April Brown was born in Eastern Washington and has lived within a few miles of the downtown Seattle core for almost 30 years. In 1992, she decided to devote her life to animal rescue and a few months later, Whisker City was born. To fund her charity, she became an auctioneer and parlayed that experience into a thriving charity auction company. She credits scores of jobs for preparing her for the career she's enjoyed for more than 25 years.

After high school graduation she half-heartedly attended a Bible college in Nashville, Tennessee. Disillusioned with organized religion, she quit school and looked for work in the social justice field. She became a matron at Tennessee Preparatory School and was encouraged by an undercover Vice officer to apply for a job as a police officer. She was one of five women to attend the first class for women recruits for the Nashville Davidson County Police Department.  That experience helped her investigate and interview witnesses for “Poetic Justice”.