NCRA member Lauren Lawrence welcomed her first outside investor to her tech startup, Stenovate, according to the July 5 Startland, a news site that reports on Kansas City innovators. Stenovate is billed to be an online platform for court reporters, scopists, and proofreaders that simplifies organization and collaboration.

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Aimee Edwards-Altadonna is a freelance reporter in California and a CCRA board member. She recently posted this in the Facebook group “Encouraging Court Reporting Students.”

Students, I want to talk to you about how quickly your life can flip into an amazing place once you are certified and out there busting your butt as a court reporter. There is so much work out there, and it’s just crazy. I could work every single day, multiple jobs a day if I chose to. Instead I choose to work about 8-10 jobs a month and am comfortably making six figures by my fourth year reporting in California’s Bay Area and Central Valley. It’s a true story, and I promise you it’s there for the taking if you work hard.

I am about 4 1/2 years into working now, and in that short period of time, my family’s lifestyle has been able to change dramatically for the better. We went from living paycheck to paycheck as a family of four as I struggled through the end game of certification, finally passing all three legs of the Califonia CSR after winning my appeal on the skills portion and overcoming a pretty horrific ankle injury on the night I qualified for the CSR. We were so strapped, my dad had to help sign for the loan for the $2,000 upgrade to professional software. He even paid for my $1,000 local CSR prep class since I could no longer travel for school with my busted ankle — we were financially spent and had nothing else to give to school — but I didn’t give up. Thanks, Dad. I tell you this to give you perspective. We have been the family living on $26 for over a week until the next check came in and just hoping nobody got sick or broken or any other unforeseen event that can happen with a young family with no safety net.

And yet today I am writing you from the Airbnb in Venice on leg two of an epic 25-day trip to Italy! Worry free because I just worked extra hard last month and billed out twice as much so I was set to not work this month. We did a long layover in London and are going all over Italy and Sicily and Cagliari for Intersteno so I’m writing off a portion of this awesome adventure.

This career allowed us to plan and pay for this amazing trip. My kids had never been on a plane let alone a plane to Europe, and my husband and I have waited 21 years to take this trip. At 9 and 12 they will have such a broad world view, and it will change them at their core for the better for having been explorers in another country. This is a profession that can give you the freedom you’ve dreamed of and can take you places you can’t imagine and didn’t even know you wanted.

When you’re feeling stressed or wondering how long it will take before it’s your turn, just remember that the other side is a magical place of freedom and release and all the amazing things. Even on the ickiest day, this is still the best job ever, and we can’t wait to help you get to the other side. On the dark days, I hope this message will inspire you to keep going. I promise the other side is so worth all of the struggle.

Keep going, just keep going!

Elise Townes, RPR, a freelancer from Rockford, Mich., posted the following in the Facebook group “Encouraging Court Reporting Students.”

Why do you love court reporting? Share your reasons with us at jcrfeedback@ncra.org and post with #whyilovecourtreporting.

Tonight was a pretty big night for me. I just submitted my very first transcript to the attorneys! This has all been about seven years in the making. I’m a single mother, and this whole process has not been easy!

I felt like it took me forever to get out of school. My school (The College of Court Reporting) was fantastic! I just had to work while I was in school and had two young children, so it took me a bit longer. 

After that, it took me a few more years to become certified. It was tough finding time and energy to practice, especially not being in school. I finally decided to quit my work and focus solely on practicing for the last leg of the RPR, and it worked. I was finally certified in December of last year and then earned my CSR certification right after.

I was a teen mom (twice). I have had to struggle immensely for this, and it’s all been to give my kids the life they deserve. They’re the reason for all of it. A few months ago, I accepted a job as an official reporter in Colorado and made the huge move from Michigan.

I’ve only been working for a month, but it feels so amazing to be able to say I finally made it and to tell all of you that YOU CAN DO THIS. Don’t give up!!! I know you’re exhausted. I know you’re feeling burnt out. I know it feels like it’s taking forever. Persevere and power through because you’ve got this, and it’s worth it!!

In a blog posted Sept. 5 by JD Supra, Planet Depos shared with court reporting interns a number of  tips to help them transition from their student role to the official reporter on any assignment.

