Ward was born in Monroe, Louisiana. She attended a private, Christian elementary school (Monroe Christian School), in Monroe, LA. She briefly attended Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana at Monroe). She began modeling at the age of 13, leaving school and moving to New York to do so, deciding to try her hand at acting several years later. After a few years of small TV jobs on All My Children and NBC's short-lived Malibu Shores, she landed her first main role as the heroine