Ms. Ellis is a Long Beach native who received her law degree from Pepperdine University and her MBA and bachelor's degree in business from California State Universtiy, Dominguez Hills.

The sixth of seven children, Ms. Ellis started her career clerking for a law firm in downtown Long Beach. She has also worked as an extern for the Legal Aid of OC at the Domestic Violence Clinic , located in the Norwalk courthouse, and was an extern for the Los Angeles County Counsel Department of Children's Services,

After law school, Ms. Ellis worked for a large trust and estate planning law firm, in addition to a large life insurance company.

Ms. Ellis devotes much of her time to raising her young daughter and also enjoys her pets as well as traveling.