Laila Ward still remembers the feeling of awe that washed over her when she first set foot onto the Tyler Perry Studios campus in Atlanta. 

“It was so surreal,” said the ĚÇĐÄVlog senior fashion merchandising and apparel design student. “There were so many moments during that day and the days after where I stopped and thought, ‘I’m really here.’” 

Ward secured a coveted internship with the production company for the 2025 summer semester. Out of 1,900 applicants, she was one of the 14 who were chosen. 

She started as a costume production assistant, coordinating costume logistics and maintenance across the various film sets spread out over the massive campus. 

“We kept everything organized,” Ward explained. “We made sure that merchandise and costumes were properly stored, and made sure that everything ran smoothly.” 

Things have to run smoothly on the studio grounds. The 330-acre campus is situated on the site of the former U.S. military installation Fort McPherson in Atlanta, whose soldiers enforced federal regulations after the Civil War. The property features multiple sets that are constantly in use, whether for a Tyler Perry production or otherwise. 

After a few weeks deep in the studio trenches, Ward and her fellow interns were challenged to go a step further. 

“We were given a surprise project to make our own short film,” said Ward. “We were given a budget, a location on the studio campus, camera equipment and props. We only had one week to film, but we were able to create a 10-minute short film.”

She recalls the late nights her team spent working on their film. They would stay up until 3 a.m., consulting with studio executives about how to create the best version of their work while meeting deadlines. 

“They already had their own work to do, but they made themselves available for us,” she explained. “The culture at the studios, everyone feels like family. We all want to help each other succeed.” 

The relationships she built with these industry professionals made her realize how similar they all were. 

“I had no idea I’d be able to get here,” said Ward. “The crazy thing about it is that everyone working here all felt the same. Their journey wasn’t linear. It was all over the place, just like mine.” 

Her passion for fashion started at an early age. As a child, she was a constant fixture at her grandmother’s side, learning to sew. Her grandmother always encouraged her to make her own clothes, inspiring dreams of a future as a designer. But as she got older, she fought with her own fears, second-guessing her choices. 

“I feel like I’ve been mediocre in a lot of things my whole life,” she admitted. “I really wasn’t that athletic. I’m not a straight-A student. I felt like I wasn’t really good at anything.  

“After high school, I took a gap year and discovered that my natural gift was styling people,” Ward continued. “It was so much fun and my friends would always come to me for outfit advice. It felt like I was actually doing something.” 

She had her ‘aha’ moment when she found Georgia Southern’s Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design. 

 â€œThe fashion program at ĚÇĐÄVlog is really rewarding,” she said. “I can comfortably say it’s given me the skills I need to succeed in the industry, as well as understanding how important it is to create opportunities for yourself.”  

It was this winding road that brought her to the front door of Tyler Perry Studios, giving her an experience that has helped define her future. 

“I realized that my superpower wasn’t just in fashion and clothes,” she explained. “But in pushing people, including myself, to show up as their best selves.”

That’s what led her to start her own organization, Potential.

“Potential is a collective I started that’s all about connecting people who want to grow in the creative arts job markets,” she explained. “I wanted to create something that helps people realize how special they all are.”

She credits Perry’s real-life challenges an actor and writer looking for a break as a key influence in strengthening the trust she developed in herself.

“You have to believe in yourself, just like he did,” said Ward. “And you have to make sure that you’re taking the time to grow in your craft, just like he did. Once I started doing that…I realized there was genuinely no limit to what I could accomplish.”

As a child, Margaret Riggs’ first designs looked like the sketches of most kids: two-dimensional dresses with blocky sleeves, colored in crayon. A far cry from her latest masterpieces, which earned the graduating fashion merchandising student a nomination from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival this year.

Riggs was drawn to the fashion merchandising program at ĚÇĐÄVlog after running out of an audition for a high school play. Acting in “Shrek the Musical” was not her cup of tea, she decided, but making and mending costumes for her classmates suited her hobby of sewing clothes. One show led to costuming most of the shows at her high school, including “Bring It On,” for which Riggs received an honorable mention at the .

“I realized I could just keep doing this; I didn’t have to stop,” she said, reflecting on her decision to continue the career she started in high school. “I love designing, but I also love creating the costumes and going from designs to patterns, to sewing them together, to the finishing touches – I love the whole process.”

Of all the programs in the state, the Georgia native picked program because it offered an emphasis in design and instruction on operating relevant software. With her education from Georgia Southern, Riggs has been able to master garment construction, patterns, drafting and more while being mentored by her professors and participating in more musical theater shows like “,” which was nominated for an award at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Challenging her typical “neat and clean” aesthetic, “Peter and the Starcatcher” called for bold patterns to dress pirates, rough-and-tumble orphans, a colorful nanny and mermaids that looked as though they had been conjured from pieces of the ocean floor. Riggs wove wooden sea creatures into wigs, stretched netting over tails and used bright sequins and stripes to keep the motley crew looking appropriately chaotic.

“Getting out of your comfort zone is where the most creativity is,” she reflected. “The show pushed me to think outside of the box and not do things based on my gut reaction, but on how everything incorporates together and what the designs communicate. Being uncomfortable made the designs unique and visually appealing.”

