Marie Krebs was born May 1, 1978 in Colorado Springs, to Christina Krebs (Gonzales) and Arnold Krebs. Krebs has Japanese, Native American, and Spanish ancestry on her mother's side, and German and Welsh on her father's side. She has one younger brother, Jeremy, born in 1983. The family moved to Germany for Arnold Krebs' military service and later settled in South English, Iowa in the mid-1980s. Krebs move to Iowa City to attend the University of Iowa, earning a bachelors degree in business administration. She has worked in business and care management. Around 2021, Krebs became involved with the Great Plains Action Society, an Indigenous-led nonprofit organization organizing around climate and social justice, for which she has served as Managing Director and Healing Justice Director. Krebs has also served on the Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Krebs has three sons and one grandson and resides in Iowa City. In 2023, Krebs began pursuing a masters of social work at the University of Iowa, but left after a dispute with administrators regarding a conference presentation Krebs and another student had delivered, which described racial harm students of color had experienced in the social work program.