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By Mike Hensley, RDR

Bethany Glover, RPR, is a new professional residing in Long Beach, Calif.  Not only is she new — within her first year of work as a freelance deposition reporter — she finished school in a blazing 16 months. She is excellently poised to take the world by storm, and she has graciously shared insights with us as a newly licensed court reporter.

JCR | Why did you choose to become a court reporter?

BG | I grew up dancing, moved to New York City to earn my bachelor’s in dance at a prestigious school, traveled the world performing as a professional dancer, and had to cut short my dancing career early due to a back injury. I wanted a career that would still give me the freedom to travel while also earning a good living. I also loved how crucial court reporting is for getting a record of people‘s experiences and for the judicial system as a whole.

JCR | What’s your “can’t live without” item in your steno bag?

BG | Definitely back-up USB flash drives. I always, always back everything up, because you just never know when technology is going to be cranky.

JCR | What is your biggest challenge as a new reporter?

BG | My biggest challenge as a new reporter is learning how to have a good work/life balance. I really love what I do, so I tend to get lost in my work. I’m trying to learn to step back and take time to do things for myself outside of work too. Self-care is crucial!

JCR | What is your next goal? What is a long-term goal?

BG | My next goal is working on realtime. I’m learning that the cleaner that I write while on the job, the less work I have to do editing. I want to be writing realtime as soon as I can.

A long-term goal of mine is to be able to take depositions internationally. I would love to travel for work. That’s the dream.

JCR | What do you like to do when you’re not reporting?

BG | When I’m not reporting, I love to take yoga classes and explore new neighborhoods. I really enjoy being outside and walking. I also want to get into doing volunteer work with animals.

JCR | What do you love about your career?

BG | I absolutely love meeting new people and going to new offices every day. It’s always something different, and there are no two days the same.

JCR | How has involvement with state and national associations benefited your career thus far?

BG | Being involved with associations has been so important for me on my journey to becoming a court reporter. I have met wonderful reporters through the associations who have supported me, cheered me on, and have been there for me for every question that I have. The court reporting community is like no other, and the reporters I have met through associations inspire me every day.

JCR | What was the best piece of advice that you received from another court reporter that helped you?

BG | The best piece of advice I ever received from another court reporter is to be confident in my skills and to not be afraid of taking charge. Being a new reporter can be a little intimidating sometimes, but you just need to walk in with a smile on your face and your head held high.

Mike Hensley, RDR, is a freelancer from Dublin, Calif. He can be reached at stenomph@gmail.com.

A 2017 survey of NCRA members revealed that 75 percent of the membership has been in the court reporting profession for 16 or more years. In fact, 64 percent have been in the profession for 21-plus years.  With that much tenure, it may be difficult to recall what life was like before court reporting.  In an effort to learn more about the experiences and motivations of the next generation of court reporters, as well as to experience steno firsthand, NCRA Marketing Manager Elisa Cohen recently took the NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand online program.  During the program, three fellow participants who completed it agreed to share their stories:  

• Jessica Pell, a correctional officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, who has four children and an encouraging mother-in-law in the profession;
• Jeff Spears, a 38-year-old telecommunications technician from Kentucky, who lives in Texas with his wife and two young children; and
• Arlisia Stansberry, a single mother with an established career as a corporate nurse, who is ready to begin a new career path in the field that has interested her since high school.

Each of these participants decided to investigate a career in court reporting as a result of a recommendation. While serving on a jury in San Antonio, Spears was told of the court reporter shortage from the presiding judge. The suggestion particularly resonated with him. With injuries from his athletic childhood, his earlier landscaping business, and two recent knee surgeries as a result of climbing phone polls for a living, Spears is eager to be able to support his family with a job that isn’t so physically demanding.

Pell learned of the profession, and the A to Z program, from her mother-in-law, who has been a court reporter for more than 10 years. The program reinforced Pell’s interest in the court reporting profession. “It was a lot of fun! I learned so much during a short time and feel I have a strong understanding of the basics,” Pell said about the A to Z program.

