It is currently 11:58pm on December 31st of 2025.

We are two years --

I'm sorry, two minutes away. Officially two minutes away from a brand new year, a brand new fresh start, a new beginning, and a year of transformation. We are heading into 2026 with a renewed mindset. You know, 2025 was not an easy.

Year, but as we close out 2025.

We'Re also making a point to celebrate milestones. This podcast reached the top 10 in the US careers category, charted in the top 100 business podcasts, and ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally. That did not happen by accident. It happened through consistency, team teamwork, and a shared belief in the power of this profession. So let's do this properly heading into the new year.

Here we go. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Welcome to the Court Reporter Podcast. This is a space where court reporters and litigation professionals come together to bridge the educational gap, strengthen communication, and elevate the integrity of the record. Here we talk about what actually happens inside courtrooms and depositions across jurisdictions. We explore judicial wellness, reducing stress, streamlining systems and workflows, efficiency, accuracy, entrepreneurial development, and the real world challenges of building a sustainable career in this field. You'll hear expert insights, community discussions, and practical conversations designed to support clarity, confidence and collaboration. Throughout the year, I'll be hosting financial, wellness and accountability sessions. So if you're not already on the Court Reporter Podcast newsletter, make sure you sign up@courtreporterpodcast.com just head to the top right corner when you get to that website and drop your name and your email and it's the best way to stay connected.

This year is going to be different.

It hasn't always been easy, and there were definitely moments, even this year, where I nearly walked away from court reporting altogether. But I didn't.

I pushed through.

And I know you can, too. And now we're here, fresh, renewed, and ready to level up. I'm your host, Bryn Reynolds Seymour.

Let's get into today's episode. Hey, it's Bryn. Welcome back to the Court Reporter podcast. It's officially 2026. Oh my goodness. Time just really applies.

I can't believe we're already in a new year.

This is literally my favorite holiday. It's a fresh start. It's a beginning. It's just so exciting. I just love the new year holiday. It's so amazing. So if you've been listening for a while, you already know this podcast has never been about perfection. If it was, there would be zero episodes. It's been more about like, honesty, integrity, authenticity, transparency.

Just like being honest and open and.

