Ep. 138: Taking Control of Your Career: The Power of Travel Therapy

In episode 138, Michelle sits down with AMN Healthcare recruiter Kristie Yakovich to explore the highly desired and empowering world of travel therapy. Kristie shares her 15 years of insight into the differences between school-based and medical settings, the step-by-step process of securing your ideal contract, and the incredible support systems AMN provides.  

The conversation covers how to handle contracts that are not a perfect fit, the requirements for transitioning into teletherapy, and the beautiful friendships that blossom on the road. You will discover how open communication with a trusted recruiter gives you greater control of your professional journey, helping you build a life and career you truly love. 

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction to Taking Control of Your Career 
02:43 – Meet Kristie: Over 15 Years of Healthcare Recruiting 
04:10 – Medical vs. School-Based Settings: Finding Your Fit 
06:06 – The Process of Getting Started in Travel Therapy 
08:45 – Navigating Challenges and Changing Contracts 
12:52 – Transitioning to Teletherapy and Required Experience 
15:36 – Building a Strong Recruiter-Clinician Relationship 
21:14 – Success Stories: Love, Friendship, and Travel 
25:13 – Advice for Maximizing Your Career Potential 

Key Concepts Discussed

Career Empowerment: Making the positive choice to transition into travel therapy to take greater control of your professional and personal life. 

Medical vs. School Settings: Understanding the differences in pace, documentation, and specific certifications so you feel equipped to switch environments confidently. 

Navigating Challenges: The crucial role of open communication with your recruiter and clinical team to resolve issues, ensuring your work life brings you joy rather than stress. 

Teletherapy Requirements: Knowing the foundational experience needed—such as completing your clinical fellowship and gaining onsite school experience—before stepping into virtual care. 

Recruiter Relationships: How finding a trusted recruiter helps you navigate your journey, turning the daunting task of job hunting into an optimistic, highly supported adventure. 

Guest Bio: Kristie Yakovich is an allied healthcare recruiter at AMN Healthcare with over 15 years of experience helping clinicians discover rewarding opportunities across the medical and school-based settings. 

Connect with Us: Share your thoughts on travel therapy and career transitions on TikTok at @SLPFullDisclosure or Instagram at @AMN_allied. We share regular updates, behind-the-scenes content, and SLP job opportunities. 

Subscribe: Do not miss future episodes with amazing guests from across speech therapy! Subscribe to SLP Full Disclosure on your favorite podcast platform. Learn more about this episode and our show on our website at amnhealthcare.com, and download the AMN Passport app to start taking control of your journey today. 

About Michelle

Michelle Gage, MA CCC-SLP, embarked on her journey in speech-language pathology during her undergraduate studies at the University of Mississippi, where she also worked at North Mississippi Regional Center, gaining invaluable experience in various therapy approaches. Following her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Central Florida, she has dedicated 25 years to empowering children and families in improving language skills and overall development. Currently residing in Mississippi, Michelle extends her expertise through telehealth services. Additionally, she proudly serves as the host of the SLP Full Disclosure podcast.

Outside of her professional commitments, Michelle is the proud mother of Mia, an accomplished middle school math teacher and all-around amazing human. In her leisure time, she indulges in her love for travel and cherishes moments spent with family and friends.

Transcript:

00;00;00;02 - 00;00;14;26
Speaker 1
Hey y'all, it's Michelle with SLP. Full disclosure. Thank you for joining the podcast today. I'm so excited to be joined by another amazing Am and recruiter. We have Miss Kristie Yakovich with us today. Kristie, thank you so much for joining us.

00;00;14;28 - 00;00;16;13
Speaker 2
Thanks for having me.

00;00;16;16 - 00;00;40;01
Speaker 1
I'm so excited. I always love it when we're doing podcasts with recruiters, because the process of me going from school based in Alabama and becoming a travel therapist, it was the best thing that I ever did in my career. And that transition over to am in and going on contract in Maryland now working till IT therapy out in California.

00;00;40;03 - 00;01;06;22
Speaker 1
It has just given me new life in my career and I absolutely love it. And so I'm always advocating for people, if you're young or even if you're you're like me and you're not so young because I'm not young anymore and you want to make a change in your career, it's never too late. So I love having recruiters on because you guys are really the glue that keeps things together for us as clinicians and I know we've had recruiters on before and we've talked about how to get started.

