Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where French was the primary language spoken in her home, Dean recalls her father playing the guitar until she would fall asleep.
Before settling in her music career, Dean worked various jobs including retail sales, coordinating events for Toyota in Huntington Beach, California, and farming.
Dean wrote material during her two years at Iowa’s Graceland College on a softball scholarship and while back in Louisiana completing a journalism degree.
This friend, along with Rivers Rutherford (author of Brooks & Dunn's "Ain't Nothing 'bout You", Chely Wright's "Shut Up and Drive" and Montgomery Gentry's "If You Ever Stop Loving Me", among others), helped to find her direction.
She continued her songwriting for other artists; Reba McEntire's Room to Breathe (2003) featured "My Sister" and Sara Evans' Real Fine Place (2005) included "Coalmine", both co-written by Dean.