Jay Thomas was born and raised in the upper west side of New York, and is a graduate of the Thomas More College at Fordham University. She studied social work at the University of Connecticut, and, once out of school, did a stint as a translator/assistant to an eccentric reinsurance broker for Pan-Am. Jay eventually settled into a career in after-care for thousands of institutionalized people released during the 1970's with no resources. In 1980, when the commonwealth of Massachusetts was forced to release many people from Northampton State Hospital into the community, it recruited Jay and many of her friends to help design and operate programs to help.
One day, in 1982, as Jay and a friend were arriving back at their apartment after shopping, a gangly young man popped out of a Ford Escort and said, "WHICH ONE OF YOU YOUNG LADIES IS GOING TO INVITE ME IN FOR COFFEE?!"
Jay was the one who said yes, and she went on to marry that young man, Gary Thomas, in June 1983. When Gary went into private practice, Jay went with him as his assistant. They still work together as a team, leading the Wealth Technology Group toward higher and higher goals.