Porter was born in Los Angeles and lived in Temple City, California as a young child. She moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at age 8. She grew up on a river just outside Escanaba, Michigan, where she spent her childhood catching frogs, climbing trees, and raising prize-winning goats and rabbits.Porter received her B.A. from Northern Michigan University, double majoring in Graduate-Bound English and Theatre Performance. She was Secretary of the Student Body as well as a member of Mortarboard National Honor Society and Sigma Tau Delta National English Honor Society.Immediately following graduation, Porter toured for two years with the highly acclaimed Missoula Children's Theatre. She then moved to Chicago where she graduated from the Second City Conservatory and The Annoyance Theatre, and also performed in dozens of theatre productions.Porter them moved back to Los Angeles where she performed in "Tigerpants" at iO West for three years, and then performed at ACME Comedy Theatre for seven years in both the mainstage improv and mainstage sketch companies. She also taught improv classes at ACME.Porter has appeared in many television series including The Office, Private Practice, New Girl, The Mentalist, Superstore, and many more. She has also appeared in about 40 national commercials, and teaches a class in commercial audition technique.Porter is an active volunteer and mentor with a non-profit organization called WriteGirl, mentoring teen girls in writing. She is also a member of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and currently splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.