Mikaya was born in May 1977 in Addis Ababa. She attended her primary and secondary education in Bethlehem and Abyot Kirs schools respectively. She received a BA degree in literature from the Addis Ababa University in 2004. Before joining the music industry as marvelous musician and lyrics writer, she had been a language teacher at School of Tomorrow and Addis International Schools. She had also worked at Muger Cement Factory Addis Ababa branch as a clerk. She was a nominee for the 2009 African Kora Music Award in Nigeria. The late Mikaya was making her second album and dissertation to receive MA degree in documentation linguistic and culture from the AAU. Mikaya, who got wide public admiration from her sole album Shemametew released in 2006, died of a gastric case while receiving treatment at the Black Lion Hospital at the age of 37.