Em Piro has had job titles that include director, actor, producer, counselor, case manager, sparkplug, and executive director. She grew up in Seattle, and after relocating to St. Louis was enchanted by the city's revitalization movement. Some of her most fulfilling efforts have included co-founding the grassroots interdisciplinary arts project Glass Monsters; serving as the lead case manager in the nationally acclaimed Stagings program through the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and Prison Performing Arts; and founding St Lou Fringe.