In the fall of 2024, N.C. A&T alumna Breyanna Jones opened Greensboro’s first rug tufting studio, Studio Syx. 

Rug tufting is a textile technique used to make rugs by punching loops through fabric using a punch needle or tufting gun. While there are studios in other cities like Charlotte and Raleigh, there was a gap in Greensboro that Jones wanted to fill. 

“I can have an advantage by having one place here in Greensboro,” Jones said. “They’re skipping right over Greensboro, and there’s a lot of people here.”

Jones graduated from A&T in 2018 with a degree in liberal studies and a minor in African American studies. Despite her major, she has always had a passion for creativity. 

“I just always loved art,” Jones said. “In high school, I got into painting. And in college, I got into photography and videography.” 

After graduating from college, she moved to Florida to begin her career as an insurance adjuster. However, when the pandemic shut down the world in 2020, she found a new art form.

“I feel like everybody picked up a hobby during the pandemic,” Jones said. “My hobby happened to be tufting.” 

She came across rug-tufting on Instagram but could not find a lot of content about the craft. After doing her own research, Jones bought a punch needle and acrylic yarn and began teaching herself how to tuft.

After making her first three rugs, she then moved on to using a gun and tested out what techniques and materials work best for her style. 

As she continued to post her work on Instagram, she began to sell custom commission pieces. In fact, since starting her business, Jones has tufted rugs for celebrity artists Tia Corine, Lovely The Don and Nick Cannon. Cannon’s rug was made as decor for his podcast studio, “The Daily Cannon”. 

“​That was a seven-foot rug, which was the biggest rug I ever did,” Jones said. “And I did it in like two weeks, which was crazy.” 

Opening a workshop was always a goal for Jones but she wanted to perfect her craft before opening her own studio. After moving back to Greensboro in 2024, she was heavily encouraged by her mother and close friends to begin offering classes.

“I knew from there I wanted it to kind of gear towards college students in a way,” she said. “I wanted it to be another option for them, like just another hangout or thing to do.”

While improving her tufting skills and continuing research was her first step to begin teaching classes, affordability was also important to Jones.

“A lot of the classes are really expensive,” she said.
”If you ever look into other classes, the minimum is $150.”

At Studio Syx, she offers classes for $100 per person and a $15 discount for college students. What makes her business affordable, while still being profitable, is her location. Studio Syx is located within Studio 503, a local collaborative art studio where creatives can rent their own rooms.

While Jones initially struggled to promote her classes online, a viral TikTok in Feb. 2025 led to a surge in bookings. 

“The video has over 300,000 views. So then, my March workshops sold out after that,” Jones said.

Students can book a 4-hour workshop class via her website and check out her Instagram for class updates. 

As she continues to grow her business, she thanks her business partner and son, Leland Syx, for continuing to encourage her and being by her side.

She became pregnant with Leland when she first learned how to tuft. This inspired Jones to name her business after his middle name. 

“I feel like I wouldn’t even have this if it wasn’t for him,” she said. “He has been with me during the entire journey.” 

As a new business owner in Greensboro, Jones hopes to continue to build awareness about her studio.

“I definitely just want more people right now to know that it’s here, especially college students,” she said. “But aside from doing the workshops, I really want to focus more on my personal art.”

As an artist, Jones wants to continue creating portrait-style and mixed media art, and eventually get her work into art galleries. She looks up to other tufting artists like @bmoretuft and @simoneelizabethsaunders as inspiration for her own artwork.

If you are interested in checking out her work and learning how to tuft, visit Studio Syx at 503 E. Washington Street.