She won Young and Modern (YM) magazine's cover girl contest in 1995 and subsequently signed with Elite modeling agency before appearing on the covers of GQ, Maxim, and Max magazines and was ranked number 100 in Stuff magazine's ?102 Sexiest Women In The World? in 2002.

Summer graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1997 and played competitive volleyball while attending San Diego State University. She transferred to UCLA in Spring 2000 to continue her communications studies and further pursue her modeling career. Summer was chosen as Playboy's Playmate of the Month in August 2000.

One of her earliest film appearances was in the video Wet & Wild: Slippery When Wet, the ninth in the series of popular videos produced by Playboy featuring playmates and water. Her beauty and uninhibited playfulness saw her starring in two further Playboy videos before being cast in the films The Scorpion King, Grind, and the Showtime program ChromiumBlue.com.