Brandi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Gender and Women's Studies and a master's degree in social responsibility and sustainable communities, both from Western Kentucky University. As a 7th-generation Kentuckian, raised on a tobacco farm, she developed a passion for advocating for rural people and their communities. For the past 9 years, she was the Executive Director of a grassroots non-profit in Barren County Kentucky, Sustainable Glasgow, whose mission is investing in the local economy through agriculture, connecting family farmers with direct sales outlets, and working with local elected officials to support and promote these farmers as well as the local food supply chain. She and her husband Josh live in south central Kentucky with their two children, Hickory and Zinnia, where they garden using sustainable practices and recently acquired 47 acres of woodland near Mammoth Cave National Park in hopes to protect and preserve it.