Kristi Townsend received her bachelor's degree in mathematics with a minor in physics in 2013 from Western Michigan University. She then moved to Indianapolis where she began Marian University's Masters Bridge to Teaching Program while teaching at an inter city high school. After completing her Master's program in 2016, she moved back to Kalamazoo, where she worked as a long term substitute teacher at Mattawan High School, Sturgis High School, Kalamazoo Central High School, and Galesburg-Augusta High School before finally finding a permanent position in 2019 at Compass High School.