I’d planned for my career in court reporting to be temporary, sort of a transition job between my first career in the construction industry and whatever was to come next. And yet here I am, almost 30 years later, still enjoying the continual education and unique experiences that this endeavor affords me.
For the first few years as a reporter, I worked primarily in the criminal court system in Miami, Florida. Janet Reno was the State Attorney in Dade County at the time, which in the early ’90s had the highest crime rate in the nation. For me, a young woman originally from a small, rural town in western Indiana, it seemed surreal that I would find myself reporting a murder trial where the defendant was found through the television show America’s Most Wanted or working with a Public Defender who in college had done standup comedy with Robin Williams. But it was there in Miami that I was schooled in what was then groundbreaking DNA evidence. And in civil litigation experiences in South Florida, I learned more than I ever wanted to know about photodegradable and biodegradable agricultural mulch film, the effects of saltwater intrusion on condominium/balcony construction, plants native to the Florida Keys, parimutuel betting . . . and the list goes on. It was also there that I learned to love black beans and rice and fried plantains and to stay away from Cuban coffee!
The best part about living in South Florida for nearly 20 years, is that I found my husband there. Larry, a native Floridian formerly with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, owned and operated a private investigative agency when we met. With the similarities in our careers and our crazy work schedules, it was a match made in Heaven. Since we lived 60 miles north of Miami and fighting traffic was a colossal waste of my time, I made the transition and began working closer to home. I joined a small court reporting agency in Boca Raton and eventually became the owner. My work then became almost entirely focused in the civil arena, and I spent more time reporting in medical malpractice, personal injury and family law cases.
In 2005 I was ready to come back home to Indiana. I wanted to be closer to my family and my high school and college friends here. I was able to run my agency remotely, and Larry was ready to sell his business and retire, so we made a deal: If he’d sacrifice the warm weather and move with me, we’d buy a home on the Monon Trail so he’d have a convenient place to ride his bicycle. When it’s not cycling weather, you’ll find him hunting on what was my great-grandparents’ farmland in western Indiana. Frankly, he’s acclimated better to the Indiana winters than I have!
After a few years back in the Indianapolis area, I found my way to Connor Reporting. What a blessing it’s been to work with this crew! When I’m not in a deposition/hearing or working on transcripts at home, you’ll find me at church; checking on my 90-year-old dad; volunteering with my philanthropic sorority, Psi Iota Xi; working in my women’s self-defense business, Hide & Carry; painting something, anything; or watching HGTV with our two cats on my lap. It’s a wonderful life!