00;01;06;29 - 00;01;29;08
Speaker 1
We've talked we've had that was with my recruiter Jill. And just kind of what that whole beginning process looks like. Then we had Paige on. She's our senior recruiter. We talked more specifics about the reimbursement and the stipends and the platform to elevate that we use. But today, Christy and I are going to be talking a little bit about how to get started, but also focusing on some amazing success stories.

00;01;29;11 - 00;01;48;27
Speaker 1
And it's just it's unbelievable how that relationship between recruiter and clinician kind of forms and molds and changes over time. And I'm so excited. We're going to I'm going to be going to Asher in a couple of weeks. And I get to meet my recruiter, Jill, that I've worked with for several years for the first time in person.

00;01;49;00 - 00;01;50;22
Speaker 1
So I'm super excited about that.

00;01;50;22 - 00;01;52;11
Speaker 2
So that's awesome.

00;01;52;13 - 00;02;14;23
Speaker 1
Christy, I'm so excited to have you here. Let me tell you guys a little bit about Christy. With over 15 years of experience in health care recruiting, Christy specializes in placing clinicians and travel contracts across medical and school based settings. She's passionate about helping professionals find opportunities that not only match their skills, but also support their personal and career goals.

00;02;14;26 - 00;02;39;27
Speaker 1
Christy believes in building genuine relationships through transparency, responsiveness, and a personalized approach, making sure every clinician feel supported and confident throughout their journey. And it is a journey and I am so thankful for my recruiter. I'm thankful you're here. But Christy, tell us a little bit about your background, how you came to be a recruiter with Ammon. Did you have any experiences with SLPs?

00;02;39;27 - 00;02;43;23
Speaker 1
Did you know any SLPs in your life? Like what is what was that like?

00;02;43;29 - 00;03;13;18
Speaker 2
Yes. So I started it. I became a recruiter, kind of because I loved traveling myself. After after college, I went to college in Ohio and then I moved to Hawaii, popped over to Germany, back to Ohio, and then down to Florida. So I kind of got discovered because of my own travel network. And once I started learning about the job and working with these different clinicians, I realized that I did have a relationship with speech therapist.

00;03;13;18 - 00;03;22;29
Speaker 2
I was in speech therapy when I was younger in school. I remember the treasure chest and the star sticker charts. They are a core memories for me. Yeah.

00;03;22;29 - 00;03;26;10
Speaker 1
And I'm in a closet somewhere in the back of the school.

00;03;26;12 - 00;03;50;06
Speaker 2
Oh, yes. Yes. And I can say are now and seahorse and important works. So. Yeah. That's so great. Yeah. Definitely are a core part of my life. And now I have kids and one of my children is in speech therapy. So it's still, you know, something that's continuing on amongst adults that I know that have gone through different medical ailments and gone to work with speech therapists as well.

00;03;50;06 - 00;04;10;15
Speaker 1
That that's amazing. Now, you work with placing SLPs in schools and in medical settings. What is the primary difference? Like what are you looking for? Is it really just clinician preference? Is there a different certification that you have to have to be in that medical setting? How are those two settings different?

00;04;10;18 - 00;04;38;02
Speaker 2
Sure. The medical setting is definitely a different beast from schools. It's typically fast paced depending on which setting we're getting into. If we're looking at skilled nursing, generally high productivity or the transition over from the school to a medical clinician or to a medical speech typically can be a little bit of a shock. But generally go smooth if we find the right fit for you.

00;04;38;05 - 00;05;10;21
Speaker 2
In addition to the different pace, you're also working with different documentation systems. However, we have our clinical team in house that really makes these differences a bit more manageable. Right then as far as certifications go, again, it depends on the position. Most of the positions just require the state license. However, some do require specific certifications. Most common that I run into for my speech is typically the mbes or vital Stem certification.

00;05;10;21 - 00;05;21;12
Speaker 2
So those are typically what I'll run into. But I would say nine out of ten, ten of my medical placements for my speech. You don't need anything outside of your state license.

00;05;21;14 - 00;05;38;10
Speaker 1
That's amazing. I know that's always a question that I hear when, like last year when we went to Asha, and I was getting to listen to the recruiters, talk to the clinicians as they came up. That was always one of the questions that people asked. I'm interested in medical. Can you place me in a medical setting?

