Joy found out that Sid & Marty Krofft were looking for individuals to portray characters in costumes when she was a senior in high school in northern California. She responded to an inquiry that they had in a regional newsletter distributed by Little People of America, and several months later they called and explained the series, etc. to her parents. She lived in Los Angeles for three years and enjoyed it, but knew that she wanted to return to northern California. She left L.A. in 1972. She married Jack McKenzie, a member of the Little People of America, in 1989 and moved to his home state of Texas. They had their first child in 1991.