A Morris woman has made a name for herself nationally and internationally, but she still sticks close to her roots.

Wedding dress designer Heidi Elnora Baker owns Heidi Elnora Atelier in Birmingham. She designs three lines: Hello Darling, Heidi Elnora and Build-A-Bride. Her dresses are in more than 30 stores across the nation and in London.

Baker’s newest venture is television: she will star in the show “Bride By Design” that premieres with back-to-back episodes tonight at 8 p.m. on TLC.

Despite national and international success as a fashion designer, Baker, her husband and two young sons call small-town Morris home. She lives on the same property that her grandparents owned.

“It’s nice to come home and be in the pasture and be in a quiet space,” Baker said. “I never forget my roots. It keeps me grounded.”

As a student at Mortimer Jordan High School — she graduated in 1998 — Baker was not sure that college was in her future, much less a chance to pursue her dreams of being a fashion designer.

“When I told people I wanted to be a designer, I was told, ‘You can’t do that,’” Baker said. Her reaction was, “Why can’t I? We wear clothes, don’t we? Being from a small town, why did that have to limit me from being who I wanted to be?”

She did make it to college, though, on a softball scholarship at Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City. She had played softball in high school for coach Rebecca Recke, who also happens to be her aunt. Recke remembers her niece for “always having a knack for coming up with crazy cheers and dances.”

Then one day Baker saw a flier that changed her life — it was for the Savannah College of Art and Design.

“I thought, ‘I hope they have softball, because that’s the only way I can go to college,’” Baker said.

The school did have softball, and Baker earned a Presidential Scholarship, which paid for tuition, housing and books.

“I played softball and studied fashion, and I loved it. I felt so inspired and as if I really belonged. I felt normal,” she said. “This was such a huge moment in my life. I could see God’s plans evolving for me.”

After graduating in Savannah in 2002, Baker moved to Birmingham, where she soon organized her first runway show. She held it at place she knew well: the Mortimer Jordan High School old gym.

“I had maybe 50 or 60 people show up,” she said. Family members and children served as her models, and her best friend from high school did their hair and makeup.

She charged canned food as admission in order to help out a local charity; the show brought in $800 worth of canned goods.

“I wanted to give back,” Baker said.

Before long, the young designer found herself working at Carter’s Inc., in Atlanta.

“I wasn’t your typical 22-year-old,” she said. “I went to work, and when I got home I would sew in my basement. I ate Ramen noodles and tuna fish because I wanted to save all my money to buy fabric.”

That was her routine for four years, when Baker decided to branch out.

She went out on a limb, applied for the television show “Project Runway,” and was surprised when she was selected.

“I was way out of my element,” she said with a laugh, recalling her jeans and pony tail. “But I could see it all unfolding as it should.”

Not much later, Baker announced to her mother and her fiance, Jeff Baker — who is now her husband — that “I’m going to design wedding gowns and open a couture in Birmingham. They both looked at me like I was crazy.”

She had no money, but worked with a non-profit agency to get a plan, a loan and the doors opened to her new business. She designed a wedding gown for her first bride in 2006.

“Since then it’s just been a dream,” she said.

Today, one of Baker’s biggest goals is to encourage others, especially young people. She plays a key role in Birmingham Fashion Week, which is May 7-9. The event highlights young designers, make-up and hair stylists, and models. It benefits various nonprofit organizations.

“It’s a way to give back to kids in junior high school and high school,” she said. “I want them to know that it doesn’t matter about economic status or where you’re from.”

She plans to bring the same positive message to “Bride By Design” on TLC.

“I’ve loved TLC forever,” she said. “My goal is to bring a positive, encouraging light.”