Ninaki Priddy, born and raised in Los Angeles, earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Growing up in a creatively rich environment surrounded by musicians and artists, she attended the vibrant Hollywood Little Red School House and the culturally progressive Immaculate Heart High School. Ninaki fondly recalls her time at Immaculate Heart, where rebellious nuns inspired her to challenge conventional norms. Initially pursuing a degree in biology with plans for a career in pediatric medicine, she eventually transitioned to architecture. Her pre-med experience unexpectedly became a recurring theme, influencing her work in architecture, sculpting, and jewelry design. Later, she integrated her early medical training into her career as a certified holistic practitioner and somatic therapist.

Ninaki’s transition into architecture marked a significant turning point, coinciding with her discovery of stone sculpting. Encouraged by a Jungian therapist, she explored and honed her creative expression through stone carving. Her sculptures, inspired by gross anatomy and biomimetic designs, represent a fusion of her fascination with medical journals and architectural forms, seamlessly blended through her intuitive sense of proportion and form. These stone sculptures later became the blueprint for her jewelry designs, launched under her namesake brand, NINAKI.

In 2007, NINAKI, a collection of anthropomorphic, organic jewelry designs, was launched. Characterized as primordial, whimsical, and elegantly oversized, Ninaki's designs reflect a refined blend of her backgrounds in pre-med and architecture. Her innovative approach to jewelry quickly captured the industry's attention, earning her the Accessories Designer of the Year Award in 2008 from GenArt's International STYLES. NINAKI has been prominently featured in publications such as Elle, WWD, Angeleno, InStyle, Allure, Glamour, Zink, and O, The Oprah Magazine.