With nothing but a tassel between her and graduation, she is looking forward to the next step in her career: a summer internship as a stitcher in the costume shop at the Tony-award winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. After her internship, she is considering continuing in theater or expanding her skills by exploring different branches of fashion, such as merchandising and film, and earning a master’s degree. Wherever Riggs’ artistic journey takes her, she’s eager to face the challenges ahead and continue to push herself.

“College has definitely been about learning to take risks and try new things,” she said. “Looking back today and seeing all the ways I’ve changed gives me a lot of hope. I’m not the person I was when I started college, and that’s a good thing.”

What inspired a ĚÇĐÄVlog interior design professor to move from industry to academe.

passion for design and teaching has found its home at ĚÇĐÄVlog, where she began lecturing in 2020. Drawing on her extensive experience in the industry, she encourages her students to appreciate every aspect of their environment through the critical eye of interior design and develop other skills vital to their success as future designers.

Question: What is your background in interior design?

Answer: Since earning my undergraduate education in interior design at Mississippi State University, I’ve worked in commercial interior design, specifically of financial institutions; multi-family housing, such as condo-leasing offices and model apartments; and at a traditional architecture firm doing civic and community projects. In 2010, I decided to research a teaching career because I loved the interior design profession and had recently read a few publications stating that there would be a shortage of faculty in interior design. After obtaining my graduate degree from the University of Nebraska, I taught adjunct computer graphics technology classes at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith until 2014, when I acquired my first full-time teaching position in interior design. I quickly found that my love was with students and that teaching felt like part of my calling.

In 2020, I learned of a position at ĚÇĐÄVlog in the within the School of Human Ecology. I was impressed with the school, the facilities, the accredited design program and its potential. My family and I have lived in Statesboro ever since and love the community here! My husband works in the Office of Business and Finance on campus and also enjoys assisting athletics via instant replay for many of the University’s sports, and our oldest son has been a dual enrollment student for two years. Georgia Southern is a special place that we feel grateful to be a part of.

Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in interior design, and why did you decide to transition into teaching?

A: I really feel like teaching is a service. When I was considering pursuing a career in academia, I was at the point in my career where I wanted to give back to the industry, profession and college-age students in a meaningful way. Georgia Southern Interior Design is one of only six programs in the state that is distinguished by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation in Georgia. It has great students, faculty, facilities and departmental support from the School of Human Ecology.

Q: What excites you about interior design?

A: It is never boring. Working in a design firm, even in a traditional office setting, a designer might have five projects going at once: One in the programming/pre-design phase; one in schematic design; one they are drafting construction documents for; and two that are under construction, requiring site visits and questions from the field. 

To add to that, there is something special about walking through a space you had a part in bringing to life.

Q: What are some of the challenges facing interior designers today?

A: Much like the economy of building construction ebbs and flows, project types, such as hospitality, can also ebb and flow with availability. However, the industry remains strong. Health care design is a particular specialization that remains constant, along with private housing. Today, educators are also discovering how to embrace Artificial Intelligence and bring this into the design process at early phases of ideation while keeping in mind that the design profession will always be human-centered.

Q: What excites you about teaching?

A: I enjoy working with young adults in a transitional, yet exciting, stage of life, teaching them specific skills and seeing them grow as people and emerging professionals. Professors have the opportunity to wear many hats: mentor, educator, collaborator and practitioner.

Q: What takeaways do you hope students gain from your classroom?

A: First, I want students to know and feel that they can succeed. I want them to hear and believe that my goal is for them to learn specific objectives, skills and knowledge in each course, and to excel. I focus on creating a positive atmosphere inside of the learning space in which I remain open and objective to each person. 

My teaching method is a blend of practical application with experiential learning. The magical thing about studying the built environment is that it is all around us. Interior designers have a major role in creating space, from classrooms to dorms to restaurants and shopping, to name a few. For this reason, my students and I walk around our building discussing each element, and I encourage them to do this outside of class, as well. Each task and phase of the design process is something they will quite likely encounter as a design practitioner, and I aim to assist with their professional preparedness in the short time that I get to work with them.

Q: How do you challenge students to engage outside of the classroom?

A: I enjoy assisting students in a mentorship capacity as they search for an internship and then an entry-level position. It is a joy to see students prepare their application materials and engage with potential employers, and then share the good news of a first position gained. Some students continue to do freelance work after their internship or at the start of their own business and ask advice on proposal documents and invoicing new clients; as I continue to practice hospitality design in the summer months, I’ve been able to share my approach with students.

Additionally, the Interior Design program and faculty encourage students to join professional organizations, such as the American Society of Interior Designers and the International Interior Design Association, to network and attend events in our region.

Q: Any advice for aspiring interior designers?

A: Students enter into interior design education for a variety of reasons, such as artistic and creative interests, space planning and residential design, commercial interiors with a variety of specializations, or technical details and software abilities. I would advise potential students and aspiring interior designers to lean into those interests. There are many opportunities in the profession. See where your career takes you!