Swanson was raised by her mother in San Diego, California, after her father was killed in the Vietnam War. She graduated from Orange Glen High School in 1975, and while in high school, she worked a part-time job at Sears. Not only was she the youngest, she was also the only female salesperson in the television and sound system department and she received awards for her work in sales. She earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies in 1981 from San Diego State University, and went on to work as a teacher, a flight attendant and a model. She convinced a computer company to donate laptops, and taught her mainly female fellow flight attendants how to use them during their spare time.
