Assiah grew up on a large farm in New Hampshire. One of her favorite moments as a young girl was the arrival each Autumn of the annual Sears & Roebuck Catalogue. The huge book in hand, she would steal away to sit under the turning maple on the “big lawn” where she'd study the latest fashions for hour upon hour.

As a girl Assiah spent many summers traveling throughout the United States. Being immersed in so many facets of this immense country was not just a tremendous adventure, it also nurtured a discerning love of beauty and fashion that led her to the study of fashion merchandising and modeling in Boston.

In her early 20’s, while traveling about in Italy, Assiah taught herself to make jewelry that she sold in the streets with other young vendors from around the world. Later, as a professional chef on a fashion photography shoot in Jamaica, she developed a sewing project “Soft Jewels,” one-of-a-kind pins fashioned from a collage of fabric and brilliant hand-sewn beads that provided income for five Jamaican women.