Stansberry learned about the A to Z program from one of her former high school classmates, who has been in the court reporting profession more than 20 years. When she was just out of high school, her classmate inspired her to start court reporting school. She took only one level before switching to a nursing career at the suggestion of her mother. “I loved shorthand. Always felt a calling for court reporting. But with young kids, as a single mom, I couldn’t go to school and keep a full-time job,” she explained.

After a full career involving extensive travel as a corporate nurse, Stansberry had an epiphany one late night and pulled out her old green steno machine.

However, the similarities among these participants end when discussing what interests them about the profession.

Pell finds it fun and is interested in learning every aspect of steno. “It’s like learning a language within a language,” she explained.

Spears, who hopes to become an official reporter, feels driven to civil service by his father’s example as a police officer.

And Stansberry? She is fascinated by the ability to type verbatim what is being said: “Amazing to me, just amazing to me, how you put those letters together. I don’t see PL anymore, I see M. It’s just weird.”

When it comes to discussing the obstacles that may lay ahead, the unifying concern among these participants is time. Pell is concerned that her “crazy” work hours as a correctional officer combined with the demands of her four children will get in the way of her practice time. Spears has similar concerns, since he homeschools his children and may get distracted by the needs of his 3- and 8-year-olds. As for Stansberry, her current job requires extensive air travel, which might impact when she will be able to take classes and practice.

We asked each participant what they want to ask of experienced court reporters. Pell is most curious about what can be done when stuck at a speed plateau. Stansberry wants to know how to manage staying awake for hours and keeping calm from some of the things that are said during trials or depositions. And when Spears was asked if he had any questions of experienced court reporters or captioners, he replied: “Holy cow.  I’ve got about 78 of them!”

The good news: After completing the six-week training in the A to Z program, each of these participants are planning to enroll in court reporting school as soon as possible.

The next online A to Z classes start Jan. 27 at 6:30 Eastern; Feb. 10 asynchronous; and April 9 at 8 p.m. Central.

By Teresa Russ, CRI

The wonderful world of court reporting. Way back when, these options to work were not available: freelance as a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) captioner, deposition reporter, or broadcast captioner. When I started court reporting school in the early 1980s, I only knew about working in court or taking depositions. The latter we most often call “depos,” which most of us students saw as a glamorous career. “Yes! That’s the one I want,” I thought as a 20-something-year-old. However, court is very lucrative as well as depos. So, what will it be?

Court:  Play a major role in the court proceedings; have a set salary along with getting paid for your transcripts; learn more about our judicial system

Depos:  Make your own schedule; work as much as you like; travel to different cities or countries; learn more about our judicial system

CART captioning:  Work in the classroom setting and learn as a college student and not have to take the tests; give back and help the deaf and hard-of-hearing community; make your own schedule

Broadcast captioning: Have the same benefits as CART and your work appears on TV; if you enjoy sports, you get to watch the games and get paid and you get to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing community

Because I love students and teachers, CART became my first love. I captioned biology, automotive, photography, algebra, and many more classes. Many of my colleagues caption for concerts, even funerals and churches. Many CART captioners migrate to broadcast captioning and many do both. What’s even more exciting is that your skill affords you to do all four of the above options.

I started reminiscing about the judicial field while I was working as a CART captioner. I was chatting with a good friend, Katy Jackson, and she said, “Oh, you want to try depos?” She made some phone calls and just like that I started getting job offers from different deposition agencies. Now, how awesome is that?

While you are a student with several choices to choose from, talk to reporters who have worked in different fields of court reporting. Many reporters will be more than happy to discuss their experiences. If you have been in school for a long time or maybe you are graduating soon, take advantage of the opportunities and sit with a professional and weigh your options. Which one fits your personality the most?

CART captioning seemed to fit my personality the most, but now that I have been doing depositions, I see that being part of the judicial system has its rewards as well, as I love meeting the attorneys and just feeling a part of something that will make a difference in someone’s life in helping bring the truth out from using my awesome skill.

Teresa Russ, CRI, lives in Bellflower, Calif., and works as a CART provider at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif. She also does freelance depositions with Atkinson-Baker and several other agencies.

