Natalie was born in Benson, Minnesota, in 1959. She graduated from high school in 1977 and earned an Associate Degree in Accounting from St. Cloud Area Vocational Technical Institute in 1979. In 1995, she graduated from Montana State University-Bozeman with highest honors and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Social and Criminal Justice and a minor in Native American Studies. She has five years experience in product liability and personal injury litigation.  She became a PACE registered paralegal in October 2003 after passing the Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam sponsored by the National Federation of Paralegal Association.

      Prior to her legal career, Natalie operated her own big game taxidermy business. Natalie and her husband, Lee, spent their honeymoon a pre-1840's primitive, cross-country horseback ride that spanned four and a half months. She is self-taught in the arts of Plains Indian beadwork and quillwork. She is also a student and instructor of taekwondo, with a 2^nd degree black belt. She is a member of the Montana Wilderness Association, Gallatin County Historical Society and Humane Society of Gallatin Valley.  Her spare time is typically spent hunting and on back country adventures with Lee and their two German Shepards.