Keynote Speaker · Actress · Broadway Wig Designer
Nikiya Mathis is a classically trained, working actress and the first wig designer ever to receive a Special Tony Award. No one else has her story. She knows the stage from both sides and what it takes to be seen, so she speaks with an actor's heart and a designer's proof, leaving audiences ready to walk in their purpose.
When she walks in, people remember who they are. When she walks out, they don't forget her.
Featured in The New York Times, Allure and Playbill
First
wig designer ever to receive a Special Tony Award
Pictured: Nikiya speaking at the annual Black Women on Broadway Awards
As featured in
The New York TimesALLUREPlaybillBroadway.comHelloBeautiful"Nikiya Mathis consistently sets the standard for hair design."
Special Tony Award acceptance
2024 Special Tony Award
For her hair and wig design on Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Nikiya became the first wig designer ever to receive a Special Tony Award. The craft that had always worked behind the curtain finally got called to the front.
"The truth of the matter is you were enough all along. They just didn't want you to know it."
"An army of Black women stood and cheered for my Tony Award honor. This same army has been behind me when there was no Tony. I do it for them."
"Nikiya Mathis has transformed the approach to hair and wig design and hair maintenance in our theatres."
1st
wig designer to receive a Special Tony Award
2
Drama Desk Awards
3
Henry Hewes Design Awards
Obie
Award winner
MFA
in Acting from NYU, with recurring TV roles
Actress & Designer
Most people in theater pick a side of the curtain. Nikiya works on both. She's the actress in the chair and the designer behind it, and that's why she can hold a room: she speaks with an actor's timing and backs every story with the work.
"I didn't come to design because acting work dried up. I came to it while I was acting. I was figuring out my own hair for my roles, and my castmates saw it and started asking me to do theirs. My design is what it is because I'm an actor. I know what it's like to be on the other side of the camera, and I know what actors need. The acting feeds the design, and the design feeds the acting."
Nikiya as N'kiyah Franklin in Power Book III: Raising Kanan on Starz
The Actress
MFA in Acting from NYU. Recurring roles on Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Snowfall, Love Life and BrainDead. On stage, she originated roles in plays by Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, Dominique Morisseau and Kirsten Greenidge.
See her acting work and reel →Nikiya's work on Jaja's African Hair Braiding, featured in The New York Times
The Designer
Hair and wig design for Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Death of a Salesman and more. The first wig designer ever to receive a Special Tony Award. She is also the wig designer for Warriors, the new Broadway musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and composer of Hamilton.
See her design work →Keynotes
Every keynote is built from real stories out of real rehearsal rooms, and every one is shaped to your audience, whether that's a company all-hands, a leadership summit or a graduating class.
Keynote 01
Theaters used to call Nikiya for "the one-black-girl's-hair-that-they-did-not-plan-for," often the day before tech. This talk is about what it really costs to include people late, and the HAIRversations approach she built to include them from day one.
Best for: DEI and culture teams, ERGs, entertainment and production companies
Keynote 02
"You've won the award... But what the audience doesn't see is the journey to it." The honest version of leading as a Black woman: the applause and the heartbreak, and what Nikiya knows for sure on the other side of it.
Best for: women's leadership conferences, Black women's ERGs, leadership summits, commencements
Keynote 03
"Auditions taught me how to hear 'no' without breaking. Entrepreneurship is teaching me how to say no without apologizing." Six lessons from the audition room that built a leader, a designer and a business.
Best for: corporate leadership events, entrepreneurship programs, business schools, team kickoffs
Masterclasses & Workshops
Twice a year, Nikiya teaches hair and wig design masterclasses at NYU Tisch, in both the Graduate Design and Graduate Acting programs. Her workshops bring the wig room to your campus, company or conference.
A live panel where actors, a director and a casting director take the questions artists are scared to ask about hair, and answer them honestly.
A relaxed evening of wigs and real talk. Bring your old wigs, and Nikiya brings fun, hands-on styling techniques to revamp them. Great for alumni events, brand activations and team nights.
Post-show conversations on how a production's look gets built, from the first fitting to opening night.
Live online sessions for programs anywhere in the world.
Masterclasses at: NYU Tisch · Yale · Princeton · Temple · UConn · Sam Houston State University · NAATC · Black Theatre United · The Billie Holiday Theatre · Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Explore masterclasses →Ways to Book Nikiya
Main stage, breakout room or a Zoom screen. Tell us the room and we'll shape the session around it.
Keynote
The main stage moment. Story, laughs and a takeaway your people will repeat.
Fireside Chat
A guided conversation with your host, followed by audience questions.
Panel or Moderator
As a panelist, or running the panel herself the way she runs HAIRversations.
Masterclass
Hands-on, small group, real tools. Students leave knowing something new with their hands.
Virtual
Any of the above, live online, for teams and campuses anywhere.
More From Nikiya
The hair behind Cats: The Jellicle Ball.
Why wig design is about more than hair: Nikiya on the work as therapy.
Hands on, step by step, with real hair and real questions.
Every year that she comes to speak with my students I can see how much confidence they gain speaking about hair and hair equity in just one lesson. … She brings such joyful energy that puts everyone at ease.
Congratulations on your amazing work… What a wonderful gift you have given [our students]!
About Nikiya
Nikiya Mathis earned her MFA in Acting at NYU and still works on camera, with recurring roles on Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Snowfall. Behind the curtain, she is one of Broadway's leading hair and wig designers, with credits including Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Death of a Salesman and The Heart of Rock & Roll.
She has designed for Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose and Danai Gurira. A proud Newark, New Jersey native, she runs her own wig brand, Our Black Tresses.
"My mom was a teacher, so I've always seen her serve. She instilled in me a heart of service."Read Nikiya's full story →
Book Nikiya
Tell us about your audience, your date and what you want people to walk away with. Nikiya's team will follow up with availability and next steps.
Prefer email? bookings@nikiyamathis.com
Download the speaker one-sheet (PDF)
