Alumni & Student Stories

This B.A. Alumna Says Antioch Taught her How to Learn

Lynne Breiland Hobbs
B.A. Liberal Studies, 1983

Lynne Breiland Hobbs knows the ins and outs of being a training facilitator for Fortune 500 companies. She develops new strategic plans and updates strategies for multinational corporations. She builds programs to teach leadership and sales skills. One day, she finds herself working with a German bank in New York City, the next day with employees of Skagit County, Wash.

"All of my business career is about communications and learning," Hobbs says, "and Antioch taught me how to learn."

This 1983 graduate of the B.A. in Liberal Studies Program concedes it's tough to describe the ways her Antioch education brought her career into clear focus.

"Just a few years ago," Hobbs says, "if you talked about environmental or holistic sustainability, you were out on the edge or over the edge. Antioch has one foot in the mainstream and one foot not so."

"The real light bulb for me was that I could learn in my own way. That plays a role every day when I facilitate groups from where they are now to where they want to be," Hobbs says. "I always feel I leverage what I've learned into the next experience."

The fact that Antioch has always been progressive appeals to her. "Just a few years ago," Hobbs says, "if you talked about environmental or holistic sustainability, you were out on the edge or over the edge. Antioch has one foot in the mainstream and one foot not so."

Hobbs was 30 and had launched a successful career in commercial real estate when she explored the idea of finishing her bachelor's degree at Antioch. "I was a real fish out of water," she describes. "Twenty years ago, I was probably the first person who wore pantyhose at Antioch. I was the first business applicant in the undergraduate completion program. Yet, after just one meeting, I knew this was the place for me."

Hobbs wanted to focus her studies on marketing and communications and was encouraged by AUS Provost Dean Elias to use Antioch University Seattle as her case study. By the time she finished her degree, Elias asked her to be Antioch's liaison with the Puget Sound business community and she joined the AUS Board of Advisers. With her experience in commercial real estate, she played a key role in Antioch's move from the talked-about old mansion on Capitol Hill to the university's next setting in a more businesslike atmosphere on Eastlake Avenue East.

Fast-forward her successful career more than 20 years and you'll find Hobbs living on San Juan Island. She recently scaled back her consulting work so she doesn't have to travel as often outside the Pacific Northwest.

Her next step? She's gearing up to pursue a master's degree. As she researched the possibilities of several other universities, none matched up to her alma mater, though.

"That search, even more solidly, convinced me that Antioch continues to be the best fit for me," Hobbs says. Antioch is still her No. 1 choice.

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