My name is Brandi and I am from a small farming community in rural ND with a population of 873 people. We have no traffic lights or movie theaters, but we do have the most wonderful amazing, hardworking, and caring people. 873 of the most wonderful people you will ever meet in your life. I’m glad to be from such a background. I’ve been an Occupational Therapist for 16 years, after graduation and being from such a small community, opportunities for my type of work was extremely limited, really nonexistent. So my first job I ended up in Gillette, WY. I couldn’t have asked for a better first opportunity to work in acute care, outpatient hand therapy, nursing home, home health, and aquatic therapy all on the same day on occasion.

A year later I found my first travel assignment on the far west side of the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the small town of Grand Junction, CO. This travel assignment set my OT career on a travel path. My cat Tootsie and I made our way together.  For a cat, Tootsie rode in the car great and even stayed in motels when we had to be on the move. I have worked permanent OT jobs sprinkled throughout my 10-year traveling career, but the open road with new adventures keeps calling to me and pulling me back out. I like to tell other therapists that once you get a taste of traveling you can’t get it out of your blood. It’s like being a modern-day Gypsy – explorer always seeking the next challenge in a pioneer kind of way. I LOVE IT!

I’m constantly meeting new coworkers, clients and seeing parts of the country I only dreamt about. Traveling, in general, is so expensive, but now I get paid to go see these places. From the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christie, TX to Cape Canaveral, Florida where I got to visit NASA and other locations such as Natural Bridges Caverns in San Antonio, TX.  I’ve also traveled all the way north to Little Falls, MN, which provides a scenic picturesque stetting with the Mississippi river weaving its way through town.  My husband and I had our honeymoon at the headwaters of the Mississippi not far from here as my husband grew up on the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge LA. There the river is over a mile wide. So being here in Little Falls, MN near the river brings a feeling of home to us.

I really enjoy being an OT because my profession is so versatile offering me ample opportunities in different settings to work. My preferred setting is a skilled nursing home for two reasons. One, I can always find a job and two I am a sucker for little Grandpas and Grandmas. Ever since I was a little girl I was always drawn to them. Just as my mom was.

I have traveled with two other companies before Centra Healthcare Solutions, but Centra takes the cake hands down. Centra is the first company to provide me with a name badge.  Yes, such a simple thing as a name badge. None of my other companies cared enough about me as an employee to offer me a name badge, but Centra changed that. This simple act of being given a name badge made me feel like part of the team and Centra really cared about ME, their employee. Yet another fantastic reason to work for Centra is the fact that they answer the phone personally. They have NO automated answering service! You get a human EVERY time you call day or night. I can’t say enough about my recruiter, Nathan, he always has my best interest first.

I’m just a small-town girl who got lucky enough to work for Centra Healthcare Solutions. They make me feel like I’m the only traveler they have, which I know is not true, but it sure feels that way and I love that fact. If you are considering traveling therapy work, take it from me a 10-year veteran, Centra is your agency to make it happen. The adventures are waiting for you, so what are you waiting for?? Come travel with Centra and make sure to ask for Nathan… you won’t be disappointed.