Team
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Eric understands the culture of the accounting profession as well as anyone-as he was born into it. A second generation CPA, Eric went to San Diego State University to get a B.S. in Accounting. Straight out of college he spent nine years working diligently to define client value at a well-established large firm in Los Angeles, achieving partner at the ripe age of 30. He would go on to start The Brae, in order to work intimately with clients providing tax planning and accounting services in the forward-thinking manner he has become known for. His expansive experience with a diverse profile of clients guides individuals and businesses across a variety of industries and corporate structures. Eric serves as much more than a CPA to his clients, offering sage counsel, a breadth of knowledge and a valuable web of genuine and respected relationships. Eric used to sneak in a round or two on the golf course when he could and now mostly unwinds during his self-imposed reading hour. He is likely found spending quality time with Emerson, Parker & Kallyn at the beach and building legos with the boys.
Robin founded The Brae with 18 years of experience as the archetypal CPA. She came to Los Angeles with her husband in 2005 as she ascended the ranks at a long standing large firm. Robin has her B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Her expertise is vast, serving closely held businesses and their owners, high net worth individuals, estates, trusts and private foundations. Robin has been known to ease the concerns of clients in a tough spot and more times than she can count, take the reins of a sticky situation. Hard work is in her DNA, and being the stable and calming voice is her middle name. Robin spends much of her time outside of work with her young daughter and husband away from it all. Those well-deserved vacations often consist of a far off destination, a beach, a house, cooking and hiking.
Christine has more than 25 years of experience providing tax services to the real estate industry. After receiving her B.S. in Mathematics from her beloved Bruins, she began her quest for real estate tax knowledge. Over time, Christine has become an extension of her client’s businesses, and they genuinely feel she is invested in their success. Avoiding all professional stereotypes-her outgoing personality shines, as she is in constant contact with her clients who find her presence invaluable. Over her career, she has seen and been involved with every shape and structure of real estate deals and has proven to be a real connoisseur of the fine print. She has extensive expertise in the application of the IRS Tangible Property Regulations among other captivating IRS rules. While her passion for her job overflows, she is equally dedicated to work life balance. Christine enjoys cooking, getting out for long bike rides and hitting the beaches of Hawaii and Cabo.
Chelsea hails from the rainy State of Washington and was drawn to the sunny shores of California for the first time in 2006 to work on the Terranea Resort launch team in Rancho Palos Verdes. Setting up business operations from scratch at launch sites sparked her interest & aptitude for building systems, scaling operations for efficiency, and finding creative solutions for big picture problems. After spending a few years travelling in the resort real estate industry, she made Santa Monica her permanent home and transitioned her skillset to professional services, spending a decade in investment services and the past 5 years in accounting & advisory. Her core motivation is to make working lives easier to free up time and energy for a more impactful, people-centered purpose. Outside of work hours, Chelsea enjoys back-country camping, cooking, live music, and playing cribbage with anyone willing to sit down at the board.
Born and raised in Southern California, Allie received her B.S. from California State University Northridge. Her roots run deep in Los Angeles and she is most likely to win a game of six degrees of separation. Before Allie entered the marketing world, she previously was in the sales industry. Yet she always managed to fall into a planning centric role, therefore her transition was a natural fit. Allie joined the team with one objective; to enhance the firm’s marketing efforts and outreach. Like a magician, her abilities stand out as she waves a wand over an idea and turns it into a well-executed and dynamic event. Although she often remarks that she isn’t a mind reader, she has an uncanny gift to look ahead and anticipating every contingency, turn each new endeavor into a success. Allie is also a dedicated board member of Concern Foundation for Cancer Research. When not immersed in the details of the next big project, she can be found planning adventures with lifelong friends.
Growing up in a family of hard-working first generation immigrants from South Korea, young and ambitious Shin went to UCLA to get her B.A. degree in Economics and became the first member of her family to graduate college in the USA. Her first job out of college was as a bookkeeper at a small CPA firm and she’s been in public accounting ever since. Shin gained years of experience and knowledge at a few larger, more established firms before rejoining her former colleagues at The Brae in 2017. Over the course of her career, she has provided tax planning and tax compliance for high-net-worth individuals, closely held businesses, partnerships, trusts and estates. Her detail-oriented nature and strong analytical skills come from her favorite childhood game-jigsaw puzzles. A true believer of work-life balance, Shin spends most of her time outside of work with her family and has pledged to take time off at the end of every tax season, mostly traveling with family to relax and recharge.
Natasha joined The Brae as a Senior Tax Manager and has been in the public accounting profession since 2008. She specializes in providing tax planning, compliance, and consulting services primarily for small to medium-sized corporate taxpayers, including multi-state closely held companies, high net worth individuals, and owner-managed businesses in a variety of industries, including real estate, investment, manufacturing, and distribution. Natasha received a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Law from California State University of Northridge. Natasha spends most of her free time with her two boys and husband Michael. As a family they like to travel and experience new things. She prefers destinations such as Cancun or Hawaii where she can relax, soak up the sun and tan, and swim in the warm ocean. During the summer weekends, you can find her in her backyard playing with kids or swimming in the pool.
Sandra joined The Brae as a Senior Tax Accountant and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Law from California State University Northridge. While she has been in public accounting for nearly ten years, she started out performing administrative tasks, dove into bookkeeping and grew her expertise in tax preparation. Though she wanted to attend Law School and therefore never changed her major, she found it was a solid foundation for the accounting work she has grown to love. She primarily works on personal and corporation returns and in the past few years has expanded her knowledge to include non-profit returns as well. Sandra is currently studying for the CPA exam and has three children that keep her busy all the time. You can often find her at the baseball and soccer fields and in the dance studio. She is a big Dodger fan and family time is often spent watching and attending games together.
