Barbara Dunkelman grew up in Canada. She became a fan of Rooster Teeth as a teenager and was active in their online community. After Dunkelman graduated from Concordia University in 2011, she moved to Texas and started working for Rooster Teeth as their first community manager. She appeared in several RT shorts and regularly appeared on the RT podcast and Internet Box podcast. Dunkelman's first major acting role was in the show RWBY (2012).