[7] Wells attended Memorial High School in Victoria, Texas, where she was active in speech and debate and graduated as salutatorian.

[10] While attending college, she was a cast member of Esther's Follies,[11] Austin's long-running musical satire show, where she performed in sketches and as a magician's assistant.

In 2010, Wells moved to Los Angeles and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre with the sketch team "New Money".

[16] In 2013, Wells joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during its 39th season as a featured player along with fellow Upright Citizens Brigade performers John Milhiser, Kyle Mooney, and Beck Bennett, as well as writer Mike O'Brien and stand-up comedian Brooks Wheelan.

Bang!, as well as doing recurring voice work on Hulu's The Awesomes, Disney XD's Wander Over Yonder, and Cartoon Network's Craig of the Creek.

In 2015, she co-starred on the critically acclaimed Netflix comedy Master of None, created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang.

[31] In 2020, Wells was cast as a voice actor in the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks as Ensign Tendi, a new Orion crewmember (one of four main characters) aboard the USS Cerritos, working in the ship's medical bay.