosophical Society (1996-2006). She lectured, taught, and saw clients across the USA, Europe, and Canada, and wrote extensively for
Beliefnet. ==Media appearances==