"We wait for the perfect moment, but it never comes. We have to create our own perfect moment."

Nina was born in what is now the Republic of Georgia and grew up in Tbilisi, the capital city. She recalls leaping from the second story of her school just for fun, dancing and playing sports, and cruising around on a 1996 Honda Rebel motorcycle - a gift from a friend's mom. Safe to say she's always been a free spirit.

In her twenties she upgraded her first bike to a Harley Davidson 750 which she then sold  and used the money to open her first café in Tbilisi, aptly named Food Good. Around that time, she got married and gave birth to her son, an experience that deepened her connection to both creativity and care.

She had always wanted to move to the United States, seeing it as the next step toward living the life she'd always imagined. Having been back and forth a few times, she went first to New York, where she had family, yet still didn't feel like it was her place. “New York is too hard and sad. Los Angeles is the opposite,” she says. Her son said he wanted to move to Los Angeles because it was “like Grand Theft Auto,” the computer game. They packed up and moved west in 2023.

While in Los Angeles, she visited Agua Dulce and met Lakota chief Black Fox. They bonded immediately after discovering they shared similar names. She had been called Blackbird since she was 22, after a friend said she resembled Evelyn Frechette, John Dillinger’s girlfriend (aka Blackbird in a Dillinger biopic). He taught her about Native American culture, which she felt drawn to. She participated in sweat lodges and vision quests.

Now Nina is dreaming of opening her next café, this time in Yucca Valley. “I’ve always thought of food as medicine - or poison,” she laughs. She’s following the signs, trusting the timing, and letting the desert show her what comes next. To make this dream come true she has set up a GoFundMe and would be grateful for any support sent her way.