Larissa Dudkiewicz is a graduate of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, where she studied Professional Writing and Editing and minored in American Studies. She worked as a general assignment reporter during a summer internship at the Buffalo News and after earning her bachelor's degree, began working three months later as a community news reporter for the Sharon Herald. In 2003, she took a job working at the Beaver/Allegheny County Times, which included covering news and events in the Sewickley Valley.