Having real conversations about what it actually means to build a career in court reporting and what they do not teach us in school. This episode is the new year launch. It's a reset and a preview of what's coming next, what we have lined up for the year. This year I'm doing something a little different. Instead of guessing week to week what the podcast will be about, I want to. I want you to understand the bigger picture from the beginning. We're officially moving into seasons. That means themed series released in focus burst throughout the year. Sometimes they'll be back to back, sometimes spaced out, sometimes spontaneous. So if you're not subscribed to the podcast and the newsletter@courtreporterpodcast.com now is the time to do that. I don't want you to miss any of these episodes before we dive in to what we have laid out for the year, Any episode recorded prior to 2026 may include links, resources, email addresses, or information that has since evolved. Now let's talk about what this year is all about. This podcast is focusing on transforming these areas of professional life, leadership, business and entrepreneurship, delegation and systems, time management and clarity, mental wellness and self regulation, real time and technology, assertive professional communication with attorneys, boundaries that command respect, confidence in the courtroom, etiquette, ethics and professional identity, and financial management. So in Q1, which is January, February and March, we're going to be focusing mostly on resetting the operating system, including things like ethics, licensure, certification, and clarity around that. Because being in a state like New York where licensure and certification isn't necessarily required, it's kind of vague and ambiguous. That's like my favorite phrase. I like when they say, objection, vague and ambiguous. But that's how I see the state of New York's process of certifying court reporters. And unfortunately, I didn't have the mental capacity or the mindset to push myself beyond the bare minimum. Because once I. Because first of all, I was like, I shot through school so quickly because I was so eager to start working. I finished in 13 months and then I started working. And once you start working, you're just like, go, go, go. I mean, I hope, I know most of us are like that. And that's a goal that most of us have to try to stop being like that and try to have some balance in our lives and try to have some mental clarity and just like, relax our brains and just stop. Like, not just go, go, go. Not constant Working, but that's kind of what it is, and that's what it was, especially in the beginning, before you have things set up and streamlined. So I was just like, go. So, of course, for the first few years, I didn't have time or I didn't make the time to really uplevel myself and to get the NCRA certifications, get my rpr, get a csr, because New York doesn't require it. I don't. I didn't even know, like, that was an option or if it's an. I don't even know if it is an option. So. I've never claimed to be an expert because I know that I am. Technically, from some people's perspectives, I might be considered like an uncertified court reporter, but in the state that I'm in, that's not uncertified. Like, I am a certified court reporter, but in a state where there is no certification requirement. So it's kind of just like, if you have the skill, then you do it. You just do it. And that's. That's where it gets, like, fuzzy, vague, and ambiguous, because we're kind of figuring things out. We didn't really have a strong education to really prepare us for everything that we're going to need to know how to do. And it caused a lot of questioning myself, doubting myself, not wanting to even ask questions because I didn't even. Like, I didn't even know where to start. I was just like, okay, every question that I have is probably a dumb question, because I feel like I should have learned this. How could I be. How could I be showing up at a deposition without knowing the answer to this question? Like, they're gonna look at me like, who are you and why are you here if you're not. If you don't know the answer to this question? So I would never, like. I would kind of hold my questions in when it comes to, like, I'm not gonna ask an attorney a question that I know I should already know the answer to. Obviously, we would ask our agency owners or our mentors or, you know, that's how we roll in this profession. We just kind of, like, figure things out as we go. And for that reason, I never. You know, I know very well that I am not an expert. And this podcast is not positioning myself as an expert or providing any kind of education on best practices. Of course we. I have conversations with people who are experts, and I share my own opinion and what I've witnessed and what I've observed and what I've been through and I share what I do have expertise in, which is that I am a certified life coach too. So emotional management, how to basically solve any problem or reach any goal. Thankfully, a lot of the problems that we face in our profession, actually everything really comes down to mindset, to the way we think. And that is what determines whether we will be able to figure it out or whether we'll just keep going and keep going and just kind of keep playing that role with the imposter syndrome. So sorry, that was a little bit of a rampage. Yeah. So anyway, Q1 includes ethics, licensure, certification and clarity around that. And then mental frameworks for accountability and consistency, professional standards and identity. And I will be documenting my own journey toward the RPR, including a 21 day fast track to the written knowledge test, as well as just passing the RPR in general. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm recommitting to that. Because I know, I know I've said that in the past, but every time, okay, in my defense, every time I've said that in the past, I've always followed it up with like, I'm not a hundred percent sure, like, I'm not a hundred percent committed. I was never a hundred percent committed. There was always this question of like, do I really want to put the effort into that? Do I really want to go through it? And so I wasn't actually committed, even though I said that I was gonna do it. Every time I signed up, I would end up like, I would purchase programs to study. I would purchase, I would pay for the test and register for the test and then I wouldn't end up consistently studying, so I would end up canceling. And so this is what I did and I just wasn't committed. But Now I am 100% determined to do this. And it's not because I want the certification for the certification. It really makes no difference in New York whether I have it or not. It's only for my own understanding, for my own confidence to be, to really feel like I understand what I'm doing, to understand my profession, to feel like a professional. But you know, it's like I really want to get that certification. Not for the certification, but for the understanding that I think it will provide if I do my due diligence and study really hard for it. And really like the way that I studied for the notary test, the most recent time I took it, which was a couple weeks ago, I never saw, I really never saw that side of Me, because I remember every other notary test I've taken. Like, when I first started working, I don't even remember how I studied for it, but somehow I passed it. I honestly, like, it's such a blur to me. I don't even remember taking the test. I don't remember how it felt or how confident I felt at all. I just remember that somehow I passed. And I was pretty surprised by that. That was the first time, like, 10 years ago. And so I. That lasted me for about four years, I think it was in New York. We. Yeah, so I was working as a freelancer for four years in New York. Then I moved to Maine, where I was working, where I got the notary as well. I think I took the test. They don't actually. They don't make you sign up. They don't make you appear in person. They don't to take a notary test. They just have you take the test through the mail. And the first time I think I got, I. I didn't pass it. But what they do is they'll mail you back the test with notes written on it, and. And then you just have to figure out, like, they'll tell you which ones you got wrong, and then you just correct them and try again. And that was a pretty easy process. So I got my notary pretty quickly in Maine, and then when I moved back to New York a couple years later, and by the way, I'm still a Maine notary, so I do have my notary in Maine right now. But when I moved back to New York, I took the notary test again without really studying much. I thought, like, oh, I'm a notary already in two. I've been a notary in two states. I was a New York notary already, so it shouldn't really be a problem. I'll just go take the test. So I took it, but I did not pass. It was, like, really hard. I didn't even feel like I knew anything on the test, which. Okay, I'm gonna save that comment for later because that's. That's opening up a whole new discussion topic, which is really important. And I even have a whole podcast series that I have prepared for Q1. We're kicking the year off with that series that I have prepared about the notary exam and what I realized studying for the notary exam. But anyway, the point that I was trying to make here was that I saw a side of me that through the. Like, through my studying for the notary test, I saw my eager desire to Understand the concepts that I need to understand for the career, for the profession, in order to do my best, in order to have clarity and to feel confident walking into the courtroom as the most confident person in the courtroom. Not only with my own optimistic mindset, tools, coaching tools, but also with this, the profession, subject matter, the expertise in what I actually do in the legal process of certifying the record, guarding the record, and you know, just being a certified court reporter, that is what I am going to like. What I really want to focus on this year, honing my expertise on that. So not just streamlining workflows, not just up leveling the way I think about things and just being confident in, based on how I think about things like that. Yeah, anyone can learn how to do that. But. But I want to have that true expertise in the subject matter, in the profession, in the field. And that's where I'm headed. And that's why I studied so hard for the notary test, which was why I was so shocked when I took the test. To feel, to find that I really only. Well, okay, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna get into that again. I keep getting off track because I'm gonna save that for the series about the notary. I hope that I. I hope I haven't confused you or lost you, because that series is going to be. That series is going to be really eye opening and it's going to expose a few things about what I realized about the process that the state of New York has and how lackadaisical and how laid back and low standards it is. And it's kind of like, hello. Like, I don't understand why they have such low standards for such an important role in the justice system. So that's a little shocking to me. But we'll get there when we get there. It's going to be soon. Don't worry that that episode series is coming. So Q1, getting back to Q1, you will hear the study processes, mindset shifts, the mistakes and the breakthroughs that I have in real time. So this season is about getting honest, grounded and structured. Then in Q2, we're going to focus more on like, communication, confidence and navigating the courtroom with that confidence. So the second quarter kind of moves outward into how we show up on the record and in the room. So we'll focus on topics that I've focused on before, which is assertive professional communication with attorneys, interrupting for the record, with clarity and confidence, boundaries that command respect and courtroom etiquette and presence. This is Also where you'll hear from an incredible lineup of judges. I'm so excited. We will interview them individually on the