Jodi Wright-Gidley was born and raised in Conroe, Texas. Her love of history began in her early childhood when she would visit museums with her family. Deciding this would be the career path she would take, Jodi attended Baylor University as a first-generation college student and received a Bachelor's degree in Museum Studies and Archeology in 1995. She continued her education at Sam Houston State University and received a Master's degree in History, with a focus on Women and Family History in 2006. One of the highlights of her education was an internship at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.. Although she had many interesting responsibilities during this time, one of her most memorable was cleaning the Star-Spangled Banner. Her first position as curator took place at the Bell County Museum in Belton, Texas from 1995 to 1998. Jodi took some time to teach following that (2001-2005) and then returned to Bell County Museum as a Program Coordinator until 2006. In 2007 she became the Director of the Galveston County Historical Museum and managed operations until 2011, through the museum's closure in 2008 due to Hurricane Ike. Until her later return, she was Executive Director of the Santa Fe Texas Education Foundation then a Major Gifts Officer for College of the Mainland's Institutional Advancement Foundation. In 2022 the Galveston County Museum reopened in it's new location inside of the Galveston County Courthouse and Jodi resumed her role as director.