Joy grew up in Ottawa, Ontario as the daughter of a small, enterprising owner-manager. Their portfolio consisted mostly of small three and four story turn-of-the-century apartments in Centretown that were acquired in the 60's and 70's. Starting as an eight year old, she participated by painting window frames for her parents at 25 cents a pop and sorted the business' expense receipts. Her parents' marriage didn't last and divorced when she was 14. After a few years as a wayward high school dropout, she eventually returned to college, university and, later, law school.

During the first half of her career she ran her own private law practice while also working full-time in the public sector. When her father turned 80, he asked her to work in the business; at first as part-time support, and then on a full-time basis for the next fifteen years. Her father died in 2023, after a long battle with advancing dementia. Today, Joy and her brother Todd still run a much more streamlined, smaller version of that business.