Summer Owens

Summer Owens is an award-winning author, international speaker, trainer, and the powerhouse behind the S.O. What! movement—helping people of all ages build confidence, resilience, and character by facing life’s challenges head-on.

As the founder and president of S.O. What! and the S.O. What! Foundation, Summer uses her own journey—from becoming a teen mom at 15 to graduating magna cum laude and becoming Miss University of Memphis—to show others how to overcome obstacles and write their own success stories.

She is the author of Life After Birth: A Memoir of Survival and Success as a Teenage Mother, the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education Curriculum, and the heartfelt 100 Lessons My Centenarian Grandmas Taught Me, which share powerful life lessons and a message of hope, strength, and purpose.

A graduate of the University of Memphis and Belhaven College, Summer is also an adjunct professor, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a New Memphis Institute Fellow, and an active board member and community advocate.

She’s been honored with numerous awards including the University of Memphis Distinguished Young Alumna Award, the Fogelman College of Business Outstanding Young Alumna Award, Women of Achievement’s Heroism Award, the Memphis Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, and the Tri-State Defender’s Women of Excellence.

From classrooms to boardrooms, Summer Owens is changing lives with her bold message: You can overcome, succeed, and shine—no matter what.