Born in Hong Kong and raised in Philadelphia, Jannie studied at Parsons School of Design in New York. After working as a graphic designer and an art director at Nickelodeon, Scholastic, and TIME Magazine for Kids, she decided that illustration was her true calling.

Jannie (also known as Chicken Girl) now specialises in illustrating for the children's market, with her work appearing in both trade and educational books, magazines, toys, crafts and digital media. She lives with her husband and daughter in Boston.