Meet our owner, Michelle, beauty school graduate turned licensed CPA! How does that happen, you ask? Well, she’s always loved making things beautiful. That’s why she went to beauty school! After graduation, Michelle had plans to open her own salon, but back tracked when she realized how much it took to run a successful beauty biz. Armed with desire, she hit the ground running to learn absolutely everything about finances, but plot twist— she enjoyed it! 

Shocking, we know!  But, Michelle found she really enjoyed making the business side beautiful, too. Back to school she went and gained her CPA license with efforts to beautify books for a living. Never forgetting her roots, Michelle started her CPA firm dedicated to helping beauty pros navigate taxes and bookkeeping while also empowering them to be the financial expert in their business through her course, Beauty Bookkeeping. 

When she’s not helping her clients maximize profit, Michelle gets endorphin overload by snuggling her three babies and drinking lavender tea.

Amy started her first job at the Octagon Salon & Spa in Gurnee, IL. In this time shampooing and fulfilling front desk work, her absolute favorite part was the people, stylists, and clients alike. Can you believe she even had the stellar opportunity to be featured in Passion International Hair Magazine while she was employed there? If you’re wondering if the shoot had all the bells and whistles of full movie glam – it did!

As a first generation college graduate, Amy initially had no idea what she wanted to do for a living so community college helped her explore. After taking an accounting class, she fell in love! Organization is a passion of hers so it worked out perfectly! 

Amy has been married over 20 years to her college sweetheart and is lucky enough to be called mom by 2 amazing kids. Aside from accounting, she loves to bake but rarely does it because her family is notorious for indulging in one serving, leaving her with the rest!! In case you were wondering, her specialties are Pumpkin Swirl Thanksgiving Cheesecake and cut-out Christmas cookies that are absolute buttery bliss.

Meet Caity Jones. She recently moved to Utah and is a licensed CPA with the Carter Cook, CPAs team! Caity has a master’s degree in accounting and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Boise State University. As a tax accountant, she enjoys the professional challenges and varying landscapes this work provides. But, the aspect of Caity’s career she finds most engaging is helping her clients work through their specified challenges.

In her early years, Caity grew up in a farming community located in a small, Idaho town. Her first job was at a little white water rafting company while starting college – the same year she discovered her love for tennis. Along the way, Caity also worked at orchards, as a waitress, at gas stations, and most notably at a wedding venue where she eventually became manager! 

But, Caity isn’t all work no play. Being a lover of the outdoors, you can find her scuba diving, free diving, kayaking and surfing – even wakeboarding if you have a boat! She is also dabbling with mountain biking, rock climbing and soon to be dirt biking (she recently got her license!). But, the best part of Caity’s day happens to be her post work three mile run. Sunsets, good music, family and friends are a few of her favorite things. Currently, she is enjoying the newlywed life with her brand new husband, Jake, who oddly enough, is also an accountant! 

Fun fact you ask? She squishes her mini marshmallows in a small cube before she eats them and lives in fear of having to cut her hair! Can you believe it’s only been cut four times?!

Wenxi Garcia is a juggler. No, she doesn’t work in a circus but she spends her days working on her client’s books, accounting, translating documents from Chinese to English, and homeschooling her 4 children. 

Wenxi is thrilled to work for Carter Cook, CPAs, where she is committed to her clients’ success. She loves providing her clients with expert advice, professionalism, responsiveness and peace of mind–and she doesn’t even have to catch any fiery bowling pins! 

Raised in a small Chinese village, she always wanted to explore the larger world. After traveling throughout Asia, she earned two master’s degrees in Sydney Australia. Later, she met her husband while working as a cultural exchange cast member at Disney World. After they explored more of what mother earth had to offer, they became exhausted. So, they settled down and started a family, which is quite tiring in itself! 

Jessica Winck loves being apart of the Carter Cook, CPAs team. With a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of South Alabama and over 7 years experience in the accounting industry, we are thrilled to have her as one of our bookkeepers! 

Jessica is the youngest of six siblings and during college she worked as a waitress at the oldest restaurant in Mobile, AL called the Dew Drop Inn. Later on she met her husband, David, who had surprised her with a spontaneous trip to elope in Vegas! Her only request – to have an Elvis impersonator perform their wedding ceremony. At the time, there were only two ordained Elvis impersonators in Vegas, and luckily, one was available! But that’s not the end of this Elvis story. A murder documentary was airing on A&E a few years later and Jessica noticed her ordained Elvis was one of the witnesses being interviewed!

Currently residing on the Alabama Gulf Coast, Jessica enjoys soaking up quality time with her husband, and two children, who she raised for 10 years as a stay at home mom. In her spare time, Jessica loves to take her tennis racket to the courts, relax on the beach, and spend time with friends! 

Adding a dash of creativity to the Carter Cook, CPAs team, Katherine has a Bachelor of Arts in both English & Theatre as well as a background in professional copywriting and digital marketing with a passion to spark human connection in all of her work. 

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Katherine found joy in all things birds, in fact, her first ever dream was to become an avian veterinarian! Turns out science was involved, and well, let’s just say that isn’t her specialty. Currently, Katherine also works as an actress, is married to her high school sweetheart having been together since 2012, and has a beautiful, blue fid (feathered kid) named Marty.

When there’s time to spare, she finds it fun to play her guitar, stream lots of shows, visit her little fur sister (Wrigley), and enjoy nature with her husband.

Meet Shellsea! She operates as our client coordinator and administrative assistant here at Carter Cook, CPAs supporting our staff and interacting with our customers. She is usually the first point of contact for anyone inquiring about our services!

Shellsea grew up in Northern Virginia where her mom’s family has lived for eleven generations! Upon entering the workforce, Shellsea made her debut as an administrative assistant for a small holistic wellness store. Currently, she is finishing up a degree in English from Liberty University. 

Affectionately close to her kin, Shellsea spends a lot of time with family and has an adorable English bulldog named Hammie! In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, trying new restaurants and going to the beach. You may also find Shellsea baking one of her family’s favorites, chocolate chip cookies. Fun facts! She is a Star Wars nerd to the core and believes her naturally curly, thick hair is every hairdresser’s worst nightmare.