Jess grew up on a small farm in central Illinois and quickly found her love of music and performing by becoming involved in band, choir, and her high school's drama club. While studying marketing during her undergrad years, she toured with the choir across the country and was also a part of the chamber choir for three years.

After a pause from performing, which included getting married to her husband, Chris, moving to the St. Louis Metro area, and earning a Master's degree in Public Administration, Jess found her love for sharing stories onstage again.

Jess is delighted to be part of the cast of The Second Hurricane to be produced this August with Stray Dog Theatre. She was recently seen on stage with Monkey Noodle Theatrics for their original musical, What I've Created, as well as Lily in Alabama Story, and Phoebe D'Ysquith in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. View Jess's full resume here.

On the rare occasion when she is not performing, Jess enjoys going to the ballet, touring whiskey distilleries, and teaching new tricks to her German Shepherd, Lanie. Jess is also working towards completing her first book and playing video games (poorly) on Twitch (JessPlaysAPart).