Turning Job Loss into Job Creation for Women:

Online, September 18, 2009 (Newswire.com) - 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."

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About Executive Reporting Service: ERS is an award-winning court reporting service, headquartered in St. Petersburg, with seven locations throughout five Florida counties. The company, founded in 1981 by Diane Emery, relies on savvy technologies and certified staff to give its clients the best service available. ERS was named Outstanding Business of the Year in 2006 by St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and was voted one of the Top 75 Woman Owned Businesses in Tampa Bay by Tampa Bay Business Journal. As well the firm made Tampa Bay Business Journal's annual list of top Women-Owned Businesses in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Its convenient legal services include videoconferencing, real-time reporting, and transcriptions of depositions, administrative hearings, court tapes, and lectures.