Songwriter Nini Iris sings about her life. At 28, it's already filled with a long journey.

Ten years ago, the then-teenager packed her suitcase in her home country of Georgia and used her savings to fly to the United States, moving to New York City with nowhere to stay.

"I was just so eager and determined to, like, have my music career here that I didn't really care about anything, like, I didn't care about like, not having a place to live," Iris recalled.

She spent her first few nights sleeping on the subway.

“I had money to stay at the hotel, but I had bigger plans for my money,” she said.

Eventually, Iris moved in with a friend in Brooklyn and started singing at a club in Bay Ridge, while working as a waitress at the Colonnade Diner on Staten Island.

“That’s how I learned my English actually, how I picked up on the Brooklyn-Staten Island accent,” Iris said.

She now sings with a band at weddings — small venues, for sure. But last year, she performed on a very big stage: "The Voice." She auditioned year after year for the TV show after moving to the U.S., to no avail.

But last year, she made it to the top 12.

"I always had this insecurity of like, sounding like an immigrant, Like I didn't, I didn't want to have an accent," she said. "I feel like finally when I realized that, you know, what I am, I'm cool, like they should be lucky or whatever. And I was, I remember being super comfortable finally on my audition, and I, when they interviewed me, I opened up about my story, and I wasn't ashamed of my story anymore."

Now, she has nearly 80,000 followers on Instagram, and is performing shows around the tristate area.

“It feels so good to be noticed finally after so many years. And, you know, like I said, I've put in a lot of work," she said. "I mean, there's a lot more work to be put in, but I feel very lucky and I feel loved."

On Nov. 15, she will headline her first solo theater show at the Williams Center in New Jersey.

“When you believe that there's something out there, God, the universe, you know, whatever you want to call it, you just have to find that and, you know, hold on to that, and just be positive that this is not going to be the end," she said.