My name is Tatelyn Noda, RPR, and I am an official court reporter for the First Judicial Circuit of Alabama. I graduated from Prince Institute in Montgomery, Ala., in 2014 and worked briefly in Alabama as a freelance reporter before moving to Miami, Fla. I continued in freelance until I accepted an officialship in August of 2018.

JCR | How did you hear about court reporting and what made you choose that career path?

TN | My mom had a friend who freelanced, and she mentioned it to me in the seventh grade. At the start of my eighth-grade year, my parents and I toured Prince Institute. I fell in love with the profession. I immediately started college after finishing high school and never looked back. I could never sufficiently repay my mom for guiding me in the right direction and for always being by my side through college, freelancing, and official reporting. 

JCR | What is your next career goal?

TN | I’m currently practicing daily for the RMR and CRR. After that, on to the RDR!

JCR | When you’re not behind your steno machine, what do you do with your free time?

TN | My husband, Carlos, and I spend all of our free time with our boys: Harrison, Everett, and Walker. We enjoy traveling, visiting family, and renovating our historical home.

JCR | How has being involved with state or national associations benefitted you?

TN | Being involved with your state and national association is key to creating long-lasting friendships within our industry. Being involved has kept me up to date on topics and advances surrounding our profession and has even helped me implement new techniques in the way that I write.

JCR | Tell us about your favorite depo and/or location you’ve worked.

TN | My favorite job was a deposition of a very well-known restaurateur. I had absolutely no idea who the deponent was until I scoped the file. Looking back, he was so humble and just an overall nice person. I will never forget that deposition. My favorite location? The Florida Keys! I would never turn down an opportunity to write in paradise! I’d always make sure to stop by and pick up a key lime pie before heading back to Miami.

JCR | After freelancing for a couple of years, what was something you had to get used to when working in your role as an official?

TN | I had to get used to the criminal testimony and domestic matters. Before becoming an official, I only dealt with civil matters. Going from white-collar disagreements to crime scene photos took a little getting used to.

JCR | Who is your mentor, and how have they helped you along the way?

TN | Renda Cornick is my steno hero. She’s a phenomenal writer, reporter, wife, mom, and friend. She never passes up an opportunity to cheer me on in my career and in my personal life. As a newer reporter, she has really been an inspiration to me.

Janet Russo has helped shape me into the reporter I am today. She took me under her wing and has taught me so much. She always made time for me when I had a question and would always look over any work I was unsure of. I am forever thankful — and grateful — for all of the time and knowledge she has shared with me.

Rhonda Hall-Breuwet, RDR, CRR, a freelancer in Lakeland, Fla., has always been there for me when it comes to all things reporting, especially Florida reporting and realtime. She really pushed me to get my certifications and has always helped me whenever needed. I dream of being on her realtime level. She is a phenomenal reporter!

JCR | Any advice for students?

TN | Strive for perfection, but please know that no one is perfect. Learn your software, retain a seasoned accountant, always be professional, and start testing for certifications as soon as possible. Be nice to everyone you meet and always wear a smile!

By Debbie Dibble

Career Launcher — you’ve heard about it, you’ve seen the iconic rocket, but do you really know what it is? This new program is a cutting-edge, innovative virtual internship program that has been developed by the National Court Reporters Foundation Corinne Clark Professionalism Institute, designed from the ground up to jump-start the careers of new professionals and to be a valuable training resource on deposition procedures and transcript preparation for schools and agencies alike.  

Whether you’re preparing for your first deposition or have been working in the trenches for three years, five years, or more than 20, you can learn something from Career Launcher.

Anyone can participate in this program, whether as a candidate watching the simulated depositions online and preparing transcripts or volunteering as a reviewer or providing valuable online mentorship to new professionals participating in the program. For those of you with decades of invaluable experience, this is the opportunity for you to ensure that your knowledge will be passed on to the next generation of reporters, securing a bright future for this profession that has changed so many of our lives for the better.

