Though she’s now a certified prosthetist in Austin, Texas, Gabby studied chemistry as an undergrad and considered the forensics field after graduation before working in Arizona State University’s biology lab. But Gabby knew this wasn’t the career she wanted forever. It wasn’t until Gabby saw a prosthetist orthotist contestant on the reality show American Ninja Warrior that she was introduced to the POP profession. She did some research on POP before visiting the University of Washington to learn more about their O&P master’s program. She spoke with current POP students there who told her to start shadowing at a POP clinic.

Gabby did just that and the experience immediately brought her back to her childhood when she would help her dad build and create things in their garage. She loved the idea of working with her hands—and when the practitioner she was shadowing brought out a sparkly, Paris-themed prosthetic leg to a wonderstruck ten-year-old patient, she was sold.

Gabby’s favorite part of her job is watching her patients progress in their mobility: “There is no better feeling than when you saw a patient come to their previous appointments in a wheelchair and the next time you see them, they come in walking.”