Meet NIa Renee | Content Creator | Survivor Advocate | Chronic Illnesss Survivor | Author | Model

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nia Renee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nia Renee, how does your business help the community?
How To Love A Battered Woman was created to teach others how to love someone who has endured significant trauma in their lives. And in the process it also blossomed into teaching myself how to love the battered parts of me. Being able to be vulnerable on public platforms during a time where there is so much uncertainty and so much evil going on in the world has absolutely given me the opportunity to help the community of survivors. I call my community the #batteredhearts💜 and they mean so much to me. I have battered hearts all around the world who reach out to me and tell me how much my content is helping them through some of their toughest times with relationships, parental abuse, and chronic illness.

I do not believe that I represent just one thing. I think that in the grand scheme of things and the bigger picture, I am a different woman to different people. I have different versions of myself that cater to so many different stories that I have been fortunate enough to reach a broader audience where they feel that they can connect to different parts of my story while others connect with my whole story. When I started HTLABW my only goal was to try and help one person feel less alone. If I could make one person feel less alone, then I have done what I have sought out to achieve. I am lucky enough that it turns out that I have helped hundreds of thousands of people feel less alone.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think what sets me apart from others is that I am not just one thing. I am multifaceted and happen to have experience in a lot of different things. I started off with modeling and dabbled in some acting, and then I have also been writing for quite some time. I then moved into becoming a video creator on platforms such as Tiktok and YouTube. I have always wanted to find a way to cast a spotlight on my life. And I don’t mean that in the way of wanting fame. I mean that in a way that I did not go through and survive all that I have been through for no reason at all. I wanted to make something of what I am experiencing on a day to day basis and help others. I want other women (not just women, any gender but I can only speak from a woman’s perspective) to see that they can be more than one thing. I want women to see that even though on their worst day with their struggles of chronic illness and abuse that they can still be anything that they want to be. What sets me apart from others is that I have so many different layers to my story and so many different layers of transparency and vulnerability that it is almost all inclusive. I have survived so many things and I want others to to be able to see at least one part of my story and feel like they are seen and heard.

This journey has not been easy. Not at all. I grew up in an abusive household, I was sexually abused and assaulted. I went to further grow up and be raped twice and I have been sexually assaulted more times than I can count. I have experienced several forms of abuse in romantic and platonic relationships. And then I have to deal with the fact that I have to battle my body and its illnesses every single day. I have had 17 surgeries and 1 of them was brain surgery. It is a lot to deal with and it is hard every single day. But I want others to see that they can survive it. I want others to see that they can achieve anything that they put their mind too. Along the way I have realized that you have to be your biggest self advocate. You have to advocate for yourself because no one knows you better than yourself. Setting boundaries and fighting for your right to be respected is not an easy thing to do, especially when you come from an abusive past and suffer from abandonment issues and CPTSD.

When people see HTLABW I want them to see me and my brand and feel inspired. I want them to see that there is a life after abuse and during chronic illness and it is worth fighting for. I want them to see that I have survived so many things and that they can too. I want my brand and my story to be viewed as something that is absolutely achievable. I want others to feel less alone. That is has been my biggest goal is for them to feel less alone and that they absolutely have a chance at life, love, and happiness.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh man! This is such a tough question because I haven’t been able to travel as much or explore as much. I have always either been in school and/or working at the same time! I was sheltered for such a long time and haven’t been able to experience a whole lot of things.

So, off of that I will say that I would love to go back to St. Marteen in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I went on a cruise when I was 18 years old and it was the first ever experience I had out of the “country” and in the Caribbean-esque vibes.

I would love to go to Senor Frogs again! OMG the food and drinks are amazing! And honestly just a long beach vacation of food, drinks, and SLEEEEPPPIINNGGG! Getting some good rest and R&R.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I will always shout out my #batteredhearts💜 because without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. It takes a different level of strength and vulnerability to accept that there is something familiar within my stories. My stories are incredibly challenging when addressing sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, childhood assault, parental abuse, and the battles of the field of medicine gaslighting those who are chronically ill and begging for help. It is challenging to see that a part of my story or the whole story resonates within someone because that means that they are having to accept that those things have happened or are happening to them. That means that while I am being vulnerable they are allowing themselves to be vulnerable enough acknowledge their their struggles, pain, trauma, etc. The messages I receive from my battered hearts are so heartwarming but also heart breaking. A lot of the time I receive messages of them telling their story for the first time ever, to me. And they feel compelled to start speaking about the battles they endure. And that to me is the most special thing in the world to have them feel so comfortable and empowered by my stories to start to tell their own.

I would also like to shout out my fellow #NarcAvengers on Tiktok. We have been able to build such an amazing community with #narctok and we speak to eachother every single day and are wanting to bring awareness to narcissistic abuse. It is such a beautiful and empowering thing to be able to have a group of people who want to educate the rest of the world with our own experiences. It is challenging because trolls will always exist and then you add the element of our own stories that are also painful, but we are thriving!

Website: howtoloveabatteredwoman.com

Instagram: @howtoloveabatteredwoman

Twitter: @HTLABW

Facebook: facebook.com/howotloveabatteredwoman

Youtube: youtube.com/c/howtoloveabatteredwoman

Other: Tiktok: @howtoloveabatteredwoman Links Page: https://drum.io/howtoloveabatteredwoman

Image Credits
Alisha Light @alightp David Ryan Huff Heather Callanan @healthercallanan.photography