Before Vesta's debut as a solo recording artist, she paid her dues singing commercial jingles for Mcdonald's, Diet Coke, Honda and Revlon Cosmetics among others. This 'commercial recognition' eventually lead to important session work for Vesta throughout the years, where she would eventually provide background vocals for Anita Baker ('Rapture'), Jermaine Jackson ('Precious Moments'), Jeffrey Osborne ('Emotional'), Stephanie Mills ('If I Were Your Woman'), Gladys Knight ('Good Woman'), and Sting ('Nothing Like The Sun') among many others! This exposure for Vesta also prompted Chaka Khan to hire her as a vocalist during the early 1980's. It's been rumored that Vesta recorded background vocals for Chaka, but they've only worked together during live concerts. Chaka Khan is notorious for recording her own backgrounds, and since Vesta's fire was a close match, it was a no brainer to have Williams on tour.
After touring with Chaka during the early 1980's, Vesta met producer David Crawford through Joe Sample (pianist of the Jazz Crusaders), for whom she'd recorded the original vocals for 'The Survivor' in 1984. For some reason, Vesta's vocals were replaced with Phyllis Hyman's, and it was probably because MCA wanted to attach an established name with Sample's 'Oasis' album (1985).