Grits + Grace

About the Author

As a sixth-generation Charlestonian, Megan Pinckney Rutherford has long held deep pride in her heritage, upbringing, and hometown. That pride reached a national audience during her senior year at the University of South Carolina, when she earned a Top 5 placement at the 2013 Miss USA pageant.

She combined the personal branding experience gained from pageantry, the marketing insight developed through her retail studies, and the stylistic eye honed over years as a model and love of style to launch her first blog.

Since then, she’s developed that blog into the lifestyle brand, Shades of Pinck™, LLC. And after over a decade it’s become a guide for the women that appreciate classic glamour, have the need to make everything around them beautiful, and carry on the traditions that span generations.

Megan and her growing team curate a luxurious approach to mindfully styling your life: your closet, your travels, your entertaining, and even your family—making a point to accentuate the life in non-major cities to remind others the joy in blooming where they are planted.

Now based in Columbia, SC with her husband, J. Todd Rutherford, and their son, Teagan, Megan continues to share her signature take on everyday elegance. Whether she’s traveling, advocating for the arts, or styling a family gathering, her mission remains the same: to help women bloom wherever they’re planted.