Ophelia Ramirez-Mailloux was born and raised in Shelby OH by her parents, Sue and Ben, alongside her 8 siblings - 4 brothers, 4 sisters. She graduated from Shelby Sr High School as well as Pioneer Joint Vocational School, where she wrote this children's book for a writing competition and won first place in the state. She went on to attend The Ohio State University (OSU) and graduated with her Bachelors of Social Work in 2001. Then one year later, in 2002, she graduated with her Master's in Social Work from an Advanced Standing Alternate Plan (ASAP) program, again, at OSU. She began her career in January of 2003, so she has been working in her field for 10 years now. Six out of those 10… years have been spent working with children and teenagers. She is currently working as a Behavioral Health Therapist at a local health clinic, working with all age groups.