Brandi Jo Fort has lived all over the state, and enjoyed experiencing life in different places. Now back in Dublin, she’s happy to be home.
Fort graduated from Dublin High School in 2001, and found a job working for a horse trainer near town. “That was the best five years of my early adult life,” she said.
She worked for the horse trainer until 2007, when she got married and moved to San Antonio with her husband. The city was a great fit for her. “San Antonio is my heart city,” she said.
Fort and her thenhusband lived there for a year, then separated, and Fort moved to Blanco.
While there, she found a job at a wastewater management company called JMA Wastewater Services. “I did inspections on aerobic septic systems,” she said. “I would do anywhere from 150 to 175 customers’ houses a month.”
Her job took her all over the surrounding counties, from Bexar County to Blanco County to Hays County.
In 2012 Fort remarried and moved to Killeen to be near Fort Hood, where her then-husband was stationed. While there she continued working in the wastewater field as a secretary for a local company, and also worked as a substitute teacher.
Fort’s marriage ended after a few years, and in 2018 she moved back to Dublin to help out her parents as they aged.
Once back in town, she found a job at Technip-FMC in their shipping and receiving department. Her days are busy. “I drive a forklift and pick things up and put them down,” she said. “That’s pretty much the extent of my day.”
She enjoys the benefits of the job, and likes her coworkers. “I work with good people,” she said.
Outside of work, Fort still spends time helping out her parents, Duane and Tammy Chick.
In her free time, Fort enjoys cooking, gardening, attending church at Lingleville Baptist Church, and spending time with her husband Cody. The couple live in Lingleville. They met through Fort’s mom, while out riding horses together.
Fort still rides often, “We’ll haul our horses up to Lake Texoma and ride around the lake up there, and it’s really nice,” she said. “If we ride with my parents, there’s a place in Morgan Mill that we ride, and then we also go to Lake Proctor and ride around the lake.”
Throughout her life, Fort has found inspiration in her faith in God, and also in her mother’s life. “She’s overcome a lot of things,” Fort said. “There for a while she was a single mom, and she worked three jobs so that I could do things and enjoy life. She’s just always been my rock and my hero.”
Fort’s advice to Dublin graduates is to not be afraid to get out into the world. “You should always take the opportunity to leave your hometown and experience life, because you can always come home if what’s out there isn’t right,” she said.
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.