Kerstin Kassner grew up on the island of Rügen and learned the profession of a waitress after finishing school. In 1981 she became restaurant manager at the FDGB holiday service in Binz. She completed a distance learning course, which she began at the Leipzig Graduate School of Management during this time, as a graduate economist in the hotel and restaurant industry. Afterwards she continued to work in various positions for the FDGB-Feriendienst and managed a hotel until 1991. After completing her holiday service, she became self-employed and ran her own pension at Putgarten from 1992 to 2018. From 2001 till 2011 she was District Administrator of the Rügen district in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. She became member of the bundestag after the 2013 German federal election. She is a member of the Committee on Tourism and the Committee on Petitions. In her parliamentary group, Kassner is parliamentary manager. She is spokesperson for tourism policy and local politics.