00;05;38;10 - 00;05;53;25
Speaker 1
Because I think for me, I'm in a school setting. That's where I've spent my entire career. And I wouldn't know where to begin in a medical setting, I don't think. I think I'm way too old. You couldn't teach this old dog a new trick to learn. You know, modified barium swallows and vital Sam and all of that.

00;05;53;27 - 00;06;06;07
Speaker 1
So I think that that's something that the younger clinicians are looking at and are probably interested in. What about just the process of getting started? How do you recruit, where do you where you making your connections?

00;06;06;10 - 00;06;30;17
Speaker 2
Sure. Since I've been doing this so long, I'm really lucky. Most of my folks come in through referrals, through knowing someone or knowing someone who knows someone that connected with me. However, we do also get get different leads off the internet for folks that are interested in job searching and travel therapy. So that's how I connect initially with most of my folks, and we work on finding out if travel is the right fit.

00;06;30;20 - 00;06;52;06
Speaker 2
A lot of the time I do have my clinical fellows that will be looking for placements, and schools definitely dominate those, so that's a good time. When we talk about how well what our game plan is after they get their case and how we're going to transition them to medical, or if they want to stick in school. So we have a good game plan, and we make sure that we're finding the right fits for them as well.

00;06;52;09 - 00;06;53;13
Speaker 2
Right.

00;06;53;16 - 00;07;13;07
Speaker 1
And I think a lot of times, new grads are not aware that you can be a travel therapist. And during that clinical fellowship year. And I think that can be sometimes intimidating. But Aman has an amazing, amazing mentor program, where they match you with a certified SLP that's going to be there with you each and every step of the way.

00;07;13;07 - 00;07;44;06
Speaker 1
So I hope that if you're listening and you're worried about being a travel therapist during that clinical fellowship year, do not fret. A a man has you and they, you know, the recruiters help prepare you with with a mentor that is going to be there to help you. One of the the biggest things that people always ask, that they always ask me, especially when I started and even before I made that switch, when I was getting ready to leave everything I knew and sell my house and move on, you know, 17, 18 hours away.

00;07;44;09 - 00;08;07;19
Speaker 1
My friends were like, what are you going to do if you get up there? And it's terrible and you hate it? That's the big what if. And I did extend my contract, my first travel contract, when I was up there, I extended it and signed for the next year. Of course, we all know the pandemic happened and all of that was just a whole nother thing.

00;08;07;21 - 00;08;29;18
Speaker 1
But I did make a change and I made a change for personal reasons. Not because I was not happy in my contract up there, but because my mother was was ill. She was she was needing a little bit of extra care. And that is when I switched to full time tele therapy. But I have made that change. And I'm going to tell you, my recruiter was pivotal in that.

00;08;29;18 - 00;08;45;10
Speaker 1
So talk about and explain that process of if a clinician gets somewhere and maybe they have personal reasons they need to make a change, or maybe it's just not a good fit. What if it's not a good fit? Where do you come in and what is that process like?

00;08;45;12 - 00;09;05;03
Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely. As much as I would love to say every contract is sunshine and rainbows, it's going to happen. You know, you're going to get there. Life is going to happen. Maybe it sounded different in the interview, or maybe you didn't ask the questions that you realize, oh, I should have asked. Yes. Number one thing is communicate with your recruiter.

00;09;05;08 - 00;09;28;23
Speaker 2
If I don't know something's going on, I can't do anything to fix it. So bur your first step in in any issues, even if you want to tell us good things, we like that too, but definitely bad things. Let us know. Sometimes we can get these issues resolved. Sometimes it's as easy as us reaching out to the client or the district and saying, hey, A, B, and C is going on, can we do this?

00;09;28;23 - 00;10;01;23
Speaker 2
And they're like, oh, yep, done deal. But sometimes we can't. My next step, when I have a situation going on with a facility or with a school district, is I typically connect my my traveler with our clinical team as well. They can break thing two things down clinician the clinician they can talk the talk. And it's our clinicals our clinical team to job to help smooth things over so they can often present different ways of doing the clinician's job or doing documentation.

