Niya Brown Matthews on Wellness, Empowerment, and the Garden of Self-Love

She is living proof that survival is not the end of the story, but the beginning of something extraordinary.

When you meet Niya Brown Matthews, you understand immediately that you are in the presence of a woman who moves with purpose. Not the kind of purpose that is performative or rehearsed, but one that feels rooted, alive, and deeply personal. She carries herself with the quiet authority of someone who has faced the unthinkable and decided to not only live through it, but to thrive beyond it.

Her journey reads like a blueprint for resilience. She is an author, a motivational speaker, a life coach, a humanitarian, an expert gardener, a farmer, and the founder of the transformative women’s empowerment organization Soulfood Sessions with Niya LLC. Each role is connected by a singular mission: to help people unlock the life they were meant to live.

For Niya, empowerment is not an abstract concept. It is about action, habits, and the belief that every person has an untapped reservoir of strength waiting to be drawn upon. She has spent years helping others find that strength, guiding them through moments of personal crisis, and offering them the tools to emerge whole.

She knows intimately what it means to fight for your life. As a breast cancer survivor, Niya’s perspective on time, health, and purpose shifted in ways that words can only partially capture. The diagnosis was not the first hardship she had faced, but it was the most personal and invasive. It forced her to reimagine her own story, to decide what she wanted her legacy to be if her time was cut short. Instead of retreating into fear, she leaned into faith and into the deep work of healing — not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

Motherhood adds another layer to Niya’s identity. She speaks openly about the dual responsibilities of raising children while running a business and nurturing a community. The balance is imperfect, but that is part of her authenticity. She does not present herself as someone who has mastered life without missteps. Instead, she invites people to see the reality — that growth is messy, that success often comes with sacrifice, and that the most beautiful parts of life can emerge from the most difficult seasons.

Soulfood Sessions with Niya LLC began as an intimate gathering, a safe space where women could speak freely about their struggles and aspirations. It has since evolved into a transformative platform, reaching far beyond Atlanta. The sessions are part empowerment workshop, part spiritual revival, and part practical strategy session. Women leave with more than inspiration; they leave with a plan. They learn how to navigate career changes, relationship challenges, and personal setbacks with clarity and confidence.

Her impact is not confined to conference rooms or coaching calls. Niya is equally at home with her hands in the soil, teaching the art of gardening and farming. This is not a side hobby for her. Gardening, for Niya, is both a survival skill and a spiritual practice. She understands that food sovereignty — the ability to grow and access your own food — is a form of empowerment that extends far beyond nutrition. In a time when many communities face food insecurity, her workshops and consultations are acts of quiet revolution.

The garden is also a metaphor she uses often in her work. Seeds must be planted intentionally. They require patience, care, and consistency. Some growth happens unseen, beneath the surface. The harvest comes only after a season of trust. In this way, she teaches people to see their lives differently — to understand that transformation is a process, and that nurturing yourself is as essential as tending to a crop.

Niya’s approach to wellness is holistic. She does not separate mental health from physical health, or emotional healing from spiritual grounding. Her programs and coaching sessions encourage people to cope, release, and refuel. This philosophy recognizes that the human body and mind are interconnected, and that self-care is not indulgence but necessity. Whether she is guiding a group through a wellness program or showing a family how to start a home garden, the undercurrent is the same: healing begins when you invest in yourself.

Her humanitarian work has been featured in national publications, but she remains deeply connected to the communities she serves. She has an instinct for meeting people where they are, without judgment or pretense. This is perhaps her greatest strength — the ability to make each person feel seen and valued, regardless of their background or circumstances.

In conversation, Niya moves effortlessly between sharing hard-earned wisdom and listening with genuine interest. She does not speak in clichés. Her words are grounded in experience, and her advice is always laced with practicality. She knows that change is possible, but she also knows it requires work, and she is not afraid to tell people the truth about the effort required.

Her work as a life coach is informed by this honesty. Clients often describe her as both nurturing and uncompromising. She will celebrate your victories, but she will also hold you accountable to your goals. This combination of encouragement and discipline is what makes her coaching so effective. People leave her sessions not only believing they can do more, but ready to actually do it.

Niya’s garden workshops have also become unexpected spaces of healing. In the simple act of planting, watering, and watching something grow, people often rediscover parts of themselves they thought were lost. For survivors of trauma or illness, the garden can become a tangible symbol of renewal. For families, it becomes a way to connect with one another while learning a skill that has real-world benefits.

Her own gardening expertise is vast. She understands soil composition, crop rotation, and pest management, but she also understands how to translate those concepts to someone who has never touched a seed packet. She makes gardening accessible, not intimidating, and in doing so, she opens the door for more people to reclaim control over their food and their health.

Recognition has followed her work, but Niya does not measure success in awards. For her, the real markers of impact are in the lives she sees transformed. It might be a single mother who starts her own small business after attending a Soulfood Session. It might be a young person who discovers a passion for agriculture after one of her garden workshops. These quiet victories are the moments she treasures most.

There is also an element of advocacy in her work. By teaching gardening and farming, she is contributing to a larger conversation about sustainability, environmental justice, and food equity. These are not abstract issues; they affect communities in direct, tangible ways. Through her programs, she equips people with knowledge and skills that can change not only their own lives but the health and resilience of entire neighborhoods.

What makes Niya’s story so compelling is the way she integrates every part of her identity into her work. She does not separate her role as a mother from her role as a coach, or her role as a cancer survivor from her role as a gardener. All of these experiences inform her perspective and fuel her mission. This integration gives her work a rare authenticity that people can feel.

The resilience that defines Niya is not about pretending everything is fine. It is about facing the reality of hardship and deciding to move forward anyway. It is about understanding that survival is not just staying alive, but choosing to live fully. Her life is a testament to that choice.

As she continues to expand her reach, Niya shows no signs of slowing down. There are more workshops to host, more women to empower, more gardens to plant, and more communities to touch. Her vision is not limited to Atlanta, or even to the United States. She sees her mission as global — because the need for empowerment, self-sufficiency, and healing exists everywhere.

Her work stands as a reminder that influence is not measured solely by social media followers or industry accolades, but by the depth of the roots you plant in the lives of others. And Niya Brown Matthews is planting roots that will feed generations to come.

She is not simply cultivating gardens — she is cultivating people, and in doing so, she is cultivating a future.