A product of Saint Paul Public Schools and the community, Ka Vang identifies with St. Paul and grew up in Frogtown. As a child, she attended several St. Paul schools, including Dayton's Bluff, North End Elementary, High Park, St. Agnes, and Como Park Senior High.

Ka was born in Long Cheng, Laos on a CIA military base in 1975. She was born during a time of chaos and uncertainty and lived with her family in a Thai refugee camp until she was 5. In 1980 she came to the US and settled in Illinois for a year. They moved to St. Paul after her father accepted a position at a social service agency for Hmongs.

Ka was born a writer and has been telling stories since she was a little girl. Hmong culture is an oral culture, with a strong history of passing on rituals and history orally. Her mother was a shaman and a storyteller and inspired Ka to tell stories. Today, Ka is carrying on the storytelling tradition.