A native of Rural Retreat, Virginia, Crouse-Mays began her career as a telephone operator; as a shop steward she soon because involved in the organized labor movement.

Thanks to her abilities in the role, she became the state field director for the national AFL–CIO in 1997, in which position she attracted new members and expanded the group's political reach.

She is a board member of Emerge Virginia, a group which looks for women to run for political office.

[1] Crouse-May was the first woman to hold executive office in Virginia's AFL–CIO, being elected its secretary-treasurer for a four-year term beginning in 2006.

In August 2010 she became the first woman to be elected its president; in 2014 she was reelected to another four-year term in the position.