Jessica Pow grew up in western Canada. She holds a BSc in psychology from the University of Calgary and an MA and PhD in health psychology from the University of British Columbia, where she researched stress and social support in intimate relationships. Her research has been published in journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. After graduate school she spent a year as a research associate at Harvard Business School before joining the Boston Consulting Group.

She left consulting to become a primary parent, and then did what any reasonable person does after two demanding careers and a small child—she started writing a novel. Her in-progress debut is upmarket fiction about six people who sign up for a year-long therapy docuseries and what actually happens when you try to change your life. She lives in San Diego with her husband, daughter, and a very small Chihuahua.