Born in the Philippines in 1954 , Kate Torres Recto, grew up pampered as the youngest of four children and as the daughter of an aristocratic family. She recalls having maids and drivers, and she describes her mother's sense of fashion. But she also remembers how her parents raised her and her siblings to respect their elders, to be kind, and to be compassionate. In turn, as Kate raised her six children mostly as a single mother, she, too, instilled those values in them.

Born as one of four children in Manila, Philippines, Minddie and her siblings were raised by their paternal grandmother and her sisters (the Three Lolas) in the Philippines when her parents took jobs in New Jersey. After the children joined their parents, the family moved to California, where Minddie suffered abuse and subsequently lived in several foster homes and a girls' home, Olive Crest. It was through Olive Crest that Minddie met her mentors, Bruce Layne, Roy Woofter, and Thalia Dondero and came to Las Vegas in 1995, where she worked with the airlines.

Junior starts off by tracing his life back to being born in Harbor City, California and moving to Ogden, Utah. His ethnic background as a Samoan created very strong family values such as respect for your elders, and his time in Utah was marked by spending lots of time with family. After moving back to California briefly, Junior ended up in Las Vegas when his sister needed help and ended up obtaining his degree in sociology from UNLV. After graduating, Junior briefly worked in construction before becoming a bodyguard for Floyd Mayweather for five years.