A Nontraditional Path to Confident Leadership: Summer Meyer’s Journey Through the LEMBA Program

When Summer Meyer discusses leadership, she doesn’t start with traditional business frameworks. She begins with harmony. Long before she became a product manager at PeaceHealth or president of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) Washington Chapter, Summer’s work in dance, Pilates, and therapeutic care taught her how to build balance—within herself and within groups.

Her path to Seattle University’s Leadership Executive MBA (LEMBA) program wasn’t linear. After leaving college early, she spent decades building a multifaceted career that blended wellness, human-centered practice, and technical expertise. When she eventually returned to complete her undergraduate degree at Seattle University, the experience awakened something she’d always carried: a belief in lifelong learning.

In this spotlight, Summer shares a look at how those threads came together in the LEMBA program, and what it changed for her along the way.

Finding the Right Program at the Right Time

While Summer had already built a successful career, she struggled internally with confidence and the nagging sense of imposter syndrome. “People see me as confident, but I struggled with that,” she says. “I hoped completing my degree might help me develop more confidence in my own leadership approach.”

When she began considering graduate school, she explored her options. But she felt an unmistakable draw back to Seattle University. She recalls thinking that the University “has such a distinct focus on personal growth and really developing each individual’s unique strengths.” She wanted a credential and an experience that honored who she was as a whole person.

The timing of her graduate studies coincided with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a time of unprecedented uncertainty, she found herself studying executive leadership in real time. It was a period that made the program feel both relevant and urgent. She remembers reflecting on the questions leaders everywhere were suddenly facing:

How do you lead people through circumstances no one has experienced before?

How do you support a workforce navigating fear, isolation, and rapid change?

Studying leadership during a global crisis gave Summer a deeper understanding of what it means to show up for others—especially when answers aren’t clear, and the path ahead is constantly evolving.

A Cohort That Helped Her See Herself Differently

Before joining LEMBA, Summer often relied on observation to form her leadership identity. She learned by watching others, modeling their behaviors, and trying to emulate what she perceived as “good leadership.” But as she moved through the program, her relationship to leadership shifted dramatically.

Through the cohort model, she found a space where leadership was no longer just theoretical. She collaborated with peers, listened to their perspectives, and practiced leadership in a supportive environment. “Leadership isn’t something you learn from a textbook,” she says. “It’s something you practice, that you refine, that you experience with real people.”

The experience helped her reorient from needing to have the right answer toward creating the right environment—one where collective wisdom could emerge. She describes learning to ask questions, invite participation, and foster spaces where team members feel empowered to co-create solutions. The cohort became a laboratory for her to explore new ways of leading that aligned more authentically with her values.

As she puts it, “I shifted from trying to have all the answers to creating the right environment where those best ideas could emerge.”

A Philosophy of Leadership Rooted in the Body

Summer’s leadership philosophy is inseparable from her background. Dance taught her discipline, rhythm, and collaboration; Pilates taught her alignment and the power of sustainable movement; massage therapy taught her to read what people communicate without words; her doula work taught her how to meet people where they are in moments of profound vulnerability. Each of these experiences shaped her understanding of how humans navigate change.

These lessons inform her work in digital transformation and product management in surprising ways. She notices when teams hold tension, when the pace becomes unsustainable, or when a moment requires slowing down to move forward more effectively. “People are whole beings,” she emphasizes. “They’re not just cognitive processors. Real transformation happens through practice, not just theory.”

Her holistic lens—developed through years of embodied practice—brought depth to her business leadership learning, helping her approach organizational challenges with empathy and attunement.

Discovering Her Capacity to Lead Beyond Her Job

One of the unexpected impacts of the LEMBA program was the confidence it gave her to step into leadership opportunities she once would have dismissed. When the program encouraged students to join a board, Summer’s first thought was that she wasn’t qualified. But she remembered the advice she’d long carried: if you don’t start, you can’t finish. She put her name forward for the AMTA Washington board—and was welcomed.

What started as a volunteer role as secretary eventually led to the presidency. When the sitting president decided to move across the country, he encouraged her to apply to lead the organization. “It was lovely that he saw that potential in me,” says Summer.

She said yes.

That courage sparked even more opportunities. She was asked to run for a national volunteer role—and was elected. Rather than fear rejection, she now embraces each opportunity as part of an unfolding journey. “If it doesn’t happen, it might not be the right time. But if you never try, you never get anywhere.”

Balancing Ambition With Care

For all her accomplishments, Summer stays grounded through intentional self-care. She centers her days around practices that nourish her mind, body, and spirit: short daily walks, breaths of fresh air, yoga when she can make it, nine hours of sleep when possible, nutritious food, and regular reflection.

Summer also prioritizes joy. When reviewing tasks on her plate, she often pauses, reflects, and asks whether something can be delegated, reframed, or simply released. Her philosophy is informed in part by her own family’s experiences—like witnessing her mother navigate a recent health scare and emerge resilient, ready for a long-planned European trip.

Hard things are temporary, she believes. What keeps us moving is having something meaningful to look forward to.

Growing Into Herself—Not Someone Else

What LEMBA offered Summer wasn’t a blueprint; it was a space to integrate all the layers of who she is. The program helped her step into her strengths, trust her intuition, and recognize that her non-traditional background is an asset, not an obstacle.

Her story is a testament to the power of bringing one’s full self into leadership—not despite an unconventional path, but because of it. As she puts it, “Each person’s diverse experiences and whatever non-traditional path they’ve taken—those aren’t liabilities. Those are their greatest assets.”

Her Advice for Future LEMBA Students

When asked what she would tell someone considering Seattle University’s LEMBA program, Summer doesn’t hesitate.

“Come as you are,” she says. “The program is designed to help you develop your unique strengths—not to turn you into somebody else’s idea of a leader.”

It’s a sentiment that captures not only her experience, but the spirit of the LEMBA program itself: leadership that is authentic, reflective, values-driven, and grounded in the whole person.

Photos by Cody York