From the East Coast to Columbus

By Ross Bishoff

In March 2024 at America First Field in Salt Lake City, the Utah Royals are minutes from their home opener. Above the stadium, a flag with the team’s crowned-lioness crest snaps in the wind. Below, its designer, Tovah Kaiser, watches quietly, recognizing a career milestone.

That career now unfolds in her hometown of Philadelphia, where Kaiser runs Tov Creative, a design studio serving clients from National Women’s Soccer League franchises to East Coast restaurants and small businesses. The path home, however, was shaped almost entirely by what she found at Ohio State.

Growing up in Philly, Kaiser assumed she’d go to college close to home. But her first visit to Ohio State — seeing the Oval, the ’Shoe, the Short North — fulfilled her vision of “college life.”

“Other places didn’t have that ‘Oval moment.’ I was impressed,” Kaiser said. 

She enrolled in the Knowlton School of Architecture, and while she eventually realized architecture wasn’t her calling, Knowlton instilled the discipline, technical skill and resilience she’d learn to rely on.

Ohio State also gave her room to pivot. A Fisher College of Business entrepreneurship class taught her to think like a builder, test ideas and understand markets. Joining the Business Builders Club plugged her into Columbus’s thriving creative and startup communities, ultimately leading to an internship and a job.

When COVID-19 put career obstacles in front of her, she didn’t freeze. She had a portfolio, professional experience and the confidence to create her own path. She moved home to Philly and launched Tov Creative, turning her Gen Z aesthetic and Ohio State-honed skills into a thriving studio.

“At Ohio State, you have options,” says Tovah. “Anything you’re interested in, you have it at your fingertips and that is super powerful.”