Career Launcher is a video-based, online training system consisting of 10 mock deposition modules. Court reporting students, new professionals, or anyone who needs a crash course in the life of a deposition reporter can work through the modules at their own pace. Here is a sneak peek of the modules:

• Module 1: Examination Under Oath — “Case of the Missing Garden Tools”
• Module 2: Car Wreck (plaintiff medical) — “Who’s Right When You’re Making a Left”
• Module 3: Slip and Fall (personal injury) — “When You ‘Bearly’ Have a Leg to Stand on”
• Module 4: Workers Comp (hearing) — “When the Witness is a Total Wreck”
• Module 5:  Divorce — “You’ll Really Want to Divorce Yourself from These Proceedings”
• Module 6: Employment (interpreted) — “Misinterpreting the Best of Intentions”
• Module 7: Corporate Representative — “Don’t Count Your Chickens, Brother”
• Module 8: International Trade Commission (ITC) Patent — “To Be or Not to Be… On the Record”
• Module 9: Business Litigation — “Patent Pending”
• Module 10:  Heavy Medical —“What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted”

These 10 modules are extensive simulations of all elements of deposition reporting, from interfacing with the receptionist, meeting the parties, reporting the deposition, all the way through to getting client orders and packing up. Candidates will be exposed to all elements of court reporting in the deposition setting; such as when to arrive, swearing or affirming, where to sit, marking exhibits, going on and off the record, redactions, stipulations, exhibit custody, arguing attorneys, mumbling witnesses, drafts, awkward situations, and so much more.

Why is this program such a great value to our profession? As the employment model for freelance reporters has shifted away from local firms with in-house reporters to a more decentralized, nationwide model, the access to one-on-one mentoring by a peer at the next desk has almost vanished. The Career Launcher team’s goal was to create a master class on all the everyday on-the-job elements of depositions, the things they can’t teach you in school.

According to Career Launcher team member Mike Miller, FAPR, RDR, CRR, a freelance court reporter and agency owner from Houston, Texas, “As we have interacted with court reporting students during the creation of this program, it has become obvious that this program is long overdue. Many high-speed students and new professionals are completing their educational pursuits without ever dealing with multiple speakers, objections, or colloquy, not to mention never encountering the myriad things that can go wrong on any given day during a deposition. This program exposes them to all these things and more.”

There are two major focuses of this program: Overall deposition processes and transcript preparation. Many school curricula require internship hours for graduation, but is 40 hours, the equivalent of five to six depositions, enough time to expose a new reporter to the intricacies with which freelance reporters deal on a daily basis? A reporter may be on the job for five years and never have an interpreted deposition. This program is deposition espresso, distilling decades of on-the-job experiences into short, easy-to-consume mock depos that will give new professionals the jolt their careers need.

The second element is transcript preparation. Some court reporting students aren’t exposed to much more than speedbuilding, with some graduating with no more than a rudimentary foundation in transcript preparation or start working before completing a program.

Career Launcher team member Kevin Hunt shared with student beta testers: “You may be the purest writer in the world, you may know every trick possible in your CAT software, but what really determines your reputation as a reporter is your ability to produce an accurate, verbatim, high-quality transcript.”

The Career Launcher team knew that real in-the-trenches court reporting students would be the ultimate arbiter of the quality of this program, so they reached out to some high-speed students to beta test all the modules. Here’s what some of them had to say:

Brad: What I really liked was … just going through the day‑to‑day routine things that we might not think of, from talking to the receptionist to having people sit where you can hear best. It was stuff like that that I really liked because that’s stuff we’re going to encounter … you showed from the time you arrived at the lawyer’s office to the time you left, until the time the deposition was over, so I thought that was super important and helpful. 

Michaela: I really enjoyed doing these. The videos were just beautifully made. Right from the beginning I was like, ‘Wow, she wasn’t kidding.’ You guys did an awesome job! Getting that experience now, I know what to expect. It’s just a beautiful program that you guys created, and it’s going to help so many reporters be ready for the field.

Erica: The videos were so professional. The audio was clear. You could tell what was happening. It even paused to let you start and end. The reporter at the end would give you tips and tricks and explain the video. All the resources, just so much information in there. It was so easy to do.

