Parker was born Mattie Jean Pearcy in Hico, Texas, about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth. She graduated from Hico High School in 2002 before heading to the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor's of Arts in government. In 2012, Parker graduated from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law with a Juris Doctor and, in 2013, was admitted to the State Bar of Texas. Parker was in Texas Wesleyan's final graduating class before the law school was sold and became the Texas A&M University School of Law in 2013. As a law student, she was awarded the prestigious MacLean & Boulware Endowed Law Scholarship.
