Rakes was born in Oklahoma and spent the first few years of her life in Guthrie, then moved with her parents to Danville, Illinois, and then to Peoria not long after. She was interested in acting from a young age, doing school plays from elementary to high school, only breaking to play basketball. The family moved again to New Mexico when Kristen was in eighth grade. After high school, she began college as a business major, only to switch to filmmaking after two years. Upon graduating with a degree in Moving Image Arts, Kristen was able to jump into crew work in art department thanks to New Mexico's burgeoning film industry. In that time, she married her high school sweetheart, Ariel Rakes, and then eventually the two moved to California. A few years in LA working as an extra and a stint working for Reelzchannel intensified her desire to get back to acting. She finally booked her first mainstream role on Longmire, which was ultimately cut, but others followed quickly. Her husband, originally a pilot by trade, also found a love in the art form and became a cinematographer. The two work together frequently on independent projects, completing their first feature in 2014.