Helping Others Thrive: Student Abbey Martin on Learning to Lead at Belmont Abbey College
As an organizational and personal development specialist who works at an international cabinetry hardware corporation, Abigail “Abbey” Martin is involved in just about everything related to training the company’s employees. She designs and leads classes that teach skills in areas such as public speaking and active listening, facilitates training sessions with outside providers, and helps her co-workers prepare for promotions and new positions.
“I’ve always loved helping people,” Martin said. “I grew up wanting to be a teacher.”
Even though she is currently working in business administration, Martin has never let go of that dream. One day she would like to teach organizational behavior, leadership, and similar subjects at the college level.
“When I was an undergrad, there were two professors who opened my eyes so much. They changed my career trajectory,” she said. “I want to be that person for others.”
Until then, Martin wants to have as positive an impact as possible in the corporate world while she gathers invaluable first-hand experience.
To help her accomplish all of her goals, Martin enrolled in the online Master of Arts (MA) in Leadership program at Belmont Abbey College in August 2025. While she is only about halfway through her studies as of summer 2026, she feels she has already had a transformative experience.
Where to Start: Finding the Right Program for Authentic Leadership Development
While Martin only recently became a Belmont Abbey student, her connection to the school goes back much further. She grew up nearby and attended soccer camps on the campus. In kindergarten, she decided to go by “Abbey” instead of “Abby,” “Abi,” or any other shortened variation of her full name. She simply loved the way the name looked on Belmont Abbey’s signs.
Years later, when it came time to explore master’s programs, Martin naturally considered her nicknamesake first, but her final decision required a process that was a bit more nuanced.
“I got a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in human resources, but with that, I also had to take accounting and finance classes,” Martin said. “I’m not a numbers person. I knew I wanted to get my master’s, but I didn’t want to get an MBA. It would just not fit me that well.”
What Martin wanted was a program that would enable her to deepen her understanding of organizational behavior, development, and leadership. In that sense, the Master of Arts in Leadership program at Belmont Abbey College seemed like the perfect fit.
“This program hits everything on my list,” she said. “Finding it was a full-circle moment.”
Flexible, Hands-On, and Transformational: Martin’s Online Student Experience
Once Martin requested more information from the MA in Leadership program and started the enrollment process, she found that her initial judgment about the program was correct. However, the program is typically offered in a full-time one-year format, and Martin works full-time and sometimes travels to Austria for work. She says the program’s administrators were quick to help her create a two-year part-time plan.
“They’ve been really flexible,” Martin said. “I couldn’t schedule one of the classes to graduate in two years. So they made a substitution for me, and I was able to take a different class.”
A year in, Martin still has about five classes to go. With each one, she is learning new skills that are helping her in her current role and setting the foundation for her long-term success.
A Hands-On Curriculum Rooted in Real-World Issues
So far, Martin has taken classes in subjects such as the foundations of leadership and professional and technical communication. Each one is delivered online, but, in Martin’s experience, the assignments her instructors give add a hands-on and personalized component to the curriculum
“You’re actually able to tie theories to the real world and use different lenses,” she said.
For instance, in her class on organizational change management, Martin and her peers were tasked with analyzing and making suggestions about a change a business had recently navigated. Students could choose any organization they liked, but Martin chose her own.
“I was able to diagnose how the changes were going at my current organization and identify what we could do to make it better,” she said.
Growing Personally: The Ethical Backbone of the MA in Leadership Program
As a Benedictine institution, Belmont Abbey College integrates values such as service, hospitality, and community into every program. Martin has found this aspect of her education to be just as applicable to her career as the new skills she is learning.
“I absolutely love the Benedictine philosophy, especially the human dignity side of it,” Martin said. “I have taken so much of that mindset into my job. I have tried hard to instill it in other people and make sure I’m exuding it. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve tried to take away from this program.”
Martin particularly enjoyed reading works by Brené Brown and John Maxwell, modern leadership thinkers who focus on topics such as building trust as a leader, providing clear and honest feedback, and prioritizing ethical leadership.
To tie it all together, Martin completed an oral exam in which she was asked to apply ethical principles to different business scenarios, an exercise she found particularly impactful.
“Taking that ethical mindset and not just reading the words but applying it to work and things going on now was massive for me,” she said. “It really stuck with me.”
When Is the Right Time to Pursue a Master’s?
At just 23 years old, Martin is an experienced professional and, at the same time, still in the early days of her career. She knew now was the best time to invest in her career by earning a master’s, but she wondered if she could handle it or if it was a good idea to dive right in.
Martin is not one to dwell on those types of doubts very long, and now that she is deep into her studies, they are completely gone. She wants that to serve as encouragement for anyone considering enrolling, no matter where they are in their own careers.
“If this is the stepping stone you need to get somewhere in your career or life, do it. Trust in yourself that you’ve got it,” she said of enrolling in the MA in Leadership program. “Balancing school, your social life, and work is hard, but you will be insanely proud of yourself afterward. Embrace it, be good to yourself throughout it all, and give yourself grace.”
Learn to Lead Effectively and Ethically at Belmont Abbey College
In today’s ever-shifting economic landscape, authentic stakeholder engagement, ethical leadership, and informed decision-making are more important than ever. Through Belmont Abbey College’s MA in Leadership program, professionals working in any sector can learn skills in these areas that will enable them to guide their organizations through new obstacles and opportunities alike.
Over the course of 12 months, students take 10 online classes that teach concrete skills in fields such as data analytics, human resource management, and organizational change management. Along the way, Belmont Abbey’s impassioned faculty help them apply these skills within a servant leadership framework that both drives results and inspires others.
To find out more about the program’s curriculum, its scheduling options, or anything else, request information from Belmont Abbey College today.
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