Kiva is an only child born in Santa Monica, California. Kiva grew up in a very creative and nurturing environment and was always encouraged to express herself through the arts. Kiva remembers witnessing the diva, Toni Basil, (Later in life, Kiva was blessed to work with her on the film, That Thing You Do! (1996)) perform and credits her and the film, "That's Entertainment", for being her first methods of inspiration, not to mention the fact that her mother was a writer, (she was nominated for a cable ACE award for narrating and contributing to the lifetime cable documentary, "Dying for Love") and always made sure she exposed Kiva to plays, musicals and film.Kiva's first agent was Iris Burton and she did a number of commercials, a M.O.W with Brian Dennehy and a famous episode of "Taxi," before falling in love with the world of ballet.