Stephanie moved to America with her family from New Zealand at the age of 4. Not long after, she began singing and dancing with the children's group, Kids Are Music. The group performed at schools, retirement homes, and shelters, with everything from sparkly 'Uncle Sam' hats and patriotic medleys to plastic lollipops and curls for Shirley Temple routines. The joy these cheery, overly-prop loaded kids brought to their audiences is what first began Stephanie's lifelong passion for storytelling and the arts.

By age 10 she had convinced her mother to drive her to Los Angeles to study with renowned acting coach, Kevin McDurmott. This led to much theater and television work and allowed Stephanie to become a SAG member at 12 and make her Equity theater debut in "Over The Tavern" at McCoy Rigby Entertainment. During this time, Stephanie was also lucky enough to begin training with director/producer Tom Todoroff and world famous vocal coach Edward Sayegh, both of whom she continues to study with today.

After graduating from High School, Stephanie went on to study acting and directing at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Playwrights Horizons' Theater School. Through the Tisch Scholars program, Stephanie traveled with an embassy of artists to Ghana and Vietnam performing in a series of cross cultural performances and events. At NYU she also completed a major in Russian and Slavic Studies, perfecting her Russian with a 4 month summer intensive at Smolney Institute in St. Petersburg and The Humanities University of Moscow. Stephanie also found time to spent a semester in Paris studying French and art history before graduating a semester early and returning to Los Angeles to continue her career

Upon her return to Los Angeles, Stephanie was invited to join the prominent LA theater company The Actors' Gang, led by co-founder Tim Robbins. She debuted in their first show the following season, as Marie, the singing prostitute, in Brecht's "Drums in the Night. She continues to be an active member as well as an instructor for The Actors' Gang's Prison Project: an arts rehabilitation program, teaching Commedia Del'arte to California State prisoners. Stephanie enjoys making home-made cards, eating butternut squash soup, and running around the hills.