Born Carol Denise Ensley, Niecy Nash had guest appearances on shows including Judging Amy, Reba, CSI, and ER before receiving her big break when she joined the cast of the comedy Reno 911! in 2003. For six seasons, Nash played Deputy Raineesha Williams in the Cops parody that took a fictional look behind the scenes of the Reno police department.

From 2004 to 2010, Nash hosted the reality series Clean House on the Style Network. Each week, Nash and a team of interior designers and organizers made over a cluttered house. The show won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special in 2010. That same year, Nash appeared on the tenth season of the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars, coming in fifth place.

In 2012, Nash began a regular role on the Hot in Cleveland spinoff The Soul Man, opposite Cedric the Entertainer. Since 2013, she’s starred in the HBO series Getting On. In 2014, she had a guest arc on Fox's The Mindy Project, and that same year, starred in the critically acclaimed film Selma. Most recently, she's been cast in the new Ryan Murphy series Scream Queens, alongside a cast including Lea Michele, Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ariana Grande.