Joanna is originally from Michigan, has studied improvisation, acting, and writing at the IO, Annoyance, Second City, The Audition Studio and ActOne training centers. She is an alumna of Kalamazoo College, iO Chicago, and ComedySportz Chicago. She has performed with WNEP Theater in notable productions such as CrossCurrents, PostMortem, Christmas My Ass (Redux) and the Armageddon Radio Hour.  Joanna created and performed original characters for the Annoyance Theater's Perfect Wave and Late Nite Tit Bits in 2008.

Joanna has appeared in print-ads (most famously for Tampax Tampons), industrials, and voice-overs, including Midway Games' Psi-Ops as Sara Blake.  She performed her original one-woman show Mabofren at Chicago's Single File Solo Festival 2003. Since 2004, Joanna has played bass guitar for the rock outfit Let's Get Out of This Terrible Sandwich Shop with whom she toured the midwest in 2005 and put out 3 EP's and 1 full length album titled "Listening."