She was born in St. Louis to Mark and Mary Paffrath. She has six siblings: Christy, Mark, Steven, Stacey, Matt and Brittany and she is the middle child. Her grandfather, Herman Paffrath, was also an actor. Her family used to put on plays and newscasts at family parties. Her mom enrolled her in ballet, tap and jazz class when she was just 3-years-old. At 9, she entered gymnastics and won many awards and medals in competitions. While at school, she used to experiment with theatre and performed in various plays. She is known to have a curious nature and extraordinary creativity. She decided to pursue a career in journalism and attended Missouri School of Journalism where she completed an internship at Entertainment Tonight in Los Angeles alongside TV veterans Mark Steines and Mary Hart under the leadership of Linda Bell Blue. After earning a degree in Broadcast Journalism in 2005, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams.