News
Spirited Masters refuses to give up in the face of health Challenges
By Carol Burns Whyte
Business First Correspondent
Cyndi Masters, owner of DBS>Interactive, has been practically defiant in the face of life-threatening illnesses and daunting obstacles that would have caused many people to simply give up.
Yet, "obstacle" is not a word in Masters' dictionary of life. Words such as "opportunity," "suvivor" and "blessed," however, appear on most the pages.
Masters is the driving force behind the sucess of DBS>Interactive, an interactive Web-site and software development company with 12 employees.
DBS>Interactive develops general Web sites, e-commerce Web sites, database applications, Internet and extranet applications, said Rob Kennedy, the company's general manager. It tries to differentiate itself by focusing on services, results and accountability, he said.
Now the sole owner as well as the presedient and CEO, Masters co-founded the company in 2000 with a business partner. She bought his share of the company in spring of 2004.
Recovering from a major accident
Masters, who is a Cincinnati native, has lived in Louisville for the past 11 years and is single. In 1998, while working for technology company Digicove Inc., Masters was in a motocycle accident. As a result, she required extensive physical therapy to learn to walk and read again.
Masters recalls that the acident resulted in the complete loss of everything that gave her a sense of personal value - looks, intelligence, financial stability and future earning power.
Her injuries qualified her for Social Security disability benefits, and she also recieved assistance for four years through the Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund, a Lexington-based program that offers funding and support to people with brain injuries.
"I came up with tools and tricks to help me learn and compensate and still use those today," Masters said.
For example, she sets her email program to send her reminders of things to do, and she also carries a personal digital assistant (PDA) to keep track of where she's supposed to be and when.
Masters' battles with health problems have continued. During treatment for the brain injury, she was diagnosed with degenerative spine disease and severe osteoarthritis. Next, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, the same year she started the company. Then, she suffered a broken neck as a result of a fall in 2004. While recovering from that at Baptist Hospital East, she managed DBS>Interactive by phone from her hospital bed.
The company today and tommorrow
With the cancer in remission and her other health problems in control, Masters has new goals for DBS>Interactive, which has developed two new major software applications. One is targeted toward companies that need to comply with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, and the other is for corperate communications.
Masters hopes that both these packages can be spun off as seperate companies, and she hopes to have a presence for DBS>Interactive established in every region of the country within the next five years.
Masters, who said she is not a micro-manager, trusts her staff to do the things they're good at.
"Small owners make the mistake of thinking they need to be needed. With all the situations I've been through, I have been forced to learn to delegate and let people do their work," said Masters.
With a little help from partners.
The growth of DBS>Interactive can be attributed, in part, to Masters' ability to develop strategic partnerships, according to Kennedy.
"Historically, this type of partnership development has been very difficult for women. Business overall is traditionally a 'man's world',especially in the fields of techonology and media. Very few technology companies in the coutry are owned by women."
One partnership DBS>Interactive shares is with Louisville-based Bandy Carroll Hellige Advertising. Mark Carroll, an agency founder, said DBS>Interactive is the ad agency's interactive partner that facilitates Internet-related business.
"DBS is responsible for what is called the back-end or the more techincal programming and coding. They also handle the search engine optimization, which enables sites to be more easily found by the people you want to do business with," said Caroll. BCH is responsible for carrying the brand and key messages through the look and feel of the site, added Carroll.
Praise from colleagues
According to Carroll, Masters is a remarkable woman who has the ability to choose her staff and bring out the best of their talents in all of them.
Carol Serrone, president of Gemini Endeavors International, a Cincinnati company, is a longtime friend of Masters. Gemini markets products for Cuprident, which makes toothpaste and foam rinse.
"Cyndi's entrepreneurship is an inspiration. When I decided to leave the corporate world and start a company with my sister, she was very suportive.
"She generously spent time with me to discuss the business and introduced me to people that could help my business succeed," Serrone said.
DBS>Interactive developed and maintains a Web site for Cuprident products and provides marketing, a quarterly e-newsletter and print advertising designs for Serrone's company.
Serrone, who admires Masters' strength and perseverance, said she has been successful in spite of her health problems. "She created a strong business and believes in the DBS team," said Serrone. "Cyndi believes in her clients and wants us to be successful."
Masters gives back to the community
Despite all the trails and tribulations that Masters has faced, she remains incredibly positive. "I'm not a victim," she said.
When diagnosed with breast cancer, Masters admitted she asked God, just once, "Hey, what's up with this?"
Yet what came back to her after each trial she faced was that she was blessed, and these "things that happened" were disguised as gifts.
"I think how fortunate I was to survive and not die. It's just a difference in perspective."
Masters gives back to the community by serving on the board of the Louisville chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She has volunteered for many groups including the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Maryhurst, the Bliss house, Volunteers of American, Kentucky Harvest, Wayside Christian Mission and Jefferson County Public Schools.
While many are impressed by Masters' spirit, determination and courage, she herself is most proud of her team at Digital Business Solutions.
"Their work ethic is excellent. They are amazing and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. We are the 'little engine that could.'" she said with a laugh.
Elsewhere
Latest posts from the DBS>Interactive Blog are displayed below.
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Featured Case Studies
Gemini Endeavours International, a division of Chemical Systems International, wanted a website to market Cuprident, an innovative line of oral care products. Their website had been in existence for over a year, but was not successful in generating interest in the products.
iLOR, L.L.C. is a research and development company founded in 2000. They developed a plan for PreFound, a new search engine that ranks results based on user opinions instead of computer algorithms. The iLOR team had developed a concept for the way the search engine would function, general design concepts, and several web pages developed in HTML to illustrate the overall structure and appearance of the website.