This post from article on i-Newswire
Thirty years ago, Diane Emery quit her job on whim. She wanted to leave work early to meet some lawyer friends for happy hour and her boss wouldn’t let her, she explains in the “The Queen’s Courts,” the article on her in Maddox Business Report’s May 2009 issue, which is focused on executive women. It was then the 21-year-old Emery decided to start Executive Reporting Service, turning her job loss into job creation.
First, though, came the tears and regret, as Emery sat at the bar and told an attorney friend she just quit. He offered her his deposition work in the meantime, which gave her an idea: “OK. That’s what I’ll do — “I’ll start a business,” she says in the story.
With little money and no business plan, Emery started what is today a court reporting business with seven offices throughout Tampa Bay, $1.8 million in annual revenue, and approximately 400 clients, according to the story.
The two-page magazine feature touches on what makes Diane tick: creating opportunities for women and making the legal profession a creative place. Perhaps that’s why her business continues to thrive and is still creating jobs even in this tough economy.
Elusive work and job losses are evident these days, but not in Diane’s court. She hired two more reporters in May, growing her staff to about 25. Her mother and her daughter Alix, who begins court reporting school in the fall, also work at ERS.
It’s not all business as usual in this economy: she’s switched gears and us amping up her marketing efforts. Emery launched a new, user-friendly Web site (www.executivereporting.com) in May and was just named secretary the newly formed Tampa Bay chapter of Women in eDiscovery.
She started what she calls “Legal Arts meets Creative Arts” three years ago to support local artists. ERS’s office in downtown St. Petersburg and Clearwater serve as gallery spaces. When a piece is sold, she gives the entire proceeds to the artist. As she says in the story: “I like the creative aspect because the legal environment can be pretty stuffy.”