00;10;01;25 - 00;10;27;17
Speaker 2
Or they can also break down that clinical talk to non-clinical, talk to the client to try to present ways to fix that. I recently had a traveler take a contract, and she got there across the country, and we were really excited. And it started off it was in a school. And, the caseload was very challenging. It wasn't one of those situations where it was huge, but it was, a high, higher need caseload.

00;10;27;19 - 00;10;46;14
Speaker 2
And it was taking up a lot more time. It was very stressful. So we connected a number of times on that, and we talked to clinical, and we tried to present them solutions, but this caseload was just not a good fit. You know, she was very stressed. And the way that I look at it is we all work too much to be unhappy.

00;10;46;17 - 00;11;04;00
Speaker 2
Right? You don't have to wake up and jump up and down to go into your job. But I don't want you. I don't want it affecting your personal life. I want you to be able to finish at the end of the week and feel good, and not feel drained. So we talked and we figured out that she was okay going somewhere else.

00;11;04;00 - 00;11;27;10
Speaker 2
She was actually excited at the thought of going somewhere else. We worked on getting some interviews and then we utilized her professional notice once we had an offer. The reason we did it that way is we didn't want any gap in and work time, so we were sure to get something else lined up. She was sure to ask extra questions about her specific caseload and support at the district.

00;11;27;12 - 00;11;53;28
Speaker 2
And then we utilize our professional notice, which is just that. So there's not a bad taste. We're leading professionally. We're we're working on finding someone who this caseload would work for us. Right. District as well. And she is now out in California and happy as a clam enjoying the beach sign and and yeah, you know yeah it's really important just to just to let us know and and if, if this one isn't it there are other options out there.

00;11;53;28 - 00;11;56;18
Speaker 2
Let's find something that'll make you happier.

00;11;56;21 - 00;12;12;06
Speaker 1
Right. And I can tell you, I and and I've said this before on the podcast, I had been practicing for 18 years in Alabama, and I was at a point in my career where I was considering leaving the profession. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was like, Maybe I'm going to be, you know, a cashier somewhere.

00;12;12;07 - 00;12;29;17
Speaker 1
Maybe I'll work at a flower shop, maybe I'll work at a gift shop. But I just wasn't happy. And I can tell you that I do love my job. There's not a night or a day. I never get the Sunday scaries. I'm like, Tomorrow is Monday and I get to go to work. And it's not that I have to go to work.

00;12;29;19 - 00;12;52;28
Speaker 1
I absolutely love my job. Tell it, therapy is not for everybody. And I do want to say and just verified this for me. Clinical fellows cannot work as tell a therapist their initial contracts. They have to be in person. How many years of experience do you have to have before you can even consider switching over to tell a therapy?

00;12;53;00 - 00;13;16;25
Speaker 2
Once you have your sees, you can become a tell a therapist. Ideally, we like for for our speech to have completed their clinical fellowship in a school setting or to have previous school experience before we get you into a tele placement, because they are I mean, I think during the heat of Covid, I saw 1 or 2 medical tele, but really all of them are our own schools.

00;13;17;00 - 00;13;26;29
Speaker 2
So we want that experience that we're setting you up to be successful so that you know how to do the impos you, you know, the announce and you're not just thrown into a new setting.

00;13;27;02 - 00;13;49;04
Speaker 1
Because the process, everybody thinks that school is so easy, and it is not like there's a lot of information that you have to know and understand outside of speech pathology, that if you don't have a good grasp of RSP services, support services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, how do we get visioning hearing? What if we need, you know, a teacher of the visually impaired?

00;13;49;04 - 00;13;58;21
Speaker 1
There's a lot you have to know. So yeah, I like that we're not putting clinical fellows virtually. I don't think that would be a good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00;13;58;21 - 00;14;01;08
Speaker 2
Not not no not yet. Yeah.

00;14;01;11 - 00;14;15;15
Speaker 1
But that is a possibility. Are you seeing an like since the pandemic as a recruiter, are you seeing less. Tell it therapy positions more. Tell the therapy sessions the same amount of tele therapy positions.

00;14;15;17 - 00;14;37;06
Speaker 2
I find that it has dipped down a little. It definitely peaked with Covid because it kind of forced, forced everyone's hand to dip their toes and to tell it therapy because there often weren't any other options. And for a couple of years after after the the height of Covid, it definitely remained strong. However, we do see that tele has taken a small dip.

