Connect Series: Meet Jenni Reed
Meet Jenni Reed. As our legal training assistant, Jenni helps manage the onboarding process for the talented people who create and edit Reportex’s quality transcripts. She is involved in editing and writing new wiki material as part of the wiki reboot team as well as helping to keep our training and reference resources up to date. She is also part of our busy QC team, preparing our transcripts for printing.
Jenni grew up in the United States and moved to England after she graduated, where she lived for many years. After making a return to the US, she moved up to Alberta.
Jenni has always been interested in proofreading and editing, so once she finished homeschooling her three children in 2017, she decided to use her eye for detail and love of structure and coherence to pursue a career in transcript proofreading. She has been with Reportex for two years.
At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?
I would have to go with collaborative. One of the things I love most about Reportex is the strong sense of teamwork and of all of us being part of an amazing bigger picture. Over time I learn more and more about what different people do here, and I think it’s great that although there are so many of us, no one is just a name or a role, but everyone is valued as an individual.
I am so thankful for the people I work with on various teams. I love our meetings and how we have formed very functional as well as fun relationships with one another. When there’s a huge learning curve, we tackle it together. When there’s a challenge or a huge workload to work our way through, everyone pours themselves into it. There is definitely strength in numbers! Considering that so many of us work from home, I think it’s a real testimony to what Christy has put together here at Reportex that we can feel like such a close-knit group.
We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?
I’m not as good as I’d like to be at fitting proper workouts in, but I do love to get up from my desk and move throughout the day. If you were a fly on my kitchen wall, you’d see me doing funny things like jumping jacks or toe-touches while I heat my coffee in the microwave! I’m finding that doing some yoga during my lunch breaks is both relaxing and invigorating. And if I can get out for a hike on a weekend, then life is good. I’m working on being more deliberate about what I eat and drink, not just grabbing whatever but trying to make healthy choices, and I definitely feel better when I have that focus.
For mental health I find that getting out and gardening, going for a walk or sitting on the porch with all my cats (we have eight of them!) feels like good “me time.” I like to start my morning early so that I have time to just be myself for a little while before work, whether that means gardening, reading, praying or even just playing a game on my tablet. By the time 8 o’clock rolls around, I’m ready to go!
What’s easier: managing a group of editors and proofers or homeschooling three children?
Haha! Hands down, it’s got to be number one! Homeschooling was such a joy, but I came to it from a place of thinking I’d never do that. My daughter begged for years, so finally I looked into it, and I was amazed to find that it was just what we needed. With different ages and personalities it was a real juggling act, for sure, but we loved that we weren’t confined to what was taught in the schools. We got to do English and world history, learn about botany and animals and read lots of good books together. With all of that of course comes having to motivate everyone to do their schoolwork.
I enjoy being able to interact with each of the editors as I help with job assignments and answering proofreaders’ questions, and I do hope that I’m able to be a help to them where they need it. Like I said before, we’re all valuable parts of the team, and being a part of that with them is such a privilege.
