Trueline Spotlight: Keeping the Faith at Home and Work

David Masem is on the brink of his next great adventure. This summer, he’s packing all his belongings into his Honda Civic and driving from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, to Charlotte, North Carolina, to move in with his girlfriend, Erin.

Thanks to the company’s remote work policy, nothing will change about Masem’s role as a sales development coordinator at Trueline. His two cats, Ladybug and Candy Corn, will be coming along for the ride, but he’ll be leaving his family, friends and local church behind.

It’s a change Masem is well-prepared to make. His life thus far has taught him to connect with strangers quickly.

“Growing up in New York, and not in the greatest of areas on Long Island, has helped me deal with different people,” Masem says. “And my mother, grandmother and aunt are very strong. Because of their work ethic, their love, and watching them with other people, I’ve been able to say, ‘Wow, that’s how I want to be.’”

Finding True North

Masem’s first significant move was away from Long Island after his parents divorced. His mother brought him and his brother to Pennsylvania and finished raising them there. He’s close to his family, particularly his mom, and he says he’ll miss their day-to-day bonding moments, like hopping in the car to accompany her to the grocery store.

Masem later found himself in college in South Carolina for college, where he spent a year before his grandmother got seriously ill. He concluded that university was too much of a drain on his family’s finances, so he moved back home.

When his grandmother died nine years ago, his local church, which he began attending as a teenager, was a significant pillar of support—it still is today.

“My faith is very important to me,” he says. “My church is very small, so it feels like a family. To me, that’s always been my second home.”

Finding Work, Love and Rescue Cats

After he left college, Masem started working at Buckman’s Ski & Snowboard Shop. Eventually, he left to pursue a sales role at a Verizon store. After two years in retail, he joined Spring Mobile, owned by AT&T, as a store manager. He spent nearly three years there before becoming a field sales manager at Samsung Mobile.

“My role at Samsung was one of my favorite roles because I got to travel around to different stores and meet with different people,” Masem says. “Instead of being inside a retail store and working with three people every day, I had 65 stores that I was essentially overseeing, working with people in each one, getting to know them.”

Three years later, Samsung started making changes, and Masem decided to sign on with a small restaurant supply company in January 2020. It shipped everything from China, so anyone can guess what happened next.

Amidst all this, Masem was also getting divorced, adopting two cats and finding his way to Erin, whom he met on a dating app in January 2022. When his ex-wife left, she took their cat with her, so, Masem decided to adopt. He reached out to a local rescue organization after spotting Ladybug—who has smaller than normal eyes due to a congenital disability (anophthalmia)—on their website.

When Masem and his brother went to meet Ladybug, Candy Corn started following Masem around the shelter, jumping on him and trying to play. So, Masem wound up taking both cats home.

A ‘Different’ Interview

Throughout the pandemic, Masem had been interviewing for jobs—after six months, he came across the Trueline job posting. What grabbed his attention was the company logo: the shaka sign.

“That’s kind of why I applied,” he says. “And then I met Joy—we did a phone interview—and Joy was much different from almost everyone I had talked to. I’ve loved my time here.”

Masem, a team lead, joined Trueline in April 2021. He says Trueline is unique and provides a valuable service. His role at the company reminds him of his days at Samsung because he’s once again playing the cheerleader and coaching his teammates on how to hit their goals.

Outside work, Masem is a proud gamer; he loves board games—Monopoly is a favorite—and he plays to win. He also loves boating on Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania, and he spent much of last year working on his car with a friend. They haven’t had to tune it up much this year, he says, knocking on wood.

Hopefully, it will carry him home to Charlotte.

BONUS FACTS:

Did you know? David is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has done ten years of MMA.

Who’d play you? Seth Rogen.

Bucket list: Visiting Italy

Greatest achievement so far: Helping family and friends over the years. “I’ll never put a monetary value on it, I don’t want an award or a pat on the back, but that, to me, is my biggest achievement.”