Q:  Hold that thought, Lana.  I want to come back to that, but first, tell us how you became interested in becoming a court reporter.

A:  A friend/counselor guided me in this direction.  I heard “good money” and “self-employed” and I was on my way to the test!

Q:  Where did you receive your training?  Where did you go to school?

A:  I trained at Langara College in Vancouver.

Q:  Where were you born and raised, Lana?

A:  In a very, very small countryside community outside of Prince George, BC, which is in the centre of our province.

Q:  You’ve been reporting for over 20 years now.  Has this profession been able to offer you the adventure you crave?

A:  Absolutely.  I am an avid traveler–in fact, I work so that I can travel–and court reporting has provided many amazing opportunities to see the world while I work, which is obviously a huge win. 

Q:  Tell us about some of those adventures!

A:  Well, my first big court reporting travel adventure took me to Hong Kong for a week.   I loved it!  I loved it so much that when a chance came to move to Ireland for work, I jumped on it.

Q:   Oh, wow.  I love Ireland!

A:  I did, too.  I loved every minute of it.  I still have three super close girlfriends as a result of traveling there. 

Q:  What a wonderful fringe benefit of an already super opportunity!  So where in Ireland were you working?

A:  I worked in the Four Courts in Dublin, which are beautiful if you ever get the chance to see them, and all over in different towns around the country.  My main gig was a huge police corruption hearing dealing with the IRA, so pretty interesting stuff.  And they were just starting to use realtime in Ireland, and that’s the type of reporting I like to do, so it was a great opportunity

Q:  Any other adventurous assignments that have allowed you to travel to cool places for work?

A:  As a matter of fact, I traveled to the Netherlands and worked in The Hague for five years covering the Yugoslavian War Crimes trial.

Q:  Seriously?  Wow…that must have been interesting.

A:  Interesting, sad, and horrible all at the same time, but I’m so happy I did it.  I met so many fascinating people and learned so much.

Q:  I can only imagine.  Lana, you currently work with Reportex, a Veritext Company, located in British Columbia?

A: Yes.

Q:  Do you specialize in or prefer any type of work?  I know you said you like realtime assignments.

A:  I do.  I don’t really like P.I.-type work; I much prefer cases that are difficult and complex, such as Marine or Construction cases.  My favourite are the Indigenous matters.  I love the history.   A colleague and I have worked on the Cullen Commission here in BC, which is investigating a big money laundering issue.  That’s been very interesting, but also very challenging to write.  But the more challenging, the better…at least for me.  I love the challenge!

Q:  This girl really likes adventure!

A:  Yes, both in my professional and personal life.

Q:  Okay, now I want to go THERE… but before we do; who is the most famous person you’ve ever worked with or worked for or deposed?

A:  I’m actually doing a lot of CART work currently, which I really enjoy because you’re always learning new things.  There are so many interesting classes in University.  I think I’ll definitely look into that once I’m semi-retired.  But also, compared to the legal field, we are so much more appreciated.

Q:  One of my colleagues, Lisa Richardson, has been doing CART & Captioning for over four decades, and that’s exactly what she says, and that’s why she loves her job so much.  People really appreciate the access to communication that CART providers give the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities.

A:  They do.  I love being a part of helping them participate in all kinds of proceedings and events. 

Q:  I think I cut you off, Lana.  I was asking about any “celebrity moments.”

A:  I was lucky enough to be the CARTer for Michelle Obama’s book review “Becoming” here in BC.  It was pretty cool.  Nerve-racking, but a lot of fun.  I didn’t actually get to meet her, but she cruised by me a couple of times. 

Q:  That’s closer than most of us will ever get to Michelle Obama!

A:   It was another great opportunity provided to me by the court reporting profession.

Q:  So it sounds like court reporting has been good for your adventurous soul.   What do you do outside of work to feed the Adventure Beast?

A:  I am super active and spend a lot of time outdoors.  I used to trail race, but I’ve retired from that and now just do trail running/hiking.  I road cycle, golf, weight train, do yoga.  And I travel whenever I can.  I try to go once a year to Europe and run in the Alps.  Mountains are my favourite.  I’m up on them every weekend.  I have an amazing husband who is super healthy and active who also loves all these things.  We have a place in Maui, which we spend more and more time at every year. 

Q: Maui! That sounds heavenly… and it sounds like you and your husband are a match made in heaven!

A:  Absolutely.  I’m also in a book club and a dinner club that meets every month, so I stay pretty busy. 

Q:  Yeah, I don’t see much chance for boredom to creep into your life.

A:  Not a chance.  I work hard and long hours so that I can have the freedom to play when I want to, hence my choice for court reporting as a career.  Another match made in heaven.

Q:  Indeed!  Lana, your life could be a commercial for court reporting.  At the very least, you could be an industry ambassador!  Your story is fascinating, and your lifestyle is alluring.  I think you could convince many to come join us in this great profession!

A:  I would encourage any lifelong learners out there who love travel and adventure to give it a look.  It’s been the perfect career for me.  What really sets it apart from other careers is the freedom you have compared to most professions.

Q:  I’m sold!  Lana, thanks so very much for agreeing to step into the spotlight and tell your story to our colleagues here at Veritext.   It’s been so inspiring!

A:  Thanks, Jan.  This has been fun.

Q:  Again, welcome to the Veritext Family.  You take care, “eh”?

A:  You too.