Riwa was born and raised in Washington D.C. and lived there until she graduated from Georgetown University. She spent most of her summers as a child in Damascus with her grandparents. She was blessed to have been surrounded by a multicultural environment and to have grown up with a bilingual education.

At the age of 24, Riwa moved to Dubai and pursue a career in IT. She met her husband a few years later, and moved to London for two years. In 2008, they returned to Dubai.