Sarah received her bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business administration from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia and joined The Brae in January 2021. She is known for the care she gives to each of her clients and specializes in Individual tax compliance and planning. Sarah was born and raised in Denver, Colorado but has lived in multiple states, following her husband’s military career, she is currently splitting her time between Atlanta, GA and Washington DC. She can often be found hosting a dinner party, traveling with her family, or training for her next half marathon. She is also an avid French Bulldog lover, and you will often hear of her talking about Stella and Theo’s exploits.
Arsinae joined The Brae in 2018 and has been gaining valuable experience and knowledge in the Real Estate department. She has been in the tax accounting field since 2015 and received her B.S. degree in Accountancy from California State University Northridge. Born and raised in California, Arsinae foresees being a life-long Angelino spending time outside of work with her family. You might also find her playing piano, cooking, or watching all kinds of sports, The Office and Friends on repeat.
Born in Russia and raised in Indiana, Jayden received her B.S. in Accounting & Finance from Indiana University. She moved to SoCal to be with her husband, a Marine officer stationed at Camp Pendleton. Jayden joined The Brae in the Fall of 2020 and is most experienced preparing real estate tax returns for partnerships, S corps and high-net-worth Individuals. She has a passion for business law and enjoys working in a team environment while helping clients with their needs. Outside of work, Jayden spends a lot of time biking, running, hiking and taking the family dogs to the neighborhood dog park.
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Jeremy pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He now calls the charming city of Little Rock, Arkansas his home. As a CPA with four years of experience in public accounting, Jeremy enjoys tax planning to skillfully handle the preparations of S-Corps and partnerships at a professional level. Outside of work, you can find Jeremy enjoying the outdoors such as playing golf or hiking around the Arkansas mountain trails. He’s also an avid fan of the Big Ohio State Buckeyes-even having a dog named Buckeye! Jeremy brings an open mind and enthusiasm to The Brae’s team as a new Senior Tax Accountant.
Megan was born in Los Angeles and raised in Bishop, California. She is a proud graduate of California State University Northridge, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Megan is driven by a passion for fostering collaboration within teams and generating ideas for the benefit of others. She has always had enthusiasm working with numbers and finds the challenge to be fulfilling. Outside of work, Megan finds joy in exploring the outdoors and riding dirt bikes in the desert. She also enjoys indulging in diverse cuisines and would never turn down the opportunity to savor new and exciting flavors.
David first joined The Brae as an intern in the Fall of 2022 then moved into the role of Staff Accountant after graduating. He received a B.S. in Accounting with a minor in Business Law from California State University Northridge. David comes from a family of engineers and recounts the days of tutoring his brother in math with multiplication tables on trips to Arizona. He enjoys that he constantly gets to exercise his mind. David is loyal New York Mets fan and an even bigger Game of Thrones fan. David believes Friday nights are for the movie theater and is often found playing mixologist at any social gathering.
Stephany was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a first generation American. Her family is from Russia and Ukraine, where she was heavily immersed in the culture growing up. Stephany graduated with her Bachelors in Accounting from CSUN and joined our team as a Staff Accountant. She loves a challenge when it comes to making spreadsheets, organizing numerical data, and going over financial statements to make it easy and understandable for anyone. Stephany is a team player, thriving with collaborating and exchanging ideas with anyone she works with. While she isn’t working, Stephany loves to take her dogs to the park, concerts with friends, hot yoga classes, and watching bad reality tv shows on the couch. Stephany is a huge foodie and truly appreciates the art of food and wine.
Kelly joined The Brae as a Bookkeeper in January 2023. Kelly has her Bookkeeping Certificate from Central Ohio Technical College, where she is currently enrolled for her Accounting Degree. Outside of bookkeeping, Kelly enjoys volunteering her time to her community by participating in community clean-ups, gardening programs, and helps at the local animal shelter. Kelly also loves tromping around the woods, searching for waterfalls while adventuring with her two dogs Finn and Iggy.
Re’Sann joined The Brae as the tax administrator and graduated from University of Detroit Mercy, holding a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Re’Sann has over 18 years of tax administration experience. Born in Florida and raised in Michigan she made way back to Florida in 2015. She loves helping people and being a source of knowledge in her field. In her spare time, she sings and records music with her sisters, enjoys interior designing and active at her local church. Re’Sann has been singing since she was a child. Her siblings formed a group and took their hobby nationally. Her group has recorded and released multiple singles since 2012. They have performed all over the country. One of her biggest accomplishments is performing in Las Vegas for the Stellar Awards Independent Artist competition is front of thousands of gospel music fans.
Ranie joined The Brae’s Administrative team in Winter of 2022. Before entering the field of administrative finance, Ranie studied Music and Religious studies in her hometown of Detroit. Her studies and music aspirations have taken her all over the country to perform where she later settled in Florida. Ranie brings her warm personality, client communication skills, and organization to the team. She enjoys problem solving and connecting with clients to find a resolution. Ranie likes having a sense of community and comradery with the team at The Brae, and the confidence to know if she has a question or needs help with something, everyone here is willing to help. Ranie enjoys music, road tripping with friends, meeting new people, the beach, and reading biographies.