Lakin was born to Karen (née Niedwick) and James Daley Lakin, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from The Lovett School in 1997. She got her start in commercials, before landing her first major role as Young Rose in the American Civil War drama The Rose and the Jackal. That movie aired in 1990, one year before she was cast as Al Lambert, the tomboyish daughter, on Step by Step. After Step by Step was canceled in 1998 (due to low ratings), she continued to appear in made-for-TV movies, and has several new films either in production or post-production. She is a 2003 graduate of UCLA, where she earned a degree in communications. Lakin appeared in the Showtime movie Reefer Madness and the movie Who's Your Daddy?.

Lately, she has been appearing as one of the regular cast members of MTV's Wild 'N Out, an improv comedy show similar in structure to Whose Line Is It, Anyway?. She also appeared in commercial called "But He Has Bud Light" that aired during Super Bowl XLI, in which her male companion wants to pick up a hitchhiker who has Bud Light beer in one hand and an axe in the other.

Lakin will star alongside Paris Hilton in the movie The Hottie and the Nottie, which began filming in January 2007 and is scheduled for a 2008 release.

--Wikipedia