Biography

I'm not fond of writing about myself, but you're entitled to know something of my background and qualifications.

I came into the tax business sort of backwards. I'm not an accountant, and didn't take a single accounting or math class in college.

I grew up in the redwood country of northern California, a fifth-generation California native and the daughter of an independent fisherman. Unlike the practical family I came from, I apparently didn't have a single practical bone in my body. So I majored in French, with a minor in philosophy. (CSU, Sacramento, 1983) In time, I married my husband Walt Rhoads and settled down with him in Oak Park.

As can reasonably be expected, I floundered for some years after graduation. For several years I worked for the Suttertown News as a proofreader and clerk. In 1995 I took my first tax course, and became licensed to prepare taxes in California. I was hired shortly thereafter by a large corporation, and prepared taxes in their storefront office for five years. Meanwhile I studied hard and took every tax class my employer offered, and a few accounting classes on the side.

In the spring of 2000 I left my employer and took the SEE exam to become an enrolled agent. That summer I started Oak Park Business Services. I started my own business because I felt that I could provide better service at a lower cost than my former employer. For eight years I labored in obscurity, first from my home, then for five years in an office buried behind a Baptist church. In June of 2008, I signed a lease on my first real storefront, in the Tallac Village shopping center in Tahoe Park. This, of course, required a name change, as I was moving out of Oak Park for the first time. And so OPBS became Your Taxes & More. YT&M is still a small enterprise, but it strives to offer all the services that the "big boys" have, and then some.

I received my enrollment in the summer of 2001. Currently I don't have permanent office space, but I'll be happy to come to you or to meet at a mutually agreeable location. Call me at (916) 456-1058.

Please feel free to contact me with your tax questions or problems. I'll be glad to help.