Congratulations to Jody McIlhenny, a freelancer from Houston, Texas, who won a $100 Amazon gift card through NCRA’s April membership drive contest. It took 30 years, but she has finally joined NCRA. “So I am actually embarrassed to say that I’ve been reporting for almost 30 years … [and] I had absolutely no guidance at the beginning of my career and just never joined NCRA,” said McIlhenny.
It wasn’t the lure of the Amazon gift card that changed her mind (she didn’t even know about the contest). “I’ve always freelanced and worked a ton, but I just never got involved,” she said. “I thought about joining a zillion times and have no answer for why I didn’t! I recently ‘attended’ the STAR (Stenograph, Technology, Agencies, Reporters) seminar, literally the best I’ve ever attended, and just got so excited that I joined!”
McIlhenny got her start in the profession when she met a court reporter at a gym she was working at. “I got to know her when she came in at all times of the day,” said McIlhenny. “She was so happy, always in a great mood. She was single, drove a nice car, had a personal trainer, and one day I finally asked her: ‘What do you do?!’ Of course, she was a court reporter! We had a long chat, I did some research and enrolled in school,” she added.
It shouldn’t take long for McIlhenny to get caught up with everything NCRA has to offer its members. NCRA provides new members with a lot of onboarding support. Each month, they receive a “New Member” email with information about NCRF programs, continuing education, discounted member benefits, insurance offerings, certification, and more. See a full list of member benefits here.
If you would like to invite a colleague to join NCRA, you can send them to NCRA’s membership site.
