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If Amber Weber’s life were captured in a spreadsheet, it would look like a perfectly balanced budget with a surplus. She’s checked all the boxes: excel in school, lead student organizations, work part-time, pursue internships that open doors—and don’t forget the column for personal growth. As she prepared to graduate in December 2025, she had one last item to check off: nominating herself for a Faces of Leeds profile.

Meeting Weber, it’s no surprise that everything has worked out. Her confidence and goal setting bode well for someone pursuing a career in personal financial planning. She speaks with a natural decisiveness—a quality that will surely put future clients at ease.

But Weber has learned that life doesn’t always fit neatly inside the margins. A trek on the Pacific Crest Trail drove that home. While most hikers average four-and-a-half to five months, she set an ambitious goal to finish in 97 days. A big motivator: her family’s skepticism. She wanted to prove them wrong. Besides, she said, “I told too many people I was doing it. I had to follow through.”

Building a work ethic

During high school summers, while her friends were out having fun, Weber was clocking 60-hour work weeks, unpaid, at her family’s marina in rural Jordan, Arkansas. From the age of 14 through her first year in college, “she grew up fast,” she believes. “I couldn’t just call in sick,” she said. “I lived with the people that made the schedule.”

Her parents’ leap into entrepreneurship shaped her perspective. She learned business fundamentals on the job, much of it still by hand.��Her dad studied nuclear engineering and trained Navy crews on submarine generators—“one mistake and you could end up with Chernobyl,” Weber said. His connection to the Arkansas marina began as a teen. Years later when the marina was for sale—and Weber’s mom was pregnant with their first child—they dove in. Today, Jordan Marina is a thriving business with nine docks, campsites and multiple cabins.

“Really getting to see my dad’s drive and hear about his vision was eye-opening,” Weber said. “It taught me a lot about setting goals: ‘Where do you want to be five years from now? Okay, what do you need to be doing now to reach that point?’”

A course correction: From aviation to business

In high school, Weber was laser-focused on aviation, applying only to colleges with top programs. Accepted at Purdue University, she planned to double major in aviation and finance—not just out of ambition, but out of caution. “If a health event happens, you’re out of a job.”

But something shifted. “I picked up the concepts in accounting so easily—which was something I wouldn’t have imagined,” she said. “I was learning about the difference between a Boeing and an Airbus, and I wasn’t as connected with the material.”

After soul searching, she made a bold decision: finish the year at Purdue, then transfer. Leeds checked every box and offered Colorado’s outdoor lifestyle. “I’d always been the one pushing for family spring breaks in Colorado so I could go skiing and snowboarding,” she said. “At Purdue, the college was the town.” She sought a different environment.

The transition wasn’t easy—she had a strong friend group at Purdue. A scoop of strawberry ice cream at Leedsapalooza was an ice-breaker, leading to a conversation with��Matt Fleming, the director of operations for the Burridge Center for Finance. He encouraged Weber to join the Investment Banking Club. “You gain so much just by being around peers—hearing the lingo, learning from each other.” A career trek to New York helped rule out investment banking for her career path.

“You gain so much just by being around peers—hearing the lingo, learning from each other.”

Amber Weber (Fin’25)

Additionally, ongoing support from academic advisor��Debbie Barday was instrumental in helping Weber chart her course at Leeds.

A career with a worldly view

Growing up, Weber’s family prioritized travel during the off-season, which broadened her worldview. That, and her family business experience, helped her land a sophomore-year summer internship at Landmark Wealth Group, a family-run firm in Chicago. “It was a small team—16 people—so I had my hands on everything,” she said. “They put me in meetings immediately, encouraged me to talk, and trusted me with prep work for client presentations.”

She returned for another summer and is now launching her role as a financial planning analyst. Next up: passing the FINRA Series 7 exam and sitting for the CFP exam in March. “Once I get my CFP, hopefully I’ll start taking more of an advisor role and eventually manage my own clients,” she said. “Being client-facing—helping families make their dreams come true—is so fulfilling.”

Leadership and balance

At Leeds, Weber simultaneously served as president of Women in Finance and VP of Finance for Women in Business, while also competing in case competitions, joining the Investment and Trading Club, working and taking at least 16 credits per semester. Her secret weapon? “My beautiful Google calendar,” she said. “Doing this over again, I would never advise this to someone just starting college. Instead, sit down at your calendar and decide what time you want for yourself—then plan everything around that.”

Her leadership roles taught her to think holistically and pay forward the support she received. “I started at Leeds feeling lost. Everyone welcomed me with open arms. I want to be that resource for other women—to help them feel confident and empowered.”

“You can’t go into a room thinking you’re an underdog, because then you’ll be fighting with an underdog mentality. Step into your power and believe 'I’m educated, I deserve a seat at this table.'”

Amber Weber (Fin’25)

Her advice for women entering business? “You can’t go into a room thinking you’re an underdog, because then you’ll be fighting with an underdog mentality. Step into your power and believe 'I’m educated, I deserve a seat at this table.'"

Investing in the future

When Weber set her sights on the Pacific Crest Trail last summer, she prepped some food and gear��and hit the trail with a mantra to keep moving. “Every day, it came down to choosing, okay, I know this sucks some days, but I have to wake up, and I have to walk, even if it's a bit.”

She added, "I was really looking forward to just having one thing to focus on for a few months. I was so used to juggling everything at once that it was nice to slow down and have one task everyday: walk."��

The experience was grueling at times—it took six weeks afterward to walk normally again—but it was transformative. “I’m a very big planner. I love lists. The PCT was out of my comfort zone,” she said. “It taught me to slow down, set roots, build friendships, and embrace life without an expiration date or a focus only on the finish line.”

As Weber steps into her career, she’s ready. “It’ll be nice to really feel confident—call a client, run a project by myself, or train people,” she said. “Just really stepping into that next level of responsibility, and taking it day by day.”