Niobia Bryant was born and raised in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey to Letha and Ernest. She has one brother, Caleb. Bryant reveals her mother's struggles to raise them alone while her father fought a drug addiction. She credits her mother for introducing her to books at an early age.

Bryant was educated in the Newark Public Schools system and graduated from University High School, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Behavioral Science with an accompanying Psychology minor from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. Currently Bryant writes full time, splitting her time between New Jersey and South Carolina.