podcast Sharing. They're going to share how they entered the law, what they've seen on the record and what court reporters can learn directly from the bench. This is kind of like a follow up to One highlight from 2025 was March 3rd. We did the International Day of Women Judges event. It was hosted in at the Church of God in partnership with us as wow. And we honored 15 judges that attended and gave them little awards and shared their bios and they spoke and there was a panel discussion and these. So these episodes may be released back to back. They may be spaced out. The structure will follow the substance. And then getting into Q3, which is July, August and September, we'll focus more on like business systems and entrepreneurship. So the third quarter is about working on your career, not just in it. We will cover the business fundamentals for court reporters. Delegation and support systems, time management and burnout reduction technology, real time and future proofing your career. And this is where I'm super excited to announce that this year we are launching, officially launching the Court Reporter Podcast Awards. These awards will recognize court reporters, attorneys and judges who exemplify professionalism, integrity, leadership and excellence on the record. You know, those attorneys that really cooperate with us, that really go above and beyond to make sure that we get a clear and accurate record that really try to follow the rules. These awards will recognize those people. Nominations will open during this season, during Q3 and the community will be a part of that process. This is about really honoring the people who quietly elevate the profession every single day, or not so quietly. And then going into Q4. Impact partnerships and legacy. The final quarter kind of zooms out. This season focuses on collaborations and episodes tied into meaningful national and international observance days. Justice, strong institutions and professional contribution. Highlighting the award nominees and building momentum for that, for the new year of announcing who gets the awards in January 1st of 2027. So awards will be announced at that on the new year, setting the tone for what comes next. But by the way, when it comes to the meaningful national and international observance days like you know, we have court reporting and captioning Week, we have Judicial Wellness Day, we have International Day of Women Judges, we have, I don't know, there's many different days that I have mapped out on the calendar and so those will be sprinkled throughout the year. You'll hear some episodes in line with the sustainable development goals as well. So Q4 is really where we reflect, integrate and look and look forward with intention. And speaking of reflecting, I forgot to include in the beginning of my little bullet point notes here that I have for this episode, I forgot to include to reflect on 2025, the patterns of me releasing episodes and people listening and commenting and engaging and interacting with the podcast. And I realized that there was actually two months in the middle of the year, July and August, where the podcast was doing so well. Not only were. I don't, well, I don't even remember it being super consistent episodes being released, but I do remember that I, I have screenshots and the podcast was number six worldwide, ranked number six in the careers category on Apple podcasts for like almost two months straight. Number it was between 5 and 10. Like, so it was in the top 10 for two months. And then it was also in the top hundred for the business category, which is really huge. I mean, there's. The business category is, is very, very like the most competitive. So I understand why it was not as high up in the business category as it was in the careers category. But I mean, careers was top 10 in the world and, and business top hundred. That's pretty amazing. I think. You know, that just shows a lot about the importance of these conversations and how people really want to, to know about this career and this profession and how people who are in this profession, my fellow court reporters out there, we're struggling. We're in the struggle bus. We're, we're in this together. And you know, I know there are some states, as I've learned the past couple weeks through this whole notary experience thing. I know there are states who do have their thing together. They do have their act together. And they probably don't listen to this podcast because they probably can't relate as much as we here in New York can. Being in an uncertified, unlicensed state. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean, I'm not trying to say that court reporters here are unlicensed and uncertified. Like we're, we are certified in our own way. I don't know how New York determines the standards. It doesn't seem like they really check anything. I mean, I've never had any agency or any client ask me to prove a license or, you know, so it's just a little more laid back. And that's, that doesn't mean anyone's wrong. It just means that we may look like we're qualified and we may look like we may be doing fine. But we may not be as, as in the know or in the like, we may not. I don't know. I'm still looking into this. So I, I can't say that I know everything about the different states and different processes and different types of certifications, but this has become a major priority for me and I really am so excited to figure this out and to map it out. So in order to really become an expert and because I feel like, you know, the corporate podcast is not supposed to just be like a local podcast. It's people tune in and listen from all over the United States, from all different states. They listen from different countries, even Ireland, even, you know, Europe and other places too. So I don't want to just speak from a limited New Yorker's perspective, but I want to broaden my understanding of the profession of as a whole. So in order to do that, I did some research. I've been really looking into this and trying to make a plan for how I can become more knowledgeable