How Former KY3 Anchor Emily Wood Became an Interior Designer

For most of her life, Emily Wood thought she knew exactly how her career would unfold.

After discovering a knack for writing as a young child in tiny Dixon, Missouri, she pursued journalism, earning a degree from Northwestern University before starting a television news career in Jackson, Mississippi. She landed a morning show anchor position in Oklahoma City, met her husband there and eventually returned home to the Ozarks. Wood spent nearly a decade as the 5:00 p.m. KY3 news anchor. “I had no plans of ever leaving,” says Wood.

But life has a way of throwing curve balls. Wood and her husband welcomed two sons in a few short years and career demands started colliding with shifting priorities at home. At the same time, the industry was changing. “For the first time, I started to question my career path, and is this what I really wanted to do?,” she says.

When her contract came up for renewal shortly after the birth of her second son, Wood made the difficult decision to leave TV. With two boys under age three, her focus became motherhood. “I wasn’t thinking, am I gonna go back to news? Am I gonna build a different career?” she says. “I was momming hard, just thinking about how grateful I was to be a mom.”

What she didn’t realize was that another career was already taking shape. For years, Wood and her husband had tackled all manner of renovation projects together, “buying everything wrecked and remodeling it.” Design was a passion, but never something she considered turning into a business.

That changed after a series of projects for family and friends, including helping her parents rebuild their Springfield home after a major flood. The real turning point came shortly after, when friends faced a water main break that left their home as a total loss. “I approached it like client work for the first time,” Wood says. “That planted a seed.”

What started as a favor quickly became something more. Referrals multiplied as Wood’s younger son started school, so she had time to wander furniture markets and study window treatments, building what would become Emily Wood Design Co. Like many entrepreneurs, she learned while taking on the work. “What is the phrase, you build the airplane while you’re flying it?” she laughs.

Today, Wood’s work blends design, construction oversight and client advocacy. While the industries may seem worlds apart, she sees a direct connection between her former and current careers. “Houses tell a story,” she says. “They create a feeling. It’s the same skill you use when you’re building a story in TV news.”

Looking back, Wood doesn’t view journalism as a closed chapter, but as the foundation that prepared her for what came next. “Everything I did in journalism made me a better business owner.”

For anyone considering a career change, Wood’s advice is simple: Stay open to possibility. “I could be working in news right now,” she says. “But I would have missed out on a lot of growth and blessings. Being willing to let go of things is really important.”