In 2005, Hayes appeared as a chef Becky Sharp on FOX's short-lived Kitchen Confidential. Also, in that same year, she played the role of Pam Dawber in the TV movie, Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy alongside costar Chris Diamantopoulos. Hayes played Alison on the television show The Winner in 2007.
Hayes attended University of Colorado Boulder and graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's of fine arts in performance. Hayes and her high school sweetheart husband, construction supervisor Jack Hayes, have two daughters named Maggie Mae (born June 10, 2007) and Lilah Grace (born April 29, 2009).
In 2015, she performed as an inmate on the band Dengue Fever's video for the song "No Sudden Moves."
In 2016, Hayes began co-starring in the CBS series Kevin Can Wait, portraying the role of Kevin Gable's wife Donna. Following its renewal after the first season, Hayes was fired from the series for unspecified creative reasons.