and more understanding of the different jurisdictions and the different ways that different states do things. So what I the the conclusion I came to, even though I am going to take the rpr, the RPR alone does not make someone a national expert. Yes, the RPR is one of the cleanest foundations for becoming an expert, if you use it correctly. But what I want is to know how do I understand court reporting at the level of principles, not just rules, not just certifications. So the first step would be separating credentials from expertise. Let's define terms precisely. So credentials, meaning the rpr, A, csr, state licenses, notary commissions, certifications, rmr, rdr, all those NCRA certifications. So these are signals of baseline competence. Well, actually, sorry, I take that back. Not RDR and RMR are definitely proof of more like mastery level. But rpr, CSR and state licenses are signals of baseline competence, not proof of mastery. Expertise means you can explain why rules exist. You can translate differences across jurisdictions. You can identify what is essential versus incidental. You can spot risks, weaknesses and misinterpretations. You can speak accurately to attorneys, judges, policymakers and reporters and explain these things and how they differ in each state. So that's my goal. Then step two would be to get the national the national lens that I'm missing. This is the key to understand court reporting nationally. I need to stop thinking in terms of states first and start thinking in terms of functions across all jurisdictions. Court reporting exists to serve four non negotiable functions. These are the core principles that Never change, no matter what state you're living in. Here they are. Number one, creation of the verbatim legal record. This is the foundation. No matter what state, someone must capture the spoken proceedings verbatim. That record must be reliable enough to be relied upon later. And errors have legal consequences. Everything else exists to protect this function. Number two, accountability at the moment of capture. So this is where some AI debate, debates live. Every jurisdiction, whether it's a licensed or not jurisdiction, must answer these questions. Who is responsible for accuracy? When does responsibility attach to that? Can errors be challenged? Can the record be certified or authenticated? Different states answer these questions. Licensure, oaths, notary authority, court appointment, rules of civil procedure. But accountability itself is universal. Number three, neutrality and independence. Across all states, the record maker must be neutral, must not advocate, must not alter the meaning, must not be controlled by a party with an interest. And this is why agency influence matters. Vendor pipelines matter. AI substitution matters. Disclosure matters. It's the mechanism that differs. The principle does not. And then number four, admissibility and trust. Ultimately, the record must be trusted by courts used in appeals, relied upon for rights and remedies. If a method undermines trust, then it fails the system. That is why courts are conservative. That's why procedure matters. That's why efficiency is never the highest value in our profession. So those are the core principles that apply across the board. I'm going to just recap what they are. Number one, creation of the verbatim legal record. Number two, accountability at the moment of capture. Number three, neutrality and independence. Number four, admissibility and trust. So step three in getting my expertise, let's think about where the RPR actually fits in this journey. So now let's talk about. Yeah, let's talk about that. The RPR stands for the Registered Professional Reporter Credential. What does the RPR give you? It gives you a national baseline not tied down to one state. Exposure to professional ethics, transcript standards and federal level thinking. Skill under pressure, credibility when speaking outside of your jurisdiction. The RPR is not just about speed. It's about professional identity at the national level. But what the RPR does not give you is deep statutory knowledge of all states policy, expertise, AI governance, understanding, licensing, enforcement theory. So if you stop at just like, I passed the rpr, I'm done. Then you will not become the expert that you want to be if you want to be an expert. I mean, I'm just, I'm kind of speaking to myself now, but I. If I stop at the rpr, that's not really what's going to give me that like broad perspective of our profession and of our industry. And then so this, the fourth step is the real path to national expertise. So here's my roadmap. Pursue the rpr, learn NCRA ethics and standards like the back of my hand and understand why those standards exist. I don't want to just memorize them, I really want to understand them. Like when I studied for the notary test, I was not concerned about memorizing. I really wanted to understand what I was studying and why I needed to understand those things. And unfortunately 99% of the stuff that we are studying for, spending all our time studying for, for the notary, applies more to loan signing agents and realtors than it does to court reporters, which honestly was so disruptive. