Born in Del Rio, Texas, to Christopher, a U2 pilot in the Air Force, and Barbara Wheatley, an Elementary School teacher. Laura and her two younger sisters were very involved with acting and singing growing up, starting with Laura's very first role as Gretel in "Hansel and Gretel" at a large community theater in southern California.She attended a very small high school in Rappahannock County Virginia, and was active in theater, chorus, art, and was also the Yearbook editor, Cheerleading captain and Soccer captain. There were fewer than 85 students in her graduating class.After graduation, she attended the Shenandoah Conservatory as a Theater major, but transferred schools after only one semester. She then attended a community college, then Eastern Mennonite University for a year, and finally graduated from Sweet Briar College, an all-women's school in Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. While a student at Sweet Briar, she also participated in the a cappella group, the Sweet Tones.On October 10, 2010, while completing her senior year at Sweet Briar, Laura married Ethan Russell, her high school sweetheart and a United States Marine. After graduating from SBC, she and her husband moved to Aliso Viejo, California to be near the base Ethan was stationed at.Once in California, Laura became employed as a Pet Training Instructor at a local pet store and acquired two dogs - a Labrador Retriever (Harley) and an Australian Shepherd (Ace).When Laura's husband was deployed to Afghanistan, she moved back to Virginia to live with family for support. During her time there, she studied with Russ Randall at Final Act Drama and portrayed the role of Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at a local community theater. She also began working with her manager Tom Townsend at Integrity Artists Management. Show less «