We sat down with CEO and Co-Founder Joanna Murray to learn more about her journey to Occupational Therapy. Joanna has obtained both her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, her Post Graduate certificate of Research Methods and her MBA/MPH from James Cook University. Joanna is also currently vice president of Occupational Therapy Australia (OTA). 

Can you tell us a little about your journey into occupational therapy, and what the driving force behind your commitment to the field is?

My passion to become an OT was driven by a messy divorce and no professional skills to support my son as a single mum.  Around 20 years ago I decided to go back to uni to get a profession and I had always been interested in health.  I stumbled across OT and the more I read about it the more interested I became.  My purpose of gaining a qualification to support my son on my own, quickly became my passion, not the other way round. I didn’t know I wanted to be an OT until I started my journey!

How has your personal journey into occupational therapy shaped your understanding of the profession's impact on individuals and communities? 

People, families and communities can be complex and by drawing on my own personal (and sometimes difficult) journey, it can really help me to be more empathetic to a client’s situation. When I look at the issues that my family members are currently facing with illness, injury and old age I know that OT can have such a positive impact on people’s well-being. I see the positive impact that we have on people’s lives every day and if you can draw on your personal journey to help you to become more empathetic, then you see the client with a different lens.   

How do you think your personal journey enhances your ability to connect with and understand the needs of the families you work with, particularly mothers seeking occupational therapy services? 

My personal journey has been interesting, challenging and rewarding and the professional and personal experiences that I have had have enabled me to become an empathetic professional.  It is vital, as health professionals, to be able to use our personal journey to support clients – it means we are human and we can put ourselves in their shoes.  I often ask myself what I would want another OT to do for my family member, when I am seeing clients.  This reminds me to go above and beyond for my client and see them as a father, a mother, a sister, a son or a daughter and ensure that I am doing my very best for them, as I would expect someone to do for my loved one.

Can you explore the emotional landscape of your occupational therapy journey and how it has evolved over time? 

My OT journey has been a ‘yellow brick road’.  I didn’t know it at the time but when I first walked into my first lecture at JCU, 20 years ago, my life was about to change.  It has been an emotional rollercoaster; working and studying as a single mum with little social support, to making new friends for life and now co-running my own business.  When I signed up to do OT I just wanted to provide for my son but, being the high achiever that I am, I soon realised that I wanted more than that.  I completed my degree, started working and then found myself running a small private practice. I was suddenly thrown into all things business which, as other business owners know, is a whole different ball game.  I completed a double Masters to give me some foundational business skills and my business grew bigger.  To say that it has been an emotional rollercoaster is an understatement but with the lows come the highs and the highs are pretty good!  Knowing how much of a positive impact that we make to a person’s life is a phenomenal feeling and one that cannot be replaced.  The emotional landscape changes every week, every day, almost every hour and I have found that I have evolved significantly as a leader, as a therapist and as a person as a result of it. 

What challenges did you encounter along your journey, and how did they contribute to the development of your professional identity? 

I realised fairly quickly into my career that i didn’t just want to work 9-5 for someone else.  I wanted to advocate for change, I wanted to give back to my community and I wanted to see our profession grow in our regional centre.  Challenges are inevitable (and there are way too many to list!) but it is more about learning from them, picking yourself up (nurturing the bruises sometimes) and continuing onwards. To be part of change you must have a voice and if you want a voice that will be heard, you have to step up your game.  I became a board director in 2016 and continue to advocate for the profession in a variety of different platforms. 

What personal experiences have uniquely positioned you to lead and advocate for occupational therapy? 

I think that with age comes experience and if you have led a fulfilling and challenging life, you become equipped to be an empathetic professional.  I have had many personal experiences which have helped to shape the professional, the leader and the advocate that I am and I am still learning. Do we ever stop learning?  I should hope not because that’s how we get better at what we do. 

How has your journey shaped your approach to mentoring or guiding potential recruits who may be embarking on their own path in the field of occupational therapy?

I had a rocky start to my journey and have faced many challenges which I am always happy to share when I am mentoring.  This can really help people to see that everyone’s journey is different and also can be very similar.  No-one gets to where they want to be without challenges and so I try to share personal experiences with people so that they feel a connection to me as a mentor.  People can ‘be what they see’ and if they see someone who tells them that they excelled in everything or that they found it easy to get where they are without any problems, that becomes unachievable and disheartening for people (and I would suggest that it is probably a lie!).  Life is tough, roadblocks are everywhere and by being honest and sharing these experiences, it can help someone to feel that they can get where they want if they have the drive and determination to get over the hurdles that life throws at us. 

To connect with Joanna, you can find her here on Linkedin.