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm going into another topic now. I'm going to save that for the notary. I'm going to save that for the notary sequence. So anyway, getting the rpr, learning the ncr, NCRA ethics and Code of Conducts, learning them, not memorizing them, understanding them and why those standards exist, this gives me a very neutral anchor. And then what I'll do is jurisdictional mapping. This is what most people don't do. I have asked so many high level court reporters, people who speak at national conventions, people who educate, people who are like teachers and who have all master certifications. I've asked them questions that they couldn't answer because this is the key here, this is what people don't do. So what I'm going to do is create a simple framework. Again, not memorizing, but for each state category, there's a different category for the United States. Like each state falls into one of these four categories. Here they are, there are licensed states, there are non licensed states, there are hybrid functional states. And I don't know why I put federal courts, that's not really a state category, but that's a category of courts that exist nationally on the national level. But what I'm going to do is ask the same, like looking into each state, asking the same questions every time. Who is the one who captures, who is the one who certifies? Under what authority is that, given what enforces accuracy, what happens if that fails? So I don't need to memorize, we don't need to memorize all 50 states. So, and I'm not doing this just for myself, I'm going to be sharing everything. So we're doing this together if you guys want to join me. So we don't need to memorize all 50 states. We just need pattern recognition. And as we go through this, it's going to come, we're going to get that pattern recognition, we're going to get that understanding that we need. Then phase three is technology overlay, real time remote proceedings, AI assisted editing, and then there's this AI only capture that people are talking about. And that's stirring up some discussions around the nation. I guess people are saying that AI is trying to take over, not only trying to, but successfully doing so, which I always say that's not, not going to happen, but I guess it is happening. So I should hold my tongue and not speak out of, I should not speak on things that I don't really know about. So anyway, more questions to ask are, when it comes to AI, does this assist the human or does it replace accountability? Does it replace the human? Who controls the output, like what words are coming out, who certifies it and who is liable? Can AI even be liable? And do states require that? So this is where once we understand these things and once we look into these things and see how each state is doing this, that's where we're going to get that expertise in that real understanding of this profession. Then phase four is translation skill. That is where. So what I mean by that is translating the complex things that people don't understand. All these questions that I've always asked to professionals and to professors that they couldn't answer. But I, and we, all the listeners, we will become uniquely positioned to translate complexity without fear mongering. We'll be able to speak to other reporters without elitism. We'll be able to speak to attorneys without vagueness and speak to judges without any hype. Very neutral, very factual. And that is actual leadership. So again, the RPR is not the destination, it's the common language. It gives me. It'll give us a national foothold, professional legitimacy and a framework to build upon. So this is my first step, is getting the rpr. But where my expertise, where our expertise will really come from is that comparative thinking, the functional analysis, ethical clarity across the board, precision of language, willingness to say this depends on or ability to say this depends on the jurisdiction or like to be able to discern between things that are dependent upon jurisdiction, the things that change depending on which state you're in and the things that must be equal across the board, across the whole country. So that's exactly the skill that we are developing through this podcast. So I'm going to eventually map out, I'm going to create a map of the United States with the four or maybe three jurisdictional models, whatever. I finalize and then build a chart showing the core principles versus state variations and then design a personal expertise curriculum that I'm going to follow after I get the RPR. That'll probably take me about, I don't know, six months to 12 months to really feel, to really gain that expertise. So that's the curriculum I'm going to create. So overall, this year is not going to look like the past. I'm done trying to grow privately or perfectly. I'm choosing to transform out loud on this platform with structure, clarity and purpose. And I want you to come with me. I don't want to do it alone. I want to do it together. That's why I'm that's why I have this platform from the beginning. I remember from the launch of the Court Reporter podcast. I announced announced it to everyone in my network. I think it was on Facebook. Actually, it wasn't even my own network. It was on a Facebook group. I just announced it with the group owner's permission and I knew that that would hold me accountable because I had a community backing me up. I had people waiting for it. I already announced it three months ahead of time so that I could stick to my word. Because I know myself. Know thyself, right? So stay subscribed, join the newsletter and participate in the conversations and all the challenges I'm going to give, like little challenges and little assignments. If you choose to accept the mission throughout the year, I'll give these on each, not each episode. Maybe here and there, but if you engage with what we're building here, your professional life will not look the same by the end of the year. This is the Kort Reporter Podcast and this is the the year we do things differently. This is the year of transformation.

Thank you for spending your precious time with me here on the Court Reporter Podcast. If today's conversation resonated, I encourage you to stay connected. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter@courtreporterpodcast.com so you don't miss any upcoming episodes, community discussions and financial wellness accountability sessions I'll be hosting throughout the year. This podcast exists to support clarity, confidence and collaboration across the legal community, and I'm grateful you're a part of it. If you found value in this episode, please consider sharing it with a colleague or leaving a review. It helps the podcast to reach more people who need these conversations. Until next time, take care of yourself, protect the record, and keep moving forward with intention. I'LL see you in the next episode.