Kayo grew up in Japan and moved to live with her family in Kenly, North Carolina during high school. She graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies and a minor in Chemistry. In recognition of her outstanding performance as an undergraduate student, she was selected to deliver the commencement speech for the Department of Health and Human Sciences. After graduation, she worked as a CNA at the Southeastern Medical Oncology Center in Wilson, NC before entering into medical school at Loyola University in Chicago. As a medical student, she has co-directed a pipeline program for minority high school students, worked as a student instructor for the Social Justice and Underserved Minorities Service Project, and as a Director of Mentorship for the Society of Women’s Health. She was also heavily involved in her medical school’s APAMSA and SNMA chapter. In recognition of her outstanding clinical performance and humanism, she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Kayo is also fluent in Japanese and enjoys playing the acoustic guitar, listening to vinyl records, cooking, and the art of origami.