Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariana Jordan.
Ariana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Santa Monica, California and have always considered California home. I went to college in St. Louis, Missouri for Information Reporting Technology, specializing in broadcast captioning and CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation).
From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to work with broadcasting and did not have the desire to pursue work in the legal arena as a court reporter. I also have had a strong desire to help others less fortunate than myself. Despite the average dropout rate for stenographers at 93%, I graduated in 2005 with honors. I was immediately recruited to work for a large closed captioning company.
After two years, I branched out and became a freelance independent contractor. In June of 2011, I saw my vision for my own company come together and started Real-Time Ready Captions (RRC). In March of 2013, as a single mother to a 6-month-old little boy, I moved us and the company to San Diego to start the next chapter of our lives.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t know many roads worth traveling that are smooth and mine has not been the exception. While I wouldn’t choose to relive every one of those challenges, I’m in a place where I understand there is a strength in me I might not have known were it not for them. Shortly after moving to San Diego, I found myself outpowered in a custody battle.
Through the challenges and responsibility of building my business, I had to be effectively resilient, effective, strategic, and savvy. The skillset I developed for the business to be successful was all I had to fight for the most important thing in my life. If it were not for the flexibility to control my own circumstances, I could not have realistically earned a living and maintained in litigation for custody of my son.
There is a bias that women are facing in Family Court throughout America today, particularly, as an independent single mother and business owner. As a personal goal, throughout the next few years, I strive to create more of an awareness of the inequality and lack of resources unmarried women are afforded to effectuate reform for it is our children and America’s future that are the most negatively impacted in Family Court.
Real-time captioning is a skill-based profession, so it is performance-driven. While being a captioner and business owner is challenging, the benefits and rewards are countless.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Real-Time Ready Captions (RRC) – what should we know?
RRC is a small, full-service captioning company providing services to television broadcasts, national and local news, sports, higher academic institutions, government agencies, and post-production captioning for videos and Internet-based content. Some of our clients include KUSI, here in San Diego, UC Berkeley, and the California State Treasurer.
RRC is a woman-based company created to serve the needs of the hearing impaired and English as a second language community through real-time speech-to-text translation, in order to provide access to speech that may otherwise elude them.
I often get asked the question: How does real-time closed captioning work? Many people think that the words that come across their TV screens is automated. Most people don’t realize it, but it is a real-time closed captioner (stenographer) who make that possible. I am, as well as all of our independent contractors are stenographers that write on a stenograph machine. Instantly, I fell in love with my 24-key steno machine. A steno machine is a specialized chorded keyboard for shorthand use. Captioning is a highly specialized skill and real-time captioners must write speeds of approximately 225 up to 240 words per minute. We have to have an accuracy rate of 99% or higher, so it’s a hard job.
Since we write in real-time, unlike a court reporter who can fix any mistakes before producing a final transcript, if captioners make a mistake, there is no such luxury. The steno machine looks more like a piano than a conventional alphanumeric keyboard. Multiple keys are pressed simultaneously (known as “stroking”) to spell out whole syllables, words, and phrases based on a phonetic language (StenEd) with a single hand motion. In order to convert StenEd into English, automatic computerized translation of the strokes enable the real-time captions to be produced on stenography-based software.
Not all captioning is performed in real-time, for post-production captioning of pre-recorded TV, videos, and movies, a transcript of the audio is made and run through specialized captioning software, which enables us to place and “timestamp” the captions correctly and at the right time. We are a woman-based company whose job is to facilitate communication through real-time captioning in every setting, delivered in a variety of ways. We strive to continually implement principles of advocacy, camaraderie, and performance to foster empowerment and growth for our colleagues, consumers, and the industry as a whole.
What do you specialize in?
We were one of the first companies to provide Remote CART in an educational environment such as a school or university. The focus is usually on students with disabilities, especially, those who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing. Remote CART versus On-site: instead of the captioner being on-site and physically present in the classroom or meeting, Remote CART allows for the captioner to caption from a remote location. This takes some technical know-how to set-up the audio and provides the best platform to utilize so that our students and consumers are provided with the best possible accommodation and service.
In-stadium captioning for sports arenas and stadiums. This is a specialized captioning service that requires technical knowledge of the stadium scoreboards, encoders, and how to display the captions for all the in-stadium announcements. I have provided in-stadium captioning for the St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins, New York Mets and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Hopefully, one day, for our San Diego Padres at Petco Park!
What are you known for?
I am directly involved in every facet of my business and am incorporating my captioning knowledge and experience throughout our daily operations. The nature of the business is in real-time hence, the name. My clients’ expect the technical aspects and their needs to be immediately met. Due to the nature of the business and the name my company bears, “Real-Time Ready Captions,” I think I am known for just that.
I am techy, so anything to do with technology intrigues me and I am always striving to keep RRC on top with the latest tech available, which is constantly improving and changing. The business’ dedication to advocacy, education, staying abreast of technological advances that enhance the industry, and continued growth and support for our captioners, which exceeds the expectations of our clients and consumers.
What are you most proud of as a company?
It’s my creation; I’m proud we effectively provide an essential service to an often-underserved part of our community.
I am proud of our principles of ethicacy, camaraderie, professional growth through goals and achievements to capture our highest potential both individually and for the company as a unit. I have employed former employers, created different opportunities for the business by networking that has built a trust, and in order to have that degree of trust, you have to be sophisticated.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I have been blessed to have a team of friends who have encouraged and supported me in unimaginable ways. One of my best friends, Brian Schmitz, who currently owns a restaurant in St. Louis – Polite Society has always been a source of strength for me. He has championed me and stood by my side throughout college and beyond. But most importantly, my son, Jack James. His love and joy takes me through each day and everything I do always comes back to him.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least about our city?
I love the sense of community we, as San Diegans, share and are active in. Our community involvement can be found everywhere in our city; from how beautiful and clean we keep our city through volunteer efforts on ‘clean-up” days to the overall friendliness you encounter when out and about in our neighborhoods. San Diego is very special and I feel blessed to be a part of this city every day.
Contact Info:
- Address: 325 W Washington St., Ste 2300 San Diego, CA 92103
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/realtimereadycaptions/
- Phone: (800) 340-CAPTION (2278)
- Email: info@realtimereadycaptions.com
Image Credit:
Nathan Parker Photography
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