Ricky & Kimberly Reed "Don't let your current financial situation stand in the way of the financial security of your future." Kimberly Reed

Take a look at where Ricky and Kimberly Reed grew up, and you realize that they could have easily become the stereotypical statistics of inner-city youth.

Ricky grew up in the projects of Saginaw, Michigan, which is skirted with automobile manufacturers and struggling factories. Kimberly spent her childhood in a Houston neighborhood she describes as "an incubator for crime" and rampant with drugs. "I never thought that I would live," says Kimberly, "let alone even graduate from high school."

Determined to make a respectable life for himself, Ricky joined the Army. As a creative outlet and as a means to supplement his government paycheck, Ricky entertained crowds with a stand-up comedy routine that eventually earned him a spot onstage at The Apollo, on BET cable network, and as the opening act for Earth, Wind & Fire.

With her own family plagued by multiple cases of mental illness, Kimberly's nurturing nature compelled her to earn her degree to practice social work. "Helping other people has been a very strong directive for my life," she says.

The tenacity and spirit that the Reeds drew upon to extract themselves from the poverty that surrounded them in their youth came into play again as they made the leap into the uncharted territory of building the CyberWize business in the Bahamas in October 2004. "A change in my social work contract resulted in a 75% salary decrease," Kimberly remembers. "We were drowning in bills. In order to make our CyberWize business happen, my mother gave us a plane ticket and my uncle gave me $200. At one point during the six weeks in the Bahamas, I was living on nothing but StarBurst candies."

These days, the Reeds eat much healthier. Besides a busy schedule of golf, singing, songwriting, and spending time with family, they also make time for Ricky's prison ministry and Kimberly’s ministry for the hearing-impaired. Going Gold in September 2005 is just another milestone along their very rewarding journey to success.