Mary Grace grew up in Winter Park, Florida, a suburb of Orlando. In her youth, Florida was a land of sunshine, lakes, brick streets, Spanish moss, orange trees, and free roaming peacocks. She seemed to balance with one foot in the Florida sand and another in the sticky red clay of her ancestors. Both parents grew up in Columbus, Georgia, and nearly all of her extended family was scattered around Georgia and the southeast.

Most holidays were spent with aunts, uncles, and cousins on the family land in Hamilton, Georgia. She caught catfish and rainbow trout in the family pond, fireflies in jars, and also caught the passion for storytelling. Mary Grace's dad and grandfather were both seasoned storytellers, and often family time included a lot of laughter and a lot of retelling family lore around the dinner table, riding in the red truck, or walking the land.

Mary Grace realized her lifelong dream of attending the University of Georgia, the same school both parents, her grandfather, and her great-grandfather attended. She earned a full academic scholarship through the Foundation Fellows Program, enjoyed sorority life, gave tours of the UGA campus, and served as an official ambassador on The Arch Society. She graduated first in her class with a journalism degree in 2000. She lived in east Asia for a year after graduation, worked in Atlanta, and then moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2003 after marrying Marcus. She pursued and finished her master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Alabama just before having their first child.

Her greatest accomplishment has been raising three wonderful daughters. After her grandfather passed away and her father died suddenly in 2013, Mary Grace had the realization that these important stories will be forgotten with the passing of time, and she set out to put pen to paper and preserve them. She believes these stories are valuable for not just her family and friends, but worth reading for anyone who wants to be encouraged, inspired, and entertained.