“I can’t imagine another way to do this without Luna.” - Steve S. PT, DPT, OCS
We love getting to know our therapists and learning more about how they’re using Luna to create a life they love. This week, we’re shining the light on one adventurous Luna couple doing just that.
Ellen and Steve are OCS trained physical therapists who work full time for a contracting company as travel PTs and with Luna to secure supplemental income. They’re avid travelers with a true passion for the great outdoors. In fact, when we recently spoke to Ellen and Steve for this interview, they were on one of their daily 6-mile hikes with their daughter in between patient appointments. Talk about a power couple!
Here are just a few of the highlights from that conversation.
Tell us about yourselves and your background as a couple.
We both grew up in Ohio but met at Physical Therapy school at the University of Kentucky back in 2011. We were lab partners and quickly became friends, rock climbing partners, running buddies, and later, husband and wife. After graduating, we both took outpatient orthopedic jobs at clinics out in Colorado and became Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialists.
How has your PT career evolved over time?
At some point, we started feeling really held back by all our debt from PT school. We both wanted to travel but didn’t have the money or flexibility to make it a reality. We made the decision to pack up our lives and dive headfirst into travel PT. Our initial plan was to do it for a year or two and then return to real life. When the time came to make a decision to settle down or keep traveling, we decided to continue traveling because we loved it so much.
What inspired you to start working with Luna?
We’re currently on assignment here in San Francisco and heard about Luna from a good friend. It sounded like a really cool combination of orthopedic and home health, so we were excited to give it a shot. We have a 20-month-old baby girl and are doing our best to find a balance between being parents and full-time PTs. We both see a few patients a week with Luna and use the extra income to pay for childcare. Most clinics want you to work very particular hours, so having this kind of flexibility has been a lifesaver. Luna’s really helped us out financially and keeps our orthopedic skills fresh. We’re so glad we took the plunge.
What does a typical day-in-the-life look like for you two?
We really have an ideal scenario. Our full-time job is home health, so we’re only gone from the house between five and six hours a day. It’s easy to squeeze in a few extra patients with Luna at the beginning or end of our regular work days. We do our best to be strategic with our schedules, so Ellen sees Luna patients in the morning and I see Luna patients in the afternoon. We hike about six miles every day as a family, typically around lunchtime. Then, we have more family time between 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm. After our daughter goes to bed, we pull out paperwork. Some days are better than others, but life is good.
What do you like to do together for fun?
We run together as a family most weekends. Our baby girl is happiest on the move. We love packing up her and the dogs and making a family event of it. This past weekend, we did a big 10-mile run by the Golden Gate Bridge. We love sharing the things that we enjoy with our daughter. It’s fun watching her get excited about the little things, like the beautiful views at the top of a hill.
Any advice for couples trying to find balance with work?
Be intentional about setting aside time for yourself and your relationship. Sometimes that means putting aside what needs to get done around the house. Your mental state is more important than having a perfectly clean kitchen or bathroom. You have to constantly remind yourself what your priorities are and schedule time for them. If you aren’t taking care of yourself, then you can’t be 100% for your patients, your relationship, or your kid.
