Polly grew up on a small farm in southwest Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a liberal arts degree, and has lived in the tri-state area her whole life. While working at a small, local bank early in her career, she became aware of the College for Financial Planning and obtained her designation as a Certified Financial Planning professional in 1984. She spent the next 35 years in various client-facing independent, support, and leadership roles in the financial services industry. Polly retired from Dubuque Bank & Trust as a Senior Vice President and Senior Wealth Manager in Dubuque, Iowa, in January 2019.