Hello, this is Deanna Erny from Cincinnati, Ohio. I am a proofreader. Transcript proofreader and a graduate of Caitlin's program. Little bit of background: I used to be a court reporter, freelance reporter. I had a business partner back in the day. It was actually my second profession, and this was from about 1993 to about 2000.

And then I had four children in four-and-a-half years. And the day I found out that I was pregnant with my fourth, I quit. I didn't even wait to have him. I just quit reporting and basically devoted the next 17 years of my life to my children, to their schools, to my home, husband, fundraising, whatever.

And then they all started to leave me! (laughs) Once they were getting into high school and college, what am I gonna do? I knew I was not gonna go back to reporting; I knew I wouldn't get my speed back up. It's -- reporting is stressful. But I always knew I wanted to proofread. Anything. I can't get through a school bulletin, a church bulletin, a billboard... and don't get me started on newspapers, but I knew that court reporters need proofreaders.

It's a rule -- unless it's a short little transcript, and even then it's never recommended; you never proofread your own work. But how would I proofread when I used to just print out paper and get a red pen and mark it up like you do in iAnnotate. How do you do that? So I started, you know, trying to research how to be a proofreader.

And it's actually kind of funny. I found Caitlin on Pinterest. Caitlin, did you know that you were on Pinterest? Anywhere I Googled, searched, or even with Pinterest, I put in proofreading, your name came up. So I decided to take a chance and take the course. And for me it was worth every penny. It was really more of a refresher for me, but there were things that I learned or I had forgotten about, and it was great. I started this in April 2017 and got my first client. Then I've got five clients now. I work on the weekends. I don't want any more clients. I'm perfectly fine with five. My husband works seven days a week, so for me, a Saturday is no different than a Wednesday.

And so it's fine. I don't work all day long every day. I won't proofread more than 225 to 250 pages a day. Those would be busy days. Today I have 75, and then I'm actually caught up. I usually receive a transcript every day. I -- my reporters don't necessarily send me a lot of expedites.

So you know, it's just my regular turnaround. And, you know, I'm not going to get rich the way I'm doing it. I've chosen my business to be like this. But you're looking -- maybe a couple of the years have been half years. I started mid-year and then with COVID, but I'm looking at maybe 20 to $24,000.

Again, I didn't do this strictly for the money. It is a great backup. Was able to turn my daughter's bedroom into an office with it. That part is great. But it just gives me a sense of productivity for just -- for just me, to get -- keep ya smart. So I love that I can make up my own hours. I get up at 6:30 every morning, say goodbye to my husband, and I work for about an hour and half.

And then it gives me (laughs) time for my new passion! Pickleball! Play every single day that I can. I played this morning, and I'm actually going to play again tonight. And sometimes in between games, I will -- I check my phone constantly to make sure a reporter hasn't emailed me a transcript. And if she has, I just email her back as if I were in my office, saying, "Thank you for the transcript; got it!" And then I go back to playing pickleball. So it's working out great for me. I'm loving life. I'm very appreciative of the program and of Caitlin. I highly recommend it. And how can you not like a business that you can just make up your own hours, right? And you, too, could be addicted to pickleball! (laughs)