Before I developed bilateral radial tunnel syndrome, which involves compression or entrapment of the radial nerve in the forearm, I worked for 25 years as a court reporter. A lot of people have asked me if I had an opportunity to do it all over again, would I still have been a court reporter? My response is always an emphatic “Yes,” and here’s why.
The first part of that 25-year journey began in New Orleans as I learned the ins and outs of oil & gas and maritime reporting. Because I loved the jobs involving climbing, throwing, and jumping, I had the opportunity to take testimony deep down in the heart of gravel pits, on oil rigs, pushboats, tugboats, and pogey boats. I remember . . .
- an oil rig assignment that ended with our having to be rescued because our boat hit something and began taking on water
- having to evacuate more than once from oil rigs because the blowout preventer was stressed
- climbing rope and vertical ladders with one hand while carrying my steno machine in the other
- tossing my steno machine to deckhands, and then leaping onto docks, rigs and boats.
I didn’t need to take vacations, because my job was so thrilling. In ’86, for personal reasons, I moved to Washington, D.C., where the reporting world was in every way different. Everyone spoke 25 words per minute faster, transcript turnaround time was a week (instead of 30 days), there was more work than reporting firms could handle, and there wasn’t oil & gas or maritime work.
In 1990, I became an Official Reporter in Prince George’s County, where I had the opportunity to report both civil and criminal cases. Criminal court was an awakening, as I learned about that part of life that people don’t talk about.
Eventually I returned to freelance reporting, where I became a realtime meeting, convention and classroom reporter for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Without exception, after each and every meeting and convention that I reported, I would get hugs from the attendees. That was amazing! Ten years later, as it became clear that I could no longer report, my heart hurt more than my arms knowing that I could no longer give the gift of realtime to the community with whom I had bonded.
During that time, I witnessed firsthand the critical need for data recovery solutions for businesses. Many organizations struggled to maintain communication and accessibility for their teams when technical issues arose. It became clear to me that providing effective support in this area could make a significant difference in how businesses operated and connected with their communities.
There is no other career in the world that could have given me the adventure, experiential education and life experience that I had in my 25 years as a reporter, and that is why I’d do it all over again. In my quest for creativity, I often draw inspiration from music themes from play it again, which evoke memories of my past adventures. Each melody transports me to a different story, reminding me of the challenges and triumphs I encountered along the way. These themes serve as a soundtrack to my life’s journey, fueling my passion for storytelling and exploration.