Meet The Team
The people you see below are some of the kindest and most driven folks in the business.
BKFi team members come from diverse backgrounds and are here because they love what they do - helping our clients reach financial independence.
Learn a bit about the people of BKFi.
ALLY-JANE (AJ) AYERS, CFP®, EA, CEP
CO-FOUNDER
AJ is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who specializes in helping creatives and tech professionals build wealth. In her 20s she watched so many friends succeed creatively while still struggling with their finances and realized it was time to do something about it so she started a financial education podcast and went back to school to become a financial planner. AJ launched BKFI with Shane shortly after his guest appearance on her podcast. She’s also an Enrolled Agent and a Certified Equity Professional. With her expertise in tax planning surrounding stock options, she has helped dozens of clients transform a windfall into a path to financial independence.
As a writer and editor with a strong background in communications, AJ is passionate about delivering BKFi's message to our clients and the community.
SHANE MASON,
CPA/PFS, CFP®, CPWA®
CO-FOUNDER
Shane is a Certified Public Accountant, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and Certified Private Wealth Advisor™ professional who specializes in helping self-employed creatives and tech professionals foster wealth. After spending seven years in the public accounting space with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Raich, Ende, Malter, Shane embraced his independent spirit and launched BKFI with AJ.
He spent the early years of his career working with publicly listed tech firms in Austin, Texas before moving to Brooklyn to learn just how messy New York taxes can be. With a strong foundation in the technical elements of tax planning, Shane focuses on the nuts and bolts of our client's financial plans.
JOHN OWENS, CFP®, EA, ECA, CPWA®
Director of Financial Planning
John is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and enrolled agent focused on helping individuals and families navigate significant life changes. He’s helped clients navigate complex topics like stock options, starting a family, and tax planning issues.
After working predominantly with retirees as the Director of Financial Planning and Tax at a mid-sized firm in Michigan, John realized he wanted to bring his expertise to younger clients and joined BKFi in 2020. John chose the planning profession because it is the perfect intersection of his two passions: helping people and simplifying complex problems. John is a former radio play-by-play broadcaster and loves to kayak.
Tiffini Parker, CPA, MST
Tax Manager
Tiffini is a Certified Public Accountant who