Born in New York and adopted at birth, Joanne was raised in Northern New Jersey, just outside of New York City. Early on, she excelled in athletics, often displaying her gymnastic talent on the peak of the roof of her house, much to her parent's horror and later, in high school, as a state ranked athlete in track and field. She attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, studying Marine Science and Physics, but decided to follow a much different path to become a stunt performer and made the move to Orlando when Universal Studios had actual working sound stages and often filmed television shows and movies. After working "stunt / game safety" and as the "Resident Mermaid" on Nickelodeon's GUTS, she moved to California on January 14, 1994. On January 17th, the Northridge earthquake occurred making it nearly impossible to find safe housing. A few months later, she moved back to N. NJ to pursue a stunt career in the New York City market. Upon Meeting Danny Aiello III, at a wrap party for a film, he told her that he could use her on a show he was running and less than a week later, Danny called, giving her, her first professional stunt job and ability to join the Screen Actors Guild. Joanne still owns a winter home in Florida where she enjoys the ability to SCUBA right off the beach, kayak the rivers and bays and where she can easily train with her firearms, but remains mostly in the NYC area where she enjoys the theater and often says if she had "real talent that didn't involve gravity, she would have loved to perform musical theater".

She is an advocate for adoptee rights to obtain original birth certificates and documents in closed record states and for abused and neglected children.