Barret Swatek was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, the daughter of Bill and Lana Swatek. She was a competitive figure skater from ages five to 12, then began singing and acting in local theater. She attended The University of Arizona and finished at Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Film. Barret was chosen to play the lead opposite Jason Alexander and Wendie Malick in the mockumentary comedy On Edge (2001). The movie follows her character, "Veda Tillman", a champion figure skater, on her way to the Olympic Gold. Barret can also be seen on a weekly basis playing the role of "Cheryl" on the hit WB series 7th Heaven (1996). After the conclusion of "7th Heaven", Barret joined the cast of the groundbreaking series Quarterlife (2007) from Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick.In 2011 she joined the cast of the MTV hit comedy Awkward. (2011).