Meet Niya Elan

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Niya Elan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Niya below.

Niya , thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
My generosity comes from my mother. Growing up, she raised me while working two jobs and pursuing higher education in medicine. Seeing her grit and determination to give me whatever I needed and wanted in this life made me want to become successful and bring in enough money to retire her early and pay for whatever she needed (and wanted) for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, she passed away when I was 17 so I didn’t get the chance to see that dream come to fruition.

Since losing my mom, I’ve emphasized the importance of being generous in the moment. Waiting for “one day” runs the risk of that day never coming. Putting my loved ones first and showing up for others today and every day, whether I’m generous with my time, money, or energy, is important to me. I hope to continue my mother’s legacy this way because the generosity she instilled in me lives on.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an R&B singer based out of Jacksonville, FL. I’ve been creating music for over ten years and for the past year and a half, I have been working with a company called Songfinch to create custom songs on demand. I have created over 200 songs with them (and counting! It’s busy season during February), and it has pushed me to flex my creativity muscles. I am always available for a custom song, you can find me here:

https://www.songfinch.com/artists/20196

When I’m not working on custom songs, I am releasing my own music and performing locally. In 2024, I will be releasing songs every Friday. I want to give my listeners more to connect with, and having a deeper catalog for people to enjoy is something I think is important. I have released 4 singles so far, they are entitled “The West”, “Back n Forth”, “3 Gin & Tonics”, and “Attached”. There are more on the way so be sure to check them out.

Another one of my passions is playing rugby. I’ve been playing for 7 years now and it has been one of the most rewarding endeavors of my life. I am the captain of my local club and a part of various senior clubs, including the Lagerheads 7s. We participated in the inaugural women’s rugby game in Belize, which was awesome! In the future, I will be joining the Jamaican National Sevens Team and helping my local 15s team win the state title! If you want to support us, feel free to follow our journey on Instagram @jaxwomensrugby. I am also the sponsorship and fundraising chair, so the team keeps me busy but I love every second of it!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Community, adaptability, and open-mindedness are three of the most important things to consider on your journey. Building a community allows you to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who will consider you for opportunities even when you’re not in the room. You want people who will uplift you and push you forward on your path! Adaptability is essential because no matter the circumstance, you must be able to respond in the most effective way to move forward. Adaptability could be learning a new skill that you never thought you could or simply learning how to keep your cool under pressure. Open-mindedness is important to me because you never know what will work until you try it! Being able to walk into any situation with an open mind allows you to see the possibilities and take action.

I read a lot of books on how the mind works (I got my degrees in psychology, what can I say?) that are extremely enlightening. I would suggest reading books like The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann or Evolve Your Brain by Joe Dispenza to give more perspective on how to train your mind and focus in on success.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I love meeting and collaborating with other creatives. Although I mainly focus on R&B music, I am a big fan of the arts overall. Whether you’re a singer, drummer, producer, guitarist, painter, dancer, or the like, I am always open to connecting. I also enjoy connecting with other artists in the LGBTQ+ community, because that’s one more thing that we have in common!

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