Raised in Florence, Alabama, she graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 1986, earning a B.S. in Secondary Education with concentrations in Math and Psychology. During college, she also studied French at the Université de Nice in Nice, France. In 1989, she received her J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she was a member of the Law and Psychology Review. She moved to Memphis in 1989 and began practicing law. Through the years, as she raised her three children with her husband Clay, Ms. Bethell has alternated her time practicing law, teaching math, tutoring math, and volunteering.