Beattie's highest placement was the top three at the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia contests, the two most prestigious shows for female professional bodybuilders.
Beattie's mother was a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) athlete, while her sister, who was 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m), played college basketball at Portland State University.
[citation needed] In school, she learned sign language and had several operations and speech therapy to improve her ability to communicate.
Beattie attended Western Oregon State College in Monmouth from 1984 to 1988, graduating with a degree in child psychology and special education.
In her first competition, the Portland Rose Cup Novice, she weighed in at 124 pounds and finished fourth in the heavyweight class.
With Shelley, she improved her diet and training, resulting in her taking the overall title at the 1990 NPC Emerald Cup and the Pacific Coast Championships.
In addition to being a professional bodybuilder, Beattie worked as a group home counselor for developmentally delayed teenagers.
At the time of her death, Beattie lived on a farm east of Salem, Oregon, with girlfriend Julie Moisa.