Gail (Smith) Ackels was born in Laconia, New Hampshire. She was the youngest in a family of five children. Her father was in the U.S. Air Force and being military they didn't spend much time in one place. While very young her father was transferred to Bermuda.

Gail says her older brothers and sister taught her early in life to be a survivor. She remembers jumping off cliffs into pools of water at age five and swimming into crystals caves that were not allowed.

Later, while traveling around the U.S. as an Air Force brat, their family ended up in Medical Lake, Washington. Gail attended Medical Lake High School and had an opportunity to volunteer as a candy striper at Eastern State Mental Hospital. She worked most of the time in the beauty shop and loved the beauty business right away. Hair styling proved to be her specialty. It brought out her creativity. She even tinted her hair to match her high school prom dress. The school counselor was impressed with her talent and thought she should go to beauty school, so awarded her a scholarship when she graduated from high school.

Gail eventually became an expert in her field and went to Alaska hoping to make her millions. While in Alaska, she married the love of her life, Del Ackels and immediately gained two step daughters, Jeralyn and Jackie. She became the mother of a daughter, Tiffany Jean.

At the time of her marriage, Gail managed the J.C. Penney's Beauty Salon in Fairbanks. Later, she began her own wig shop called Pic-a-Dilly Wigs. Today, Gail and her husband are placer miners in Alaska.