101 | How a Mother-Daughter Team Built a Successful Court Reporting Business

On this episode of the Court Reporter.

Podcast, we have an amazing guest on today and her daughter.

And it's just amazing to see a mother and a daughter working together, running an agency, running a court reporting business that we can all learn so much.

From when the gavel finally falls.

But justice lives in the details, and the details matter most of all.

Well, if I'm going to brag, I might as well do it now.

Please do.

I did.

After many years of coming in third, third, third at national, and then I think two times, maybe I was second.

And then, much to my surprise, in 2021, when I least expected it, I finally was first.

Facts that I recorded keep on singing past the room justice lives in every word I say A thousand tiny moments make the story that we pay I.

Like dealing with people.

I like listening to people.

I think maybe that's why I connect with so many different people.

Hi, everyone.

Welcome back to the Court Reporter Podcast.

I'm Bryn, your host.

If you're new here, this podcast is all about the business side of court reporting.

Entrepreneurship, delegation, leadership, and.

And just viewing life through the lens of a court reporter.

Talking about communication, justice, professionalism, and protecting the record and our mental bandwidth.

Today I'm joined by Donna Earlob and her daughter Dana.

Donna has been a court reporter for more than 50 years, and together they've built a really interesting mother daughter court reporting business.

We're talking about how Donna built the business and how Dana eventually became the person running the operations.

Basically her VTM behind the scenes and why knowing what you do best and getting help with the rest can make such a big difference in your productivity.

So let's get right into it.

Welcome to the Court Reporter Podcast.

So I'm here today with Donna Earlob and her daughter Dana Erlob.

They both run an agency together.

Donna is one of the most respected stenographic court reporters in the profession.

She has been a certified Shorthand reporter since 1969.

That means you have more than 50 years of court reporting experience.

We've got a lot of.

A lot of insight to draw upon then.

And you have won the Illinois Speed Championship numerous times and earned multiple medals in the National Court Reporters Association's Speed and Real Time contests and competed internationally at Intersteno and then.

Also, she holds a prestigious certification including the RDR Registered Diplomat Reporter, CRR Certified Real Time Reporter, and FAPR Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters.

She's a frequent educator and speaker for the court reporting profession, including the National Court Reporters association webinars and seminars such as Word A fun and informative look at word usage and idioms.

Is that all correct?

Yes, it is wonderful.

We have an amazing guest on Today and her daughter.

And it's just amazing to see a mother and a daughter working together, running an agency, running a court reporting business that we can all learn so much from.

First, I mean, I usually like to ask guests to introduce themselves.

I know I just read your bio, but if you would like to add anything, please do so.

Well, if I'm going to brag, I might as well do it now.

Please do.

I did.

After many years of coming in third.

Third.

Third at national, and then I think two times maybe I was second.

And then much to my surprise, in 2021, when I least expected it, I finally was first.

Wow.

Yeah.

And then it was either a year or two years later.

I did not come in first that year, but I had a perfect 280Q&A.

I was not just first in that segment, but perfect.

It just shocked me.

How do you get first place if you didn't get it at 280 perfect?

Oh my goodness.

Why I didn't get first place is because it's three five minute segments where the first is literary and then legal opinion and then Q and A.

So if all my numbers didn't, it didn't put me in contention for third.

I was fourth.

Well, that's amazing.

That's very impressive because I mean, there should be a first place for that.

Like just the fact that you got 280 perfect, I think that's probably like a world record.

It's not a world record, but it's seldom, you know, accomplished.

I believe it was Jeff Weigel who was, who had a perfect like seven years prior.

It happens, you know, seldomly.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

Dana Erlab.

She joined Earlab Bowen full time in 2005 overseas day to day operations, became an equity partner in 2021 and now serves as director of operations and principal.

That's pretty amazing.

And that's exactly why I wanted you here as well, because you're running the business.

You, you were able to create a business where you remove yourself from the admin, which is the core of what I talk about on the Court Reporter podcast.

Because I believe it's very important for court reporters to be able to focus on writing on their own skill.

What makes them shine, what makes us shine?

We write and we don't do the rest.

So let's talk.

Let's start from the beginning.

How did you become a stenographer like Is there a story that you could share about that?

I was a 17 year old high school graduate, concerned in 1968, concerned about what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

No money, because in those days there was no funding.

It was during the Vietnam War time when if you had money, you could do something else.

Otherwise you went into the service and there was no way to borrow money to go to college.

So I was working in a certified grocery store and I was like sort of content there, but again, rudderless.

And so then my mother brought a card home from the bus.

It was just for a business school.

So I sent it in and the salesperson called me back and asked me to come downtown.

My little sister had to hold my hand practically and take me over to the L. And so anyway, he was a good looking guy and he was kind of flirty and he showed me some steno that was readable and he said, these people do very well.

I said okay, and I signed a contract.

Maybe I wasn't even 18, I'm not sure about that, but I signed a contract for 14 months.

I had no idea what a stenographer did.

And then I had to go back to work and save my down payment, which was like about $360 or something.

And that was it for me.

So much to my surprise, I fell into the profession that I was born to do totally by accident.

And my ignorance of the fact that most people spent a lot of time in school and went month to month at the competing school across town, it served me well because I didn't know that it was unusual to finish school in less than a year.

I was living on $100 a month and my monthly school payment was 80.

Very dire times.

I practiced my briefs.

I'd sit on the porch with my grandfather reading the words and I'd tell him the brief.

Or maybe I'd write it on my machine, I don't remember.

But I just put everything into it and like I said, it just had to happen.

There was no other option in my mind.

I got a job at the court reporting agency that I ended up working at.

But my job at the time was typing for court reporters.

And we were using these Dicta belts.

And so of course I was a very good typist.

And then I was waiting until I could take the CSR, which was in September of 69.

And so then I took it and I passed it on the first try.

And then I started working and I was working on a manual machine and I was at that agency for 15 years.

Within about six months of me becoming a reporter, they sent me on what was supposed to be a two week assignment at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

The assignment was they were holding sort of a trial for students who had, they said, rioted these days I don't think we'd quite call it that, but they supposedly broke $40,000 worth of windows.

And.

Well, anyway, I went down there for two weeks and I ended up being there from the middle of March until September because while I was there, Kent State happened, which is where students were actually killed and maimed by the National Guard on the college campus.

But my whole thing at that time was I just wanted to buy nice clothes and be a court reporter and be a professional, you know.

And I got to Champaign and I couldn't believe, you know, it was.

I didn't even own a pair of blue jeans.

But I couldn't get over like looking at these kids and you know, no bra.

And it was, the whole thing was like mind boggling to me.

Then I went down to this job and they put me up in the student union.

And the first three days I was there, I got one hour of sleep.

Each day I got one hour of sleep, I was a walking zombie because it was a big job that I was ill prepared for and I was, you know, working all day and all night with one other reporter.

It just, we were completely not prepared.

But the good news is that it ended up being like a trial by fire for me.

That made me grow for sure.

You know, it's something that I, I learned a lot from.

We ended up hiring local people to type for us and I learned how to dictate and I learned, you know, I mean, it was really something that was my trial by fire.

And then I came back to Chicago after being very comfortable down there and went to work in, in the city.

And I was there for 15 years before I decided to leave.

Because I just, I'm fond of saying that I needed to have a lobotomy or leave.

I had no other choice.

That caused my husband a lot of fear and uncertainty and I can't believe, to this day, I can't believe I did it because this girl here was on her way to our house from South Korea and I was going out on my own and I didn't have any connections because like if you worked for an agency, you didn't.

We didn't share with other agencies.

And so I didn't know what I was getting into.

All I knew was that I had to leave And I sent out business cards and announcements.

And I had no aspirations to have my own business.

I just wanted to have a few clients and make some money.

And she took me.

I took her, I should say, to my.

Our first meeting with an accountant.

You don't remember, of course, she was in a baby carrier.

And so she is as old as the business.

Yeah.

Wow, that was a really amazing story.

And could you elaborate a little bit more on, like, what was this school job?

Like?

You said, it was a school.

Right.

I was so in over my head.

I had law professors who were spouting, you know, about constitutional issues and First Amendment rights and everything.

And I was so green.

As I said, it was a real trial by fire.

Albert Jenner, it was his alma mater, so he wanted this thing.

He was delighting in this whole process.

And what was supposed to be two weeks went on so that I started in March and then went through April, and then it was sometime in May that Kent State happened.

And that caused another outpouring of outrage on campus.

And so there were more alleged crimes committed on campus.

And so that led to the hearings extending all the way until September.

By then, I was feeling very good, but, man, it was something.

It takes hitting that moment where you're working so much and you just decide, like, I have to do something about this.

Like, for me, at least, you come to a point where as a court reporter, there's just so much work that you have to do behind the scenes that comes after the actual taking down of the testimony.

And we need to find a way to like, to get ourselves out of.

Out of that.

I know that might not be exactly how it evolved for you, but.

But it just reminded me of how I felt when I was doing.

I think it was like board of parole hearings, and it was one after another, and I felt like I was working 24 7.

So do you want to share about.

You know, earlier at lunch, we were talking about the admin and how you prefer to just do what you do best.

Write on the machine, take down the testimony, meet the clients, network.

You know, what a business owner does and what a court reporter does.

Talk a little bit about that process of how Dana came into the picture from Korea.

So talk a little bit about the business and how that evolved.

And both of you, either of you can share about that.

I had no choice but to do what I had to do.

And we figured it out.

And I think that's just.

It's my generation and it's our circumstances.

Like, you know, here's this Opportunity and there's no going back.

You just have to do it.

And that's what I did.

And it wasn't just that job.

I mean that job was the beginning of really me, like really testing me, what I could do.

And then it went on from there.

It's almost like a blur.

But staying up all night typing a transcript was the norm for me.

We would go to court and the way we did it at my agency was the one reporter would do the afternoon and then the morning.

But it was not unusual for me to be up all night doing 150 pages of transcript typing.

Like on a QWERTY word.

Yeah, but what's the point of writing it down during the testimony?

Is it because there was no audio or.

Oh no, there was no audio in those days, the computer Aided Transcription, there was no audio for that.

That was ICE went on the computer, which I was scared to death.

I didn't have them the mental, the ability to learn the computer.

But 1980 we went on with the old data point, you know, system where we had a great big pie shaped thing that I'd slide into the mainframe and run it up and then translate our transcript on like a little tiny window.

And then we would flop out on great big floppies to be able to go to another dumb station and edit the transcript.

And then one of the things that caused me to kind of like almost in a way get fired was that I wanted to be able to have a, the ability to work at home.

And I went ahead and found a way to buy a flop out station is what we called it.

It was just an edit station.

And all you did was put on the great big, I don't know how big the disc was.

It was a big one, like you know, this big.

And then I would be on the 1240 train.

That was the last train home at night.

And that's just how it was.

And if we had, you know, daily copy, we would spell each other on.

Let's say we were doing this big job where they were deposing a doctor who was assessing verbally every patient he saw at a dioxin spill in Missouri.

And actually that was kind of what caused me to leave that job because they expected us after we had performed like thousands of pages where we would go and he would be deposed patient by patient and then another reporter would relieve me and I would go back and do it.

We were still not using Scopus or anything.

We were doing it all ourselves.

And we were delivering the transcript by 9:00-clock-FEDEX, that job just kind of did me in.

And when they wanted us to go to South Carolina and live together in a condo and buy our own food and everything and cover this trial, by that time, I was.

I had kind of, like, was bossy.

I had my own little following within the agency.

And I said, you know, hell, no, we're not doing that, and I'm not doing it.

I was going through infertility treatment, and I had a life, you know, and I didn't want to leave.

And so I was, you know, the sacrificial lamb.

I left, and I can't believe to this day that I did it.

And my husband was rightly scared to death because we just didn't have a backup plan, and we had expended most of our savings on the adoption.

And it was just really.

It was an interesting time, but it worked.

And it was hard.

It was hard because I call lawyers sophisticated debtors.

They don't always pay on time, if at all.

So it was rough.

Honestly.

The rest of it is a bit of a blur.

Only that I evolved with computers and with writers, and audio sync didn't come along.

I wrote for 33 years without any audio backup whatsoever.

Because I think that makes you a better reporter.

It did, but I don't think the clients, you know, I mean, seriously, when I went got audio, I was kind of surprised.

You know, audio's much nicer.

I mean, when you don't have audio, that's a.

That's a big job to be writing perfectly and be able to transcribe it the way it should be.

It makes a difference.

So, Dana, we just heard that you came to the United States and you were adopted and now have grown up and become an operations manager for your mom's business.

So operations is a really important skill in this profession.

And court reporters, that is not really, like, our main.

Yeah, it's not really our main skill.

Like, we need people who have, like, the opposite skill.

So tell us about how did you view this growing up?

And, like, how did you get into it?

And just share your perspective on how has that changed things and how did it evolve from your perspective?

So growing up.

No, I wanted nothing to do with her business.

We actually fought a lot.

I only started working in 05 for her because I was in between jobs, and I was doing far too much partying and not going to school like I should have been doing after high school.

So she only hired me to deliver transcripts.

That's all I was pretty much allowed to do until I could prove myself, you know, just delivering transcripts.

And then it evolved into me answering the phones and then taking jobs and writing them in the book.

And then it started with.

Because she used to always do the assignments and we would have like a book that we would write it in.

There was a lot of redundancy in writing things out.

I would watch her make the assignments and then I would be like, no, you shouldn't put that person there because of this, this and this.

And one day she was like, well, why don't you do the.

Because you're thinking about delivering it.

Is that why?

Like, no, I was thinking about like, maybe the reporter came back and she had, you know, it was an all day job that they needed right away and then she was going to put them on another long job for the next day.

And I was just like, I had that knowledge because I was in the office and she was out taking jobs.

Oh, so like you would hear from the other reporters, like, so from hearing those things you developed an understanding.

Yeah.

Of how it should operate.

I was also like writing out the list of outstanding.

And so I knew what people were turning in or what they had outstanding.

So that was always being factored into assignments too.

So then I started assigning and then I was like producing transcripts and doing some invoicing.

Then I went to reporting school for a little bit.

It did not work out.

Obviously we argued a lot about practice because I just refused to practice.

It was like, this was my strength.

And then that was her strength.

And so, yeah, then we kind of met in the middle and then I got pregnant with my daughter and it's just grown from there.

And I, you know, started doing like small stuff and now I do the big stuff.

I miss the small stuff sometimes.

When you say the small stuff, is that like, can you give an example?

Oh, like delivering, delivering transcripts, copying exhibits, scanning exhibits, not dealing with attorneys that are yelling at us about something or, you know, and honestly, like, I don't mind.

It's very rare when it happens, you know, you can't please everybody and we always get one or two.

But just now I'm really hands on with the reporters and the paralegals and the clients.

I feel like I'm like Oz, because nobody really sees me or meets me, but I talk and I email them often.

Let's talk about building the business.

So you decided to start bringing you said business cards or like going door to door.

Like, how did that start?

My reputation.

I had built a reputation and I knew that I felt Pretty certain that I'd be able to leave, send out announcements, and they would come.

If you build it, they will come.

And that's kind of what happened.

And then we did experience a big downturn.

Not too long after I left with the largest medical insurer of medical providers, Illinois.

There was a large agency in Chicago that gave them a ridiculous price on the original.

And, well, it's probably more information than we need to talk about.

But the attorneys, the clients that I had, lost the ability to choose their court reporter.

The first impact on me with contracting, that went against me.

But we managed to, you know, rise from that.

We developed relationships with other reporters in Chicago and helped other people.

And then we started getting WBE certification, and we acquired the city of Chicago.

That was a very large client of ours and still is.

And, you know, I just had somebody call the other day wanting to order a transcript from the trial that I covered.

And he said, and, oh, by the way, I have been using a big box, and I'd like to talk to you about calling you.

And so if you provide a really good product, they notice.

And that's been a lot of our experience.

And I have to brag about Dana.

She develops relationships with not just the clients, but.

Because I see the clients on the job, and I feel like I've never wanted to be a salesperson ever.

Yeah, I feel like a lot of.

Us don't, but I'm selling myself just by my presence and my comfort with them.

But this one, she has these relationships with the paralegals and the secretaries, for lack of a better word, admin people at the law firms.

And it's really amazing.

It amazes me because she handles it so well in a way that I never could, I was never comfortable with.

And she has developed also relationships with reporters.

She has the ability to ask in an interested way.

She's not putting it on, but she knows more about their lives and their vacations and their kids.

And it really works like, I can't believe sometimes.

And so I often say out loud, I don't know how it happened, you know, because I never thought nepotism was necessarily a good thing.

But something does happen in the home with whatever your profession is, that somehow they absorb it.

Because, like she said, she had no desire to join me in any way.

And I only gave her the job because.

Because we were on the outs.

I needed somebody for, like, two weeks because they were.

The person was on vacation.

I like to think that in those two weeks, she saw me and she saw that people respected My opinion or sought out my opinion.

And that could have been maybe a turning point for her.

She doesn't.

She's making a face.

I don't know about that, but I think it was a positive thing.

Thing it otherwise, because I remember you saying to me, I like working for you.

You did say that.

I remember it well.

I do remember.

Worked out very well.

I don't think any of us, either one of us, were expecting it to work out.

Well.

No, but I'm glad it did.

Yeah.

Because she handles a lot.

I mean, I. I don't have to do anything but replace.

I think she does too much.

I mean, she's always got her laptop with her and without complaint.

I've got to say that she does not complain about it, but she was up in the room working, and she's monitoring everything and holding everyone else's hand.

What is it that you like about doing this work?

I like dealing with people.

I like listening to people.

I think maybe that's why I connect with so many different people.

Like, if I really ask them how they are, like, I want a real answer.

Just like I would expect if somebody asked me how I was, I would give a real answer.

Also, I feel like this job is really hard, and at the end of the day, they probably just want somebody to listen to them, you know, and just be like, oh, my gosh, you're right.

That attorney was.

Is awful.

I'm so sorry.

You had this long, right?

Yeah.

They need to be told, like, you're right.

I'm sorry.

Even though it's like, me giving them this job, I'm sending them off, a.

Lot of people don't understand, like, a lot of scheduling people or operations that are not cooperative, they don't understand how difficult it is.

So if you develop that understanding or at least portray it to them, it makes all the difference, I think, because then they feel understood and they become more loyal and more willing to take one for the team when a lot of times others are not.

I do agree with that.

And once again, like, I feel like it sounds like I do it only to get people to work, but really it's not, you know, like, I truly do understand because I see how hard, you know, she works and some of the things.

I don't always fill her in on everything because I feel like that's my job and she doesn't need to shoulder all, like, the silly little things that happen day to day.

I'll tell her about the big things.

Things that are, you know, become problematic or just so she knows, you know, if somebody's unhappy.

And honestly, the same thing with secretaries and paralegals.

I think why we've gotten new clients while I've been working here is because if I'm working with them and they're like a copy firm, I'm never pushy, but I'm always nice.

And I always just tell them, like, hey, if you ever need anything or you need a reporter last minute, just let me know and I'll see if I can help.

You and I, we have gotten a lot of work that way that have become our clients.

And I like working with people.

I feel like I can connect with people.

Well, I love that and I think it's such a great note to end on building relationships, listening to people and really understanding what they need.

A huge thank you to Donna and Dana for joining me and sharing their stories.

And thank you so much for listening to listening to the Court Reporter podcast.

See you in the next episode.

The jury gets the headlines the cameras love the scene But I'm the one who's catching all the moments in between It's a witness getting nervous A question asked just right an exhibit number circled like a tiny neon light Names spelled so pretty Dates and times in line all the little, little scribbles turn to golden over time justice lives in the details in every word I save a thousand tiny moments make the story that we pay the world court's final verdicts when the gavel finally falls but justice lives in the details and the details matter most of all.

Hey, one speaker.

Hey, slow down now Let the question hit the air that little pause before it says the truth is really there There's a witness and an attorney and I'm keeping perfect pace Like a secret song I'm writing for the future just in case Cause memories go blurry Like a chorus out of tune but facts that I've recorded keep on singing past the room justice lives in the details in every word I say A thousand tiny moments make the story that we pay the world Quotes final verdicts when the gavel finally falls but justice lives in the details and the details matter most of all.

Most of all.

Every sidebar, every ruling, every question, every truth, every whisper, every answer every voice preserved.

Justice lives in the details in every word I say Long after all the people believe still the record's on the PA the world loves all the endings but before the curtain falls Justice Lynn lives in the details and the details matter most of all.

Most of all.