Ballard grew up in Paris, Texas. She was inspired to get into voice acting when she attended an anime convention, seeing the panel of voice actors, and learned that Funimation was only two hours from her hometown. In college, she was a participant in the Disney College Program, after which she changed her major to theatre. She completed an associate degree from Paris Junior College with an emphasis on Theatre and Art.
Ballard’s first voice acting gig was at Funimation. Outside of voice acting, Ballard has co-created a Super Mario Bros.-themed online comic called Koopasta.