Charise was born and raised on the Northwest side of Chicago with her mom, dad, and older brother Giacomo. Growing up with loud Italians, family is the most important thing to her.

She started performing in community theatre productions at age 9. She attended St. Ignatius College Prep where she was president of the Harlequins’ Theatre Troupe and secretary of the Honors Choir.

She then graduated from Texas Christian University with a BFA in Theatre, where she was the president of an Acappella group and producer of many shows within their theatre fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega.