#62 - The Heart Behind the Podcast: Brynn's Story Covered by Stenonymous

Court reporters hold one of the most important roles in the justice system.

We're entrusted with the official records of the courts, and we also have to run our own businesses, which is not something most of us were prepared for.

I'm Bryn Seymour, freelance court reporter and life coach, and I invite you to join the discussion about the problems we face and the solutions we create on the unique journey of a stenographer.

Welcome to the entrepreneurial Court Reporter Podcast.

So what was it that inspired you to start the Court Reporter Podcast?

Why did I start the Court Reporter Podcast?

Well, I was always looking for a podcast.

I love listening to podcasts.

It's really convenient because while I'm doing my laundry, cooking, or anything like that, I.

Hi.

Thank you so much for your patience and.

And being able to reschedule and everything.

I'm really happy we're connecting.

Me too.

I'm sorry about last time.

It was totally my fault.

No, no time while I was cooking.

Of course.

It happens.

Um, so you're recording?

Yeah.

If you're okay with that, I can share it with you.

Definitely.

Yeah, that would be awesome.

Then I don't need to figure out how to record because I've never.

Thanks.

Cool.

So can I just jump right into it?

I have some questions.

Cool.

Well, I'm interested how long you've been doing the podcast.

And I know you're a life coach, too, and I'm wondering just which came first and, you know, what was your impetus for getting into both and how did it become, you know, an integral part of your, like, life coach Podcast as part of your career?

That's a great question.

So I started the podcast in, yeah, 2023 January.

So at the end of 2022, I announced to my Facebook group and the Facebook community, because that's where, like, all the core reporters, I was like, it's time that we start talking more about the struggles we face and the solutions we can create as we are in such a unique industry that no one really fully understands.

And I've always listened to podcasts and I've always searched and searched.

Like, I'm telling you, like, so often every week, I would search for court reporters, like, in the podcast search bar and Apple podcasts.

And because, like, it's just so convenient to listen while you're doing your laundry for me, every time while I'm doing my laundry, while I'm cooking, while I'm cleaning, while I'm driving.

Like, if I.

If there's something I need to learn about, then I go to podcast to find out.

So I looked and looked and looked, and there was really no one out there who was speaking for the court reporting industry to court reporters to help us out, like, to fix all these, you know, solving all these problems and things that we have to do so much research and trying to figure things out and together.

So while there were so many podcasts from life coaches, and my favorite one was the life coach school, actually, which got me into life coaching.

But those podcasts, they were very helpful for me as a person, as a person who has adhd, as a person who it feels like disorganized and needs just like, you know, for self development, self help, and.

But still nothing specifically for courtrooms.

I felt like there's still something missing.

Like, I still feel like no one fully understands.

These people do understand me in some way, but I don't know.

There's something.

No one's out there talking on behalf of court reporters.

So I decided that, you know, if the problem.

If there's no solution yet, then I just have to create the solution and just solve the problem and do it myself.

Yeah.

Awesome.

I love that.

How did you meet your mentor, Josh Edwards, and what's been, like, either the.

NCRA or the nyscra, New York State Court Reporters Association.

He was assigned to me when I was in court reporting school.

Okay.

And, yeah.

So we just started talking, and he would help me with any issues that I had.

He's really good with case Cat and with the technology.

He's like a whiz, and he's master certified court reporter in all the different categories that NCRA has, so that's common.

They assign mentors when you're in.

Okay, that's fabulous.

I love that.

Yeah.

What's your experience been like, you know, building community with the podcast, and I wonder how that's affected your experience at work, if it has in the court itself.

Yeah.

So I started a Facebook group because that seemed to be, like, the best way to build a community for court reporters is where they already are.

So I have been welcoming people into the group, inviting people through the group, trying to build up conversations about, like, what do people want to hear about?

What are the problems that we can host discussions around?

We can do live discussions.

We can do zoom meetings.

We can do big discussions with all of us.

Like, it doesn't have to just be me talking.

I don't want it to just be me.

I want more conversations in general for court reporters about hearing other people's experiences.

Like, how do you handle this?

How do you handle this?

How do you do your bills and your booking and your scheduling, and how do you manage your time when your schedule is so unpredictable?

Like, these questions are so different for everyone.

So the Facebook community has been helpful for that.

Although when I started working full time in core, it became, you know, difficult to make time for it, and it became.

Well, I mean, I was working with a group of court reporters, so I tried to, like, I gave them printouts of all the ideas that I had for the podcast and what I would love to talk to them about, and, like, I would love to interview each of them.

But, you know, working full time in court, it's a little difficult to manage our schedules and to find time to meet together.

So that kind of held me back from doing the podcast more and doing more.

Like, I felt like I withdrew a little bit from it, but now I officially have resigned as of Wednesday.

I submitted.

Two weeks ago, I submitted my letter that I'm going to be going back to freelance so that I can do more, focus more on the podcast and on the coaching, because I really want to become that.

I really want more people to be able to be helped by what I needed so badly when I was searching for the podcast.

Like, I want to be able to offer that to more people and to really help people one on one as well.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

I love that.

Do you have any favorite, you know, moments on the podcast?

I know you have a lot of episodes, but any that are just, like, near to your heart, that stand out, that you use antidotes or something?

Well, I mean, all of my guests have been amazing, and it's very, like, a wide variety of people.

There's attorneys, there's judges, there are court reporters.

Been amazing.

But, yeah, I know.

I just love how I can.

Like, how it's just so real.

Because for me, as a court reporter who experiences things on the record, that I'm like, whoa.

Like, I wasn't ready for that.

And when it's, like, real in the moment and happening, I can just get my phone and start recording a podcast episode and just share while.

While it's fresh.

And I think that is just like, the one episode I have is called are we on the Record?

And it talks about the frustration of when the attorneys and judges just start going off on these side conversations without saying that they want to go off the record, and we're still on the record typing everything, and I'm like, do they really want this on the record?

Because it doesn't seem related to the case.

And they're like, so, like, we have These internal battles, and we're like, what do we do?

So I just came to the conclusion that I need to just interrupt them and ask.

So.

But things like that, I really.

I just love having an outlet to be able to share those things.

Absolutely.

Well, you answered my next question was, you know, some challenge.

What a challenging moment in court as a reporter and how you go about tackling them.

But that brings me to another point I've heard brought up on your podcast and maybe elsewhere about speaking up and slowing down and.

And maybe also, yeah, when you were like, I just have to interrupt them.

I have to use, like, critical thinking.

But, yeah, talk to me about speaking up and slowing down.

So that's like, it's interesting because some court reporters are really good at it, like, if.

It kind of depends on the personality type.

But for me, I.

I'm an introvert, and it's not easy for me to bring the attention to myself or feel like I'm bringing it to myself and like, not really being a hundred percent sure if I should speak up at this moment or not.

Because sometimes you think you didn't hear something, but, like, you know, we all have an audio backup sync, and when I go back and check, it's very easy be like, oh, why did I not, like, why didn't I get that at that time?

Because in the moment you're doing, you're multitasking, you're typing, you're listening, you're monitoring and everything.

And so it can be easy to, like, think that you misheard something.

So I always have to, like, I have that hesitation when I'm not sure if I heard something correctly because I'm like, is it really necessary?

Because later on, usually it's so easy to figure it out with the context clues.

And usually they said it very clearly and it just was something that was just missed in the moment.

So that.

Wait, what was the original question?

Oh, just.

No, no, this is interesting.

That's great.

But I guess.

Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Self empowerment.

Yeah, like, so that's another thing I want to help court reporters with who are especially who are introverted like me, because we don't really learn how to do that confidently in school.

They don't focus on that.

It's more focused on the trade and the skill of typing.

So when it comes to those emotions that we feel and the internal struggles and the battles and, like, should I say this?

Should I not say, what do I say?

What do I do?

How the attention, through my presence and through the way that I'm handling This.

So that is something I want to help people with because we need the help.

Like, I needed the help and it wasn't there.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Like social skills.

Yeah.

This kind of, I guess, dovetails with that too.

I'm interested in your experience.

I know a lot of court reporters are women, but it seems like the other people present in the court is kind of like a male dominated industry.

And I'm wondering, did that have an effect or like kind of for.

For you're feeling like, you know, you needed to self advocate or you know, helping.

Helping other women perhaps like in a.

In this kind of male dominated scene?

Yes.

I feel like I, I'm so much like more.

Well, okay, not so much, but a little bit more comfortable when it's mostly women.

Like, I don't really like to be surrounded just by men.

I don't know, it just feels like kind of uncomfortable and.

But the good thing is that, for example, I mean, there are so many more women attorneys nowadays than there were in the past.

And it's getting better.

So in the Bronx, like in the Bronx Supreme Court where I was working the judges, 90, it felt like 90 of the judges were females.

Like every judge.

Oh, great.

I was so great.

Yeah.

So this is my bias showing then my assumption.

The tables are turning.

We actually just hosted.

I'm part of the Church of God and also, you know, through the podcast and collaborating with the Church of God, which does a lot of sustainable development goal events, we hosted an event for women judges in this month of women's history, March 3rd, we did a UN International Day of Women Judges event.

And 15 women judges came from the court system to the Church of God in Scarsdale.

And we just like honored them with.

And they spoke discussion about the rise of women and how this is possible and like how women really, really taking that step forward.

Yeah, I love that.

That's awesome.

How do you feel about artifact like AI and the future of sonography work?

Like the human ear, the.

The.

What is it called?

The VTM program.

I, I know this is like a hot topic and sonography.

I'm just curious on your take.

Yeah.

What do you.

Okay.

So what do you think is the.

Vt, actually, I forget, is that what you're developing?

Yeah.

Yes.

So that's what I'm doing.

That's really nothing to do with AI.

It's.

It's where you implement a system for yourself as a court reporter where you don't have to be working so much and managing every deadline and every transcript, but you have Built a team for yourself with humans.

Right.

Assist.

I mean, if there is an AI solution, I'm all open to hearing about it and learning about it.

Like, if there are AI tools that can help us with our work, I think it's great in many ways.

I do think there are risks associated with it.

We have to be careful.

That's why I want to do my research fully and understand what's going on.

And I still can't say that I'm an expert on speaking.

Actually, Chris Day and I, we spoke about it when I interviewed him on.

On the podcast.

So we spoke about AI, because that's his expertise.

I think he does so much research on that.

So I was asking him, like, you know, what is the.

What is.

Are.

Is digital reporting using AI or is.

Is there an AI tool that we can use?

Because, well, on AI, there.

There is a tool in case Cat.

It's called Check it.

Check it.

And it's pretty popular in court because some of the other girls were using it.

So I decided to try it.

And the first day I tried it, I was like, this is kind of garbage, to be honest.

It wasn't.

I mean, at least I don't know if it just had a bad day when I use it.

But it was suggesting changes that were completely ridiculous.

Like, wow.

Like, it suggested changing address to dress, even though the context was asking, what is your address?

State your address for the record.

Like, they.

They were suggesting to change it to dress.

And I'm like, what?

They have no intelligence.

Yeah, right.

So I don't.

But I know artificial intelligence, like, they do.

It is supposed to be intelligent.

So maybe that was just like a fluke, but that stopped me from using it.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

I love the continuity between your.

Your spiritual work, your love of helping people.

And I think, you know, the industry is really lucky to have someone like you.

And I'm wondering.

Yeah, I guess.

I mean, you kind of told me you're.

You're putting your resignation, but I was going to ask, you know, about making time for your passions and interests.

Like, even outside of the podcast, your volunteer work and spirituality, I think is clearly really present in your work.

But I'm just curious how you.

How you work.

Life balance, kind of.

Yeah.

So there's a program that I took when I was in my coaching certification school, and it's called Monday Hour One, where you.

It trains you to work on making a schedule for yourself.

So every Monday, or I like to do Sundays, I would.

The idea is to plan out the things that you want to do for your personal, like, what's most meaningful and what's most important to you.

You plan that first and then you plan all your work and everything else around that.

And so I was never able to really implement it because life as a court reporter, as all court reporters understand, we struggle with the ability to predict, like, what our day is going to be like.

So that was something I struggled with for a while.

But now as I've grown as a person and as a coach and as, like, I've tried and failed and tried and failed to.

I feel like now I'm finally coming to a point where I'm.

It really does make a difference when I am able to follow that, when I am able to schedule out my weeks that, like, spend that one hour really planning, downloading everything that you have to do out of your brain and onto paper and then prioritizing each thing and putting it into my calendar.

So I'll put my.

The most important thing to me is my.

My spiritual life and my relationships and the people that are mean, that are.

That bring meaning to my life.

And like, those things are very important.

Family.

So I put those things in first.

And now that I have like an open canvas calendar without the nine to five, that's what I'll be doing more.

I'll be able to put more time into those things.

Like, just today I was able to meet with my sister at lunchtime and I just got back from it and it was great because it felt so good to be able to put that in my schedule and be able to actually stick to it.

So that's a good thing about.

But I mean, I do understand that freelance is also unpredictable.

So I'm, you know, that's something that I'm going to be working through.

I love that though.

It's.

So you really, like, practice what you preach, kind of.

And the most important part is like, to take the time to reflect afterwards and figure out, like, okay, why wasn't I able to stick to this schedule?

What happened, what came up and why and am I.

Do I like the reason why?

And if it was something like that was a good reason, okay, then good.

But if it's like, okay, I didn't really intend for that to happen.

That was a waste of time or something like, then that time of reflecting, which we're supposed to do every, like, on Friday, kind of reflect back on how the week went.

I think I personally need to do that every single day.

So that's what I'm doing.

I love it.

I'm trying to that too.

What do I have?

Who else?

Oh, who have you encountered in your work?

If anyone that, you know, you want to boost is also being supportive of court reporters or championing their value?

I don't know.

Just in your, in your podcast or life, have you met other people who do what you do?

Yeah, well, yes.

I mean, there are some court reporters that are doing great work of promoting the profession and volunteering and getting.

Getting themselves out there and getting the profession out there in general.

And I do think that it really helps court reporters to hear from attorneys and from judges about their view on the importance of the court reporter and, like, their view on how a court reporter can do their best and, like, what do they appreciate and what do they not like?

And I think those kinds of insights are so helpful.

So I want to do more, you know, of the different roles in the justice system, working together and how we can collaborate with each other, even interpreters and court officers.

Like, we're a team and a judge too, so.

But I know in freelance it's different.

So then when in freelance, it's more about the relationship between the attorneys and the court reporters.

So I love to dive into the personality types, the emotions we go through, and the communication styles that we have.

Yes, definitely.

Wonderful work and wellness.

Lisa mentioned something, and I hadn't come across it in your podcast, but did you also work in fashion or did you before?

No, I don't work in fashion, but I do like, I like fashion.

And I have an Instagram called Courthouse Fashion, so I would take pictures when I'm going inside.

If I'm early enough, I would, like, use my tripod or sometimes with the girls, we would go out and do a photo shoot.

But there's a spot at the Supreme Court that's a really good spot for pictures.

So whenever I had a nice outfit on, I would just go out and take a picture and post it.

And that Instagram gained a large, like, a following and people really like that.

So I still haven't figured out where I'm going with that.

But, yeah, I love fashion.

It's all that, like, it's so important to be able to feel confident in the way that you present yourself.

And like, if I'm not wearing an outfit that I feel comfortable in, it ruins my whole day.

Like, hair, makeup, outfit.

I think it's important for me and as a way to express myself and to appear confidently and.

And also it can be overwhelming for people when they don't know what to wear.

And it's like it's like a whole project.

So, you know, creating systems and processes and routinizing that aspect of life.

I did a podcast episode about that in episode five, I think it was to how to like declutter your brain.

So planning those things ahead, like what you're going to wear, what you're going to eat, or just setting it up as a routine.

So it's kind of just like the same thing again and again, but changing up the color or changing up, you know, something finding your uniform, that's.

That's one thing I'd like to talk about because it's very related to mental health and well being.

Absolutely.

I completely agree.

What are your hopes for the future of, of the court reporting industry or, you know, the court reporting podcast industry, the wellness industry?

Any of those.

I envision now that I'm like focusing on this more as of now, literally just as of probably next week is, well, like yesterday is when I started.

But really I envision having more, being able to really help more people that are in the same boat that I was in a couple years ago, struggling to manage my life and to organize everything and not feeling like I'm drowning under all these deadlines and pages.

And so I really want to work with court reporters one on one and, and put the content out there.

Like all the content, all the conversations, all the discussions that we have, I want to share it and let it be available for free and not have court reporters have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars on top of all the money that they're already spending on maintaining their equipment and their association, like whatever they have, as it's kind of an expensive profession.

So, like, I would rather have more free content available, which was so difficult for me to find.

So I think, like, as I'm focusing more on this, I'm going to be releasing more episodes, more content on social media, more videos, more YouTube, also hosting more webinars and more open discussions.

And then eventually I see a community being formed around this and I see a group, like a group coaching program in the future that anyone can bring any questions and can get coached on any topic and we'll all be helping each other in that way.

That's so beautiful.

I love question.

I see it happening too.

Let's see if I have any last.

I feel like, like 25, 30 minutes is almost the max.

I go because the length of that interview will be.

But I mean, you kind of answered my last few questions.

I was going to say, what's your, your number one advice for people getting into court reporting, but seems like you have a lot of great advice, but thank you.

Number one advice would be, well, I guess just kind of knowing if you're going to be good at it.

Like, kind of like for me, it's hard to answer that question because for me, I knew, like, it was instinct.

I already knew I was, it was going to be like the perfect fit for me, which is something strange because I've never felt like that with anything in life.

I always was like, changing my mind, indecisive about everything.

But the court reporting, it just seems like, okay, the, the evidence shows that people who are musical, especially pianists and.

Right dexterity.

And it's like a job that has a flexible schedule where you can, like, choose what days you're working and still make a good living.

Yeah, no brainer.

So I think, like, yeah, I would say anyone who's thinking about getting into it should definitely try.

I don't want to discourage anyone from trying.

But also, like, I feel like more people who are musical, who play piano, who have these skills and traits.

It needs to be advertised to those groups of people because they don't.