Ami Cusack was born to and raised in Golden, Colorado, by Richard, a top gun pilot and explosive engineer and Virginia, a former substitute English teacher and homemaker. After graduating Golden High School, she attended Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver. While attending RMCAD, she landed a job with Experimental and Applied Sciences as charitable director (one of six employees), working with children and women. In 1998, the company was sold and Cusack decided to travel for the next four years. Her travels led her to Australia, Thailand, Tahiti, Iceland, Japan and Africa.

Upon returning to the US, she took a job at a coffee shop which she now considers "the greatest job in the world." She looks forward to being a mom and taking care of her family.
 
In 1996, she lost her 18-year-old younger brother, Kyle, to a drunk driver. Her mother now conducts motivation speaking to high school students about the consequences of drinking and driving.