She earned her Master’s Degree in 2012 at Strayer University. Trista was raised in Germany where she completed high school and an apprenticeship in the haute couture fashion industry. In 2003 she returned to the Raleigh area, where she worked for Strayer University as a Student Accounts Representative in the Financial Aid department for three and a half years. She then went to RLCB, Inc. as a Junior Accountant until she joined the Cherokee accounting department in 2011.