Paula Hopkins grew up in Kent, Washington. She earned her GED at nineteen and studied to be a Medical Assistant, a position she held for fifteen years. In 2008, she went back to school, attending Green River Community College and obtaining an AAS in Forestry and AAS in Water Quality. In 2013, she and her husband started Hopkins Forestry. They work mainly with small forest landowners to develop management plans and steward healthy forests. In addition, they manage the Lincoln Tree Farm for the Tacoma School District and the YMCA property around Mineral Lake. In her free time, Paula enjoys baking, kayaking, hiking, and riding mountain bikes on logging roads with her husband and their dog.