She ignored her teachers' advice to become an English teacher and didn't bother with going on to a university because "I was ready to plunge into my life as an artist." Working in an art-supply shop, "I met working artists and realized you can make a living doing this." A later job as a designer at an advertising agency "taught me about the business of art". In 1975 Engelbreit met social worker Phil Delano, and the couple married two years later. Delano became his wife's biggest supporter. "Even when we had no money, he never said, 'Go get a job,'" she says. "I can't express my gratitude for his support." After that ill-fated trip to New York, Engelbreit sent a sample of her drawings to two greeting card companies.