About Us
Are YOU ready?

                                                    Illustration by Court Reporter Eva Ashkenazi
                                                                                  Eva's work

When I got out of court reporting school at the tender age of 19, I thought that the part of my life dedicated to learning was over. I could finally write 225 words per minute, and I thought that I had pretty much everything I needed to succeed in life.

Little did I understand back then that unless you always continue to grow, you just don't have the tools to be successful in an ever-changing world.

If you have gotten into a bit of a rut with reporting, I'd take a wild guess and say that you probably haven't been keeping up with advances in technology and that it's been way too long since you learned something new. The first time I saw my steno coming up on a computer screen in realtime, I almost cried. Not because it was all untranslates either! Why didn't I learn to do this years ago? 

If someone had told you the first day of school that as a court reporter, you'd have to stay up all night correcting the mistakes you made that day, do you think you would have gone back?  No!  But I'll be the first to admit that's what my career was like for 12 years until I finally understood the power of realtime software. When you invest the time to really learn your CAT program inside and out, it's empowering to see your realtime translating beautifully and to be truly proud of your skills and feel like a success at the end of the day.

Don't waste any more time doing things the hard way just because it's familiar. It's never too late to pick up where you left off. Invest some time to learn what's new and to brush up on your skills, and I promise, you'll get that excitement back that you had when you first got out of court reporting school. 

I'll never forget this one official reporter in my Eclipse training class who was planning to retire in a couple of years.  She broke down in tears when she saw her numbers coming out perfectly for the first time in her entire career, and she worked in bankruptcy court.  I'm totally driven by the light bulb moments like that, pivotal moments when you just know that things will never be the same.

Court reporting is a great profession, and I'm here to help you become your best. Getting your continuing education should be a privilege, and I firmly believe that you should get something valuable out of it. You spend enough of your time listening to boring stuff that's totally irrelevant to your life. Why would you pay money to sit and listen to more of the same when you're not getting paid by the page?

You are an incredibly skilled human being, and your time is important. Thank you for entrusting me to add value to your profession.

I have a different approach than most. I don't take everything so seriously, and I think you can learn a whole lot more if you're relaxed and having a good time. Yes, your old software or computer might be a dinosaur and you may think of yourself as computer-illiterate, but I see you as a diamond in the rough. I want to help you shine!  Bring on the light bulb moments!  I sure hope you'll join me at an event soon.

And I hope you never, ever stop growing!

Sincerely,

Julie Samford
Realtime Ready
julie@realtimeready.com

Email me

Even if you're on the right track,
you'll get run over if you just sit there. 
- Wil Rogers