Be a mentor

The Career Launcher program needs seasoned reporters who have spent their careers in the freelance world to share that knowledge with those who are soon to take our profession into a strong future. As candidates complete modules, they will submit their transcripts to a pool of reviewers who, with the help of the master reviewer key, will review the transcripts with an eye toward critical errors. The Career Launcher program has used the NCRA standard guidelines as its model for transcript production, but students will use the formats, parentheticals, and layouts that they have learned all over the country and throughout the world. Reviewers will be evaluating these transcripts with the idea that, if it’s not wrong, then it’s right. The transcript may not look like the formatting used in Pennsylvania or Texas, but the focus for this program, among other things, will be on whether the objections are in colloquy and are all the parties on the appearance page.

The candidate will receive either a “pass” or a “pending” status from the reviewer. If the reviewer believes critical errors would need to be addressed before that transcript could go out the door to a client, then the reviewer will mentor the candidate on those items. The candidate will then correct those elements necessary to show mastery of the concepts and then will receive a “pass.” Once a candidate completes all 10 modules, they will be able to call themselves Career Launcher Certified to prospective employers in the industry.

Not only can new professionals choose to complete the program on their own, but court reporting educators are augmenting their deposition procedures courses by incorporating Career Launcher into their curriculum. Court reporting agencies are already embracing the program with plans to implement this as their in-house training tool before sending new hires out on their first deposition.

We are so excited to see this program launching careers into the universe in the coming year.   You do not want to miss your opportunity to be at Mission Control for the Career Launcher team webinar showcasing this new program. Watch for details about this webinar and information about registration coming soon! 

Debbie Dibble, RDR, CRR, CRC, is a freelance court reporter and captioner based in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as NCRA’s President Elect. She can be reached at ddib06@gmail.com.

 By Emily Bergren

Heather Randall, RPR, graduated from the Stenotype Institute located in Jacksonville, Fla., where she lives.

JCR | Why did you choose to become a court reporter?

HR | I obtained my bachelor’s degree in business management as well as hospitality management in 2002. I had hopes and dreams of becoming an event and wedding planner. At the age of 27, I started the process of interviewing for my dream job. After a few days of interviewing, I was told that I would fail as an event planner. I was devastated. I went home that day sulking and sat on the couch with some popcorn, and there it was … a commercial for the Stenotype Institute. My own boss? My own hours? The salary? How glamorous! I started that next Monday. I love sharing my story because it proves that you always can start over.

JCR | What was life like as a student?

HR | School was hard. I mean, real hard. I loved the enthusiasm of my teachers. I feel that their encouragement and passion helped me endure all the hard days and failed tests. The best feeling I ever had through school was seeing that passing grade on my final 225 wpm test! I’ll never forget making the phone calls saying, “I did it!” It was so worth all those grueling days.

JCR | Who is your mentor?

HR | When I was in school, my grandmother sadly passed. We flew out to Oklahoma to be with family and to celebrate her life. I found time around the family gatherings to practice with my tapes in, headphones on, and 1960s writer set up. During one of my practice sessions, a man walked up to me and introduced himself as Jerry Kelley. He was a retired court reporter and had extensive knowledge, contacts, words of advice, and many stories. From that day on, I started receiving daily e-mails with information and an inspirational note or two. Jerry Kelley was a name I would come to see across many NCRA articles and through conversations with other reporters. Jerry has since passed, but his passion radiated, and it was contagious what he felt about our profession.

JCR | What do you love about working in the industry?

HR | I love that we are continuously learning new things every day. I love that we don’t know what to expect walking into a job. I love that I am meeting new people and new personalities every day. There are ups and down and ins and outs, but I usually just take it all in.

JCR | What are some of your favorite time-saving practices?

HR | I am constantly writing in my head. Whether I am in conversation, texting, listening at church, ordering a meal, I’m always thinking of briefs. I think briefs are what have saved me through school and in my career. Even on the days that I don’t have any jobs or pages, I will take out my machine, turn on something interesting, and practice. I could call myself a stenographer geek, but I just honestly love what I do, and I get so excited when I can figure out a way to make my job easier.

JCR | Do you have advice for reporting students?

HR | Practice! Practice! Practice! Dedication is determination, and determination is dedication. Your machine is your best friend. The more you get to know it, the better it will treat you. Steno is another language, and the more you practice and use it, the easier it will just slide through your mind and out of your fingers.

Emily Bergren, RPR, CRR, is a freelance reporter in Kansas City, Mo.