Jeanne Phillips was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Pauline Esther "Popo" Phillips, the founder of "Dear Abby", and Morton Phillips in 1942. Her grandfather, Jay Phillips, was born in Russia in 1898 and immigrated to Wisconsin when he was two years old. When Jeanne was three years old, her family moved from Minnesota to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Phillips went to elementary school in Hillsborough, California, and attended Burlingame High School for two years. After her sophomore year she transferred to Crystal Springs Uplands School and attended the private school for one year. Shortly thereafter, her family moved back to Twin Cities in Minnesota so her father could take the helm of her feeble grandfather's liquor distribution business. For her senior year she attended Washburn High School in Minneapolis. Phillips enjoyed the school, saying, "I loved it. I was never the most popular girl in the class. I never aspired to be. But I did make very nice friends." In college, she majored in English and anthropology, and studied anthropology at the University of Colorado and UCLA though she did not work in the field. She attempted interior design and ran the company Jeanne Phillips Interiors but ultimately decided it was unsatisfactory.