Thia grew up in Belleville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. As a child, she enjoyed singing in musical productions in her community and attending drama camp at the local community college. After performing in her junior high production of Annie, a member of the St. Louis Muny Theatre suggested that she pursue acting professionally. Instead of heeding his advice, Thia stuck with high school musicals, children's plays, and the annual "contest play" -- her first taste of drama.​ She was honored two consecutive years by the Illinois High School Association for her dramatic performances in plays competing in regional and state-wide theatre competitions. With the validation from these awards, she made it her goal to move to "Hollywood" to make a career out of acting.

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Thia decided to graduate high school a year early and move to Los Angeles. Thanks to her #1 rank in a class of over 500 students and a 5.0 GPA, Thia was accepted into the one school to which she applied: the University of Southern California. She spent the next four years in the theatre school, training to be an actress. She also took several classes in film production at the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts (editing, cinematography, etc.). Her love of the French language took her to Paris to study French & Art History for one semester. In May 2009, she graduated magna cum laude from the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

In Summer 2014, she co-starred in the two-person musical comedy Rapture, which had its world premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. After the initial run, it was nominated for the Encore Producers’ Award, inviting the show back for additional performances in what is colloquially known as Best of Fringe. 

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In 2013, Thia ventured into the producing world, co-writing & directing the short film Housesitter which premiered in 2014 at the Academy Award-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival, where she and her partner Rex New were nominated for the Filmmakers to Watch jury prize. They credited "Shy Ruby Productions" on this inaugural project, but they made it official in 2015, creating Shy Ruby, LLC. In their six short films, Schuessler has been credited as an actor, writer, director, producer, and editor. The Shy Ruby repertoire has won festival awards including Best Film (The Wedding Song) and Best Performances (Lit) + nominations for Talented New Filmmakers (Rex New & Thia Schuessler) and Best Lead Actress (Thia Schuessler). 

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