She received her undergraduate degree from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She began her legal career as a staff attorney with the Texas State Auditor’s Office before moving to the Texas Department of Economic Development, where she served as the General Counsel for over six years. In 2003, when the agency was reformed as the Economic Development and Tourism Division in the Office of the Governor, she transitioned to the Office of Governor Rick Perry as an Assistant General Counsel.