Clarified Success

Jane Mason knew she was on to something big 10 years ago when she developed a computer program for her family's law firm that connected 20 types of software. As chief operating officer, she had a fair amount of technical experience and found a Microsoft-proficient programmer to help her automate the firm's processes and cut operating costs.

She ended up doing far more than that. The later version of the resulting software, now known as Clarifire, is the flagship of her own enterprise, Clearwater-based eMason Inc. It has not only made her a leading female executive in the Tampa Bay area, but it has also attracted national recognition from the nation's highest office (see box on page 9A).

“I got to the point where I felt like I had a really good idea and I wanted to make something happen with it,” Mason says. She sold the software to Fidelity National Financial Inc. of Jacksonville, which heard about it from a client it had in common with the firm, and used $1 million from the sale proceeds to start her own company in 2004. It is only the second company she has ever been associated with beyond Mason Law.