Rising Stars: Meet Summer Penney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Summer Penney.

Hi Summer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story really began in a very low place. I came out of a domestic violence relationship with a version of myself that I barely recognized. For a long time, I had lost my confidence, my sense of identity, and the belief that I was capable of creating the life I wanted. Rebuilding myself became the beginning of everything that came after.

I started my career as a paramedic, which gave me a strong sense of purpose and taught me how much I value helping people through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Around the same time, I began sharing more of my own life on social media. What started casually eventually became a creative outlet where I could talk about beauty, confidence, self-love, body image, and learning to enjoy my life again.

As my social media presence grew, I also experienced workplace bullying and harassment, which became another difficult chapter in my story. But it ultimately pushed me to become even more vocal about boundaries, self-worth, and creating a life outside of other people’s expectations.

At the same time, my love of makeup grew into something much bigger. I started my own professional makeup business, Summer Glow Beauty, and eventually developed my own cosmetics line. Building something that was completely mine was incredibly empowering. I wanted my products and my content to reflect what I had learned personally: beauty isn’t about hiding everything that makes us human. It’s about feeling confident enough to show up as yourself.

And then there was figure skating. I actually grew up competitively figure skating and loved it, but when my parents divorced, skating became something my family could no longer afford, and I had to give it up. Nearly three years ago, I decided to return to the ice, this time because I could pay for it myself. Coming back as an adult has been incredibly meaningful. I’m not skating because I have to, or because I’m trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. I’m skating because that little girl who loved it never really left. Being able to give that part of myself another chance has been one of the most joyful parts of my life.

Today, my life looks nothing like the one I once thought I was destined for. I’m a paramedic and educator, entrepreneur, makeup artist, cosmetics founder, content creator, and competitive adult figure skater. But more than any title, I’m proud that I built a life where creativity, femininity, ambition, movement, and self-love can all exist together.

In many ways, everything I do now is connected to that original journey of finding myself again. I went from surviving my life to intentionally creating one I genuinely love.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not. There have been a lot of beautiful chapters in my life, but they’ve rarely come without something difficult happening alongside them.

Leaving a domestic violence relationship was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Rebuilding my confidence and learning to trust myself (and others) again took time. There were periods where I had to completely redefine what I wanted my life to look like and, more importantly, who I wanted to be.

My career as a paramedic has also come with its own challenges. It’s an incredibly rewarding profession, but it is also physically and mentally demanding. Especially with the current state of healthcare. Later, when I began sharing more of my life online, I experienced workplace bullying and harassment that challenged me in a completely different way. It was difficult to have something I loved—creating and connecting with people—become intertwined with my professional career and experiences that made me question whether I should keep putting myself out there.

Building a business has been another kind of struggle. Starting Summer Glow Beauty meant taking an idea I believed in and turning it into something tangible, while learning everything from product development to branding and entrepreneurship along the way. There were plenty of moments where I had to figure things out as I went (and still am!)

Even returning to figure skating as an adult hasn’t been easy. I went back to the sport I loved as a child, but now I was learning alongside a completely different version of myself. There have been setbacks, frustration, and moments where I’ve had to remind myself that progress doesn’t always look the way you expect it to.

I don’t think my life became easier when I started rebuilding it. I think I became stronger, more self-aware, and more willing to keep going when things weren’t easy. The struggles are a part of my story, but they aren’t the part that defines me. What defines me is what I chose to build afterward.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work sits at the intersection of beauty, education, entrepreneurship, content creation, and self-expression. Professionally, I’m an Advanced Care Paramedic and educator, a professional makeup artist, the founder of my cosmetics company Summer Glow Beauty, a content creator, and a competitive adult figure skater.

With Summer Glow Beauty, I specialize in performance-focused makeup designed for real life—products that are waterproof, transfer-resistant, sweat- and humidity-resistant, while still feeling comfortable and hydrating on the skin. As someone who has dealt with sensitive, reactive skin myself, I’m passionate about creating makeup that doesn’t require people to hide their skin or feel like they need to look “perfect” to be beautiful.

As a creator, I’m known for blending beauty with lifestyle and storytelling. My content ranges from makeup tutorials and real-skin conversations to wedding planning, figure skating, fitness, cooking, and the everyday process of learning to romanticize your own life. I love creating content that feels feminine and aspirational without pretending that life is perfect behind the camera.

I think what sets me apart is that I don’t fit neatly into one box. My background as a paramedic and educator gives me a very different perspective from the typical beauty creator or entrepreneur. I’ve experienced some incredibly difficult chapters personally and professionally, and I’ve used those experiences to become more intentional about confidence, self-worth, and how I show up in the world.

What I’m most proud of is that I’ve built all of these things while becoming a completely different version of myself. I’m proud of Summer Glow Beauty, but I’m equally proud of the woman who had the courage to create it. I’m proud that I can walk into an ambulance bay, teach a classroom, step onto a skating rink, sit down to create content, or work on my business, and all of those versions of me are still authentically mine.

If there’s one thing I hope people associate with my work, it’s the idea that you’re allowed to be more than one thing. You can be ambitious and feminine, strong and soft, serious about your career and still have fun getting dressed up. You don’t have to choose just one version of yourself.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
The biggest thing I wish I understood when I was starting out is that a career is not supposed to cost you your mental health, your identity, or your life outside of work.

I spent years believing that being dedicated meant pushing through burnout, tolerating unhealthy environments, and putting the job before myself. Healthcare especially can romanticize self-sacrifice. We’re taught to be resilient, to keep showing up, and to accept that exhaustion is simply part of the job. I don’t believe that anymore.

Honestly, if someone told me they were thinking about starting a career in healthcare today, I would have a hard time recommending it without being completely honest about the reality of burnout, chronic stress, workplace politics, and the emotional toll. There are incredibly meaningful parts of the work, and I’ve had experiences as a paramedic that I will always be grateful for, but meaningful work does not automatically mean healthy work.

I wish I had learned earlier that you don’t owe an organization unlimited access to you just because you care about what you do. Your employer can replace you. Your title can be replaced. Your position can be filled. Your health, your relationships, and your sense of self are much harder to replace.

My advice is to pay attention to how a workplace makes you feel, not just what the job looks like on paper. Don’t normalize being miserable because everyone around you is miserable too. Set boundaries early. Protect your life outside of work. And if you find yourself constantly sacrificing your mental health to keep a job, give yourself permission to question whether the job is still worth keeping.

Most importantly, don’t build your entire identity around your career. I’m incredibly proud of being a paramedic and educator, but I’m also a business owner, artist, creator, skater, partner, friend, and so much more. Discovering those other parts of myself helped me realize that my job is something I do—it isn’t who I am.

You are allowed to leave something that is hurting you, even if you worked incredibly hard to get there.

Pricing:

• Emergency Medical Responder course— about a semester in length: 3,000 to 5,000$
• Emergency medical technician/primary care paramedic course— 1-2 years in length and must have EMR certification to enroll : 10,000 to 15,000$
• Advanced Care Paramedic course —must have PCP certification to enroll. 2 more years of schooling: 30,000$
• Annual license and insurance fees: 550$/year

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.summer-glowbeauty.com/home?variant=661978d79e5ad58560c87f1b
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/summer_penney?igsh=MXBraHhuZDZhaXBmcg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr / https://www.instagram.com/summerglowbeauty?igsh=ZGozdDBlemd3cm9i&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@summerpenney?si=1yF0_6BFwSNbrONY