Nicky Barnes was born and raised in Michigan. She graduated from The University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and received a Masters of Science from University of Illinois Chicago. She is a Board Certified Nurse Midwife and practiced at UAB before retiring to care for her family full time. She and her husband Mack moved to Birmingham in 1995 for Mack to complete his fellowship at UAB and begin his medical practice.  

With a desire to become civically engaged, Nicky became active in the schools serving as PTO president at both Crestline Elementary and Mountain Brook High School. She has also served on the board of Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation and on the PTO Council. As a daughter of a lifelong educator, she has a personal interest in the success of Mountain Brook Schools, from which all four of her children have graduated.