Johanna's father was a bricklayer and her mother ran a small laundry. Johanna completed an apprenticeship as a cook and waitress in the sports hotel in her home town of Radstadt. At an apprenticeship competition in Salzburg in 1968, she met her future husband, military serviceman Dietmar Maier from Filzmoos. Johanna and Dietmar Maier went to Paris together in 1969. Johanna initially worked as an au pair, Dietmar as a trainee in a restaurant. They both returned to Austria in 1971. Their first child (Simone) was born, Johanna and Dietmar Maier married in a civil ceremony and, after the birth of their second child (Tobias), in a church wedding in 1973. They moved into the Gasthof Hubertus in Filzmoos, which was run by Dietmar's parents. Dietmar and his mother ran the kitchen, Johanna took care of the service and the guest rooms. Their third child (Ditmar) was born in 1983. When Johanna's mother-in-law died in 1984, Johanna took over the kitchen. After their first season, the couple celebrated with a meal at the Obauer brothers' home in Werfen; this became a key experience for Johanna Maier.