00;14;37;06 - 00;15;01;06
Speaker 2
It's not going away or anything along those lines, but districts are definitely trying to fill their needs with onsite folks or hybrid, where they're maybe onsite three days and tele two days, something along those lines so they can get that face time in front of them. But the need is so high that I don't believe tele will be going anywhere.

00;15;01;08 - 00;15;13;26
Speaker 2
There will still be tele jobs. It's just, you know, we see them come out a little later than most of our most of our onsite, and we just have to know that most districts are going to try to exhaust getting someone on site first. Right?

00;15;13;29 - 00;15;36;21
Speaker 1
It sounds like communication is just the key when you're working with a recruiter. When the recruiters working with the clinician, is there anything that you ask of when you make that first connection and you're like, okay, we're getting ready to put you on. We're starting to look for assignments. How does the how did the recruiter and the clinician work together and just get that whole process started?

00;15;36;24 - 00;16;00;20
Speaker 2
Shaw communication is huge. I ask for them to be upfront with me, just like I'm sure they expect for me to be upfront with them. So if if someone is talking to multiple agencies and they want to keep working with multiple recruiters, I just ask that they let me know. Just so I'm not blindsided. I continue to work with people that are working with multiple agencies, but it's nice to make sure we don't double dip anywhere.

00;16;00;21 - 00;16;26;25
Speaker 2
No double submittals are happening. Things along those lines. And in regards to getting the whole process started, we get to know each other a little bit. I like to find out what what my people like to do for fun, what what they're doing when they're not working for those little bit of time. And that way I can really present them with some opportunities that I've had other people enjoy over the years, places that you might not think of, that people actually really like and sometimes settle down in.

00;16;27;02 - 00;16;49;16
Speaker 2
And then we get their profile all set up, which is made up of a couple of different items and items of resumé references. Our medical folks have a skills checklist that we do, and then we also get some some selling notes. I call that a screenshot of of their resume, essentially listing their documentation experience, different settings that the all ability for calls and start dates.

00;16;49;19 - 00;17;11;15
Speaker 2
And then once we get that, we're ready to rock and roll. I saw presenting them with jobs, but we can also work together because they're able to go on the Am passport app and and filter through jobs. They can set notifications so we can work as a team where they can see jobs that interest them. And then I can also present other jobs that maybe they weren't that weren't popping to them, but due to me.

00;17;11;17 - 00;17;30;05
Speaker 2
And then we work on getting an interview which allows them to see if it's a good fit for them. Technically, what I have on positions is often limited. I don't often have all the details, so the interview is a great time for them to get a picture painted of that facility or that school, and see if it sounds like somewhere that they would enjoy going.

00;17;30;07 - 00;17;36;15
Speaker 2
Yeah. And then and then we get the offer pretty fast usually. And it's go, go, go. Yeah.

00;17;36;17 - 00;17;58;17
Speaker 1
And one thing that I would say, just kind of piggybacking off of what you said about asking those questions because we a lot of times the recruiter just knows the position is there. You don't know specifics about what is your caseload going to look like, what are the expectations, how are you? How do you support as a district?

00;17;58;17 - 00;18;18;11
Speaker 1
How do you support your Teyla therapist if you're going for a a therapy position? And I know that I'm pretty seasoned, I've been doing this for 25 years. So I just made a change and went to a different district, and I had like 5 or 6 questions that I was like, this is what I want to know. Is there a max on the caseload?

00;18;18;11 - 00;18;38;29
Speaker 1
I know they're technically legally. We can't they can't say no more than this, you know, this many kids on your caseload. But how are you supporting what are you what is your pair of facilitate or situation like who is the contact person. So I had some very specific questions for that district because then that let me know will this be a good fit for me?

00;18;38;29 - 00;18;58;07
Speaker 1
And I was very, very lucky. I got placed in an amazing district and I absolutely love it. But you're right, that was another thing when I first started looking at becoming a traveler, I didn't know. I thought that I would reach out and the recruiter would say, here's the job, and this is where we're sending you. And I'll never forget the day I was working with El.

00;18;58;09 - 00;19;15;14
Speaker 1
It was back before we became Am. And she said, now where do you want to go? And I was like, what are you talking about? Where do you want, where would you like to work? And I was like, I don't understand the question. I said, I thought you would get the job and just send me somewhere, and that it was just kind of like a crapshoot.

