Through Instagram DM, she started giving birth chart readings – an analysis of an individual’s character traits based on the position of the planets and astrological houses at the time and place of birth. “When I discovered astrology I never really thought it could be a viable career path, because no one does that,” says Bell, who is originally from Tennessee and has spent time studying both in Italy and in the UK (she was on the prestigious MA Fashion Journalism pathway at Central Saint Martins). “After a few months I noticed, wait, I think I could quit my job and do this.”

Now free from the restraints of her 9-5, Bell is her own boss, and is finally doing a job she cares about. “I hated coming in to work at a certain hour, doing the same thing every day, and taking orders that didn’t make sense to me,” she reflects. “Bosses at work didn’t believe me when I said I’m quitting to be an astrologer.”

Compatibility is less of an obsession in her approach to dating. “I try not to look at compatibility too much, I don’t think that matters. You need to listen to your intuition if someone’s right for you,” she says. “Astrology does feed my obsessive personality, but it helps me because it shows when I need to be focusing on work and myself rather than dating. Why put the energy in when it’s not going to happen?”

She has the water elements in her chart to blame for that. Her sun sign (the key sign you look for in your horoscope) is the air sign Aquarius, but she also has a watery Pisces moon, making her susceptible to these types of preoccupations. The difference now however, is that she has achieved ownership and an acceptance of her obsessive tendencies (her website is named Stalk, after all).

“Astrology helps me accept myself for who I am. I was always trying to act a certain way, or try to supress some of that, and now I’m just more myself,” Bell explains. “I’ve learned how to release control over people and situations, and to trust that the universe will work it out. I had so much anxiety – and that’s calmed down a lot.”

This trust in the natural order of things motivates Bell to help others through astrology. “I think people want to know more about themselves,” she says of the ever-growing interest in astrology among young people. “The stigma around going to therapy has gone away, and people aren’t afraid to look at their more negative traits in addition to their positive traits.”

During her time at Vogue, she correctly foreshadowed the engagements, break-ups and job changes of numerous colleagues based on their charts. She always keeps her readings constructive, especially if the answer isn’t what the person is hoping for. “I’ll give them an alternative of what they should do instead of focusing on the negative. So I’ll be like, ‘you’re not going to have a successful dating life, I think you should focus on yourself more. You need to gain more confidence in yourself and then apply it to dating the next year.”