Barnes grew up in Edgefield, South Carolina and graduated from Augusta University. She has been in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years on the East Coast, operating restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Ruby Tuesday, Chili's and Subway. She has completed Disney's Approach to Quality Service training and Chick-fil-A's NEXT 2022 Operators training. Most recently, she served as a location manager and food service director at the University of Florida.

Barnes joined the Carolina Food Co. team in June 2022. Her favorite foods are hibachi and oysters. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.