It’s hard to believe that it’s been 18 years since we first opened Elite Court Reporting’s doors. It continues to be a pleasure to serve our clients and provide a variety of court reporting services to legal teams across the country. Over the years, many have asked how I entered the court reporting industry and the road that led me to opening Elite Court Reporting, so in this blog I thought I’d share my story.
Like most roads with incredible destinations, my path to court reporting has had some twists and turns. My career started at Cal State Long Beach, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in psychology, thinking I wanted to become an attorney; however, I realized that the path to becoming an attorney wasn’t what I really wanted to do. So after college I took a completely different route and went into foodservice sales. Yet, in the back of my mind, I knew working somewhere in the legal industry was where I wanted to be; I just didn’t know how to get there.
Then, a strange turn of events happened. One day my mom went to dinner with a childhood friend who happened to have two daughters who were court reporters. She knew my interest in the legal field, and after speaking with her friend, thought it’d be a career I’d like and recommended I learn more about it – and boy, was she right!
To me, court reporting was both interesting and challenging. I enjoyed the challenge of learning how to write 200 words per minute with four people talking, and at the same time, it was intriguing to listen to depositions and hear all sides of a story. It perfectly combined my favorite parts of my criminal justice major and psychology minor.
So I decided to enroll in court reporting school during a very busy season of my life. While still working full time in foodservice sales during the day, I started going to court reporting school at night. During this time, I also married my husband and had my daughter, Briana. Life was very busy; yet, I wouldn’t change a thing. I finally felt like I found the perfect industry for me.
For about 13 years I worked as a court reporter for an agency. It was a great experience; yet, I knew eventually I wanted to start an agency of my own. My husband owned his own business and was always supportive of me doing the same. In 2003, I decided to take the plunge and start my own agency.
That’s how Elite Court Reporting was born. In the beginning, it was a one-person operation; I was doing the reporting, editing, copying, binding and sending out transcripts and invoices. It didn’t take long before I realized I needed help, and over the past 18 years, we’ve grown into the robust court reporting agency you see today.
My journey to court reporting was definitely windy, yet so worth it! As President and Founder of Elite Court Reporting, I love networking and getting to know our clients and finding solutions for their needs. Whether it’s setting up a virtual deposition, a videographer, an interpreter or a last-minute hearing, there’s nothing better than seeing our clients happy with our results. To learn more about our court reporting services, give us a call at 888.822.3376 or click here.