For Katrina Parrott, being invited to present her idea to Apple at its campus in Cupertino, CA, was a dream. Unfortunately, less than a year earlier, she had been laid off from her job at NASA in Texas. Then, she was discussing partnering with the Apple on an idea she had pioneered: emojis with different skin-tone options.

It’s 2013, and those tiny digital icons sent over text message, depicted people in only one skin tone. Thanks to the lack of skin-tone options, Parrott recalled her oldest daughter coming home from college and lamented that she couldn’t express herself through emojis.

A good point right? Read how she’s currently suing Apple for copyright infringement.