Gail grew up in Calais, Vermont; graduating from Montpelier High School in 1956. She went on to graduate from Mary Hitchcock School of Nursing in 1959 and completed a post-graduate course in surgical nursing at MHMH the following year.

In 1961 she moved to California to work as a surgical nurse in Newport Beach and San Mateo. She eventually worked for a Tech School in San Francisco teaching operating room techs during the 1970's. Later that decade she took a job at Presbyterian Hospital in San Francisco as the Staff Development Coordinator in the surgery department.

She then moved to Oxnard, CA where, after a brief stint working for a plastic surgeon, she worked as a Legal Nurse Consultant for nearly two decades; retiring in 2005. In this role she was employed initially by a private company that contracted with the Mercy Hospital Network in California (their hospitals were self-insured for liability). She was responsible for investigating potential liability cases, as well as cases in active litigation, and then writing in-depth reports that went to the defense Attorneys to assist them with their defense of a case. She still maintains it was the best job she ever had.

In 2007, she moved back to the family farm in Calais and still resides there. She worked as a receptionist for the Douglas Administration during his last year in office (2010), which she greatly enjoyed and also introduced her public policy.