00;19;15;14 - 00;19;41;16
Speaker 1
And she was like, no, no, no, no, you tell me. I would like to go maybe California or maybe Texas or this part or that part. I want to go here or there, and I will let you know what the you know, what the job market is like in those areas. And that's how I ended up in Baltimore, because I had never considered the northeast, but I was, as she recommended it, I did some research and I was like, I think I might like that close to New York City.

00;19;41;23 - 00;20;00;27
Speaker 1
I'm close to Philly. I've got family in Delaware that might be a good fit and I absolutely loved it. So it was just working together and realizing and understanding that when you when you start talking to a recruiter, they're not going to have you sign on the dotted line, and the next thing you know, you're in the middle of, you know, the middle.

00;20;00;27 - 00;20;09;08
Speaker 2
If you're open to it, right, you're open to it. We would love to do that now. We would love to send you a surprise location.

00;20;09;10 - 00;20;26;04
Speaker 1
Right? I know what the first couple of years my recruiter, not Jill, would always mention Alaska to me. And I'm like, oh, Haskell, that's so far. And it's so cold. But every year when I'm every every time I'm on that Am passport app, I'm like.

00;20;26;06 - 00;20;26;23
Speaker 2
Maybe I might.

00;20;26;23 - 00;20;41;26
Speaker 1
Go to Alaska one day. I don't know, I think that would be fun. But just places where maybe you've got family, maybe you have extended family somewhere in that part of the country and you're like, I want to spend some time out there. It's just a great opportunity to see the country and build your resume and build your skill set.

00;20;41;26 - 00;20;53;01
Speaker 1
And it's not about just speech pathology. It's about learning to work with different people and different backgrounds in different areas, and building that skill set that you need to be successful.

00;20;53;04 - 00;20;55;04
Speaker 2
Yeah, absolutely.

00;20;55;07 - 00;21;14;14
Speaker 1
I love it. Let's talk about some success stories. I know you shared a couple with us in our intro call that I'm really excited to hear about. We've talked about how that relationship between the recruiter and the clinician kind of transforms over time. So tell us some success stories about how some of your relationships have transformed over the years.

00;21;14;17 - 00;21;35;16
Speaker 2
Yes. I've been so lucky to get to work with so many amazing speech and therapists with a whole over the years, and a lot of folks I've worked with for a number of years, I have four kids now and we joke that they knew me pre kids, pre boyfriend pre at all and saying to them and I ended up working with some travelers.

00;21;35;17 - 00;21;55;04
Speaker 2
I was working with a gal and she went to a facility and she met another travelers of ours, a traveler of ours that was with a colleague, and they ended up traveling together and later got engaged. I took over both of them because the other recruiter was no longer with the company, and they invited me to their wedding.

00;21;55;07 - 00;22;11;27
Speaker 2
So I kind of missed that because we had known each other for years. So I really show up to the wedding and get to meet them and meet some referrals, actually, that they had sent over to me, and I had talked with her for two. So I got to put a lot of faces with names, and it was so amazing.

00;22;11;27 - 00;22;38;24
Speaker 2
And they're actually I need to bug them because I think they have a baby that probably showed up within the past week or so here. So it's it's amazing how getting to help people find jobs, but just also the friendships that develop. I've met probably 6 or 7 of my travelers. And again, getting to put that face to the the voice that I hear on the phone every week or every other week, and it's it's like meeting up with an old friend.

00;22;38;24 - 00;22;50;29
Speaker 2
It's it's so nice to get to see them and get to actually hang out for a little bit. And, and it's I'm very lucky to have this job. I love what I do and get to work with such amazing people.

00;22;50;29 - 00;23;13;15
Speaker 1
And every recruiter that we've had on the show has said the same exact thing. I had worked with Jill for several years before she was a guest on the podcast, and so the day that we, connected to do the recording was the first time I had ever seen her in person. If she had walked up to me at the grocery store, and probably same for her.

00;23;13;15 - 00;23;31;06
Speaker 1
If I had walked in, I would. I would not have known who she was, but she was such a a big part of my life in my job and my career, and we communicated regularly via email. We had phone conversations, all of the things. But until we connected on the podcast, I didn't know what she looked like. I had no idea.

00;23;31;07 - 00;23;47;28
Speaker 1
I was like, I have no idea. And so I'm super excited. Here we are two years later from starting the podcast, and I get to meet her for the first time in two weeks, and I'm hoping that my flight doesn't get canceled. I saw on the news this morning that all these flights are getting canceled, so because of the government shutdown.

00;23;47;28 - 00;23;54;05
Speaker 1
So I'm hoping that my flight stays on on time. I'm hoping that I get there and get to D.C. and get to meet her.

00;23;54;06 - 00;23;59;15
Speaker 2
I'm so excited. That'll be so much fun for both of you to actually get to hang out. Finally.

00;23;59;18 - 00;24;23;26
Speaker 1
Yes, Christy, thank you so much for joining us. I think that the biggest takeaway from today is just the relationship that you have with your recruiter is one that you will cherish and that you will have for many years to come. And I've only had two recruiters, and I've been with Aman since 2019, so I've been with them for six years and I've only had two recruiters, so there's not a lot of turnover.

00;24;23;26 - 00;24;42;07
Speaker 1
You guys are there to stay. It's very consistent and you really make our jobs happen and you are the one. I mean, I got a text from Jill in the middle of the week last week. Just hey, just checking on you. How are things going? I wanted to see if there's anything that you need. So getting those checks from her.

00;24;42;07 - 00;25;13;13
Speaker 1
And I'm sure you did the same thing with your clinicians. It just makes you feel like you're sane and it makes you feel like this is where I'm at. It reiterates to me that this is where I'm supposed to be, so I love it. So I always ask our guests one piece of advice that they would give to SLPs that are considering transitioning over to a travel contract, and how they can maximize their potential in their career.

00;25;13;15 - 00;25;34;25
Speaker 2
Oh that's good. Why? Okay, so definitely find a company and find a recruiter that you can trust. We're going to be we're going to be your person when you're out there. And like we talked about, not all contracts are perfect. We do our best to avoid not perfect ones. But if something goes down, we want to be sure we're taking care of you.

00;25;34;27 - 00;25;50;27
Speaker 2
And be open. Be open the excited. The first one's the hardest. Like anything, it's new is scary. Feel free to start off close to home and and just lean on your recruiter. We're a great resource for you all and and it's our job to make your job as easy and fun as possible.

00;25;50;29 - 00;26;08;18
Speaker 1
I love that, Christy. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm really sad you're not going to be at Asha. But it's been great having you on the show, and I'm looking forward to the next recruiter that we have on, because you guys are amazing. And I've every recruiter that I've met has just that. You just bring a smile to my face.

00;26;08;20 - 00;26;29;14
Speaker 1
A very special place in my heart for my recruiter for sure. So Christy, thank you so much for joining us. If you are listening to this podcast and you're considering, a travel contract or you're seasoned like me and you think maybe tell a therapy is is the job for you, reach out to our recruiter. Christy mentioned the Am passport app.

00;26;29;16 - 00;26;34;29
Speaker 1
You can go to Am passport. Dot com I think is at the website. I don't know if that's the website.

00;26;35;01 - 00;26;38;03
Speaker 2
Or you can go on the in the your app store too.

00;26;38;07 - 00;26;58;14
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you can go to the app Store impasse Sport app. We'll make sure that we have it linked. And just because you have a phone conversation with a recruiter, you're not signing your life away and they're not going to send you to some faraway land that you don't want to go to. You can always, as the clinician, you can always say, no, I don't think that would be a good fit for me.

00;26;58;19 - 00;27;13;29
Speaker 1
Let's keep looking. So keep that in mind. But we're going to have the passport link, the website, the app, everything linked in the show. Reach out to a recruiter at Aman. If it's not Christy, there's I'm certain that there's one that we'll talk to you guys and answer your question. So Christy thank you.

00;27;14;02 - 00;27;15;08
Speaker 2
Thank you Michelle.

00;27;15;10 - 00;27;35;00
Speaker 1
All right. You guys have a great day and we'll talk to you all soon. Thank you for tuning in to SLP. Full disclosure you can learn more about this episode and our show on our website at AMN. Health care.com. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast platform.

00;27;35;02 - 00;27;45;16
Speaker 1
You can also find show updates and SLP opportunities on our Instagram at AMN ally. Special thanks to AMN healthcare for making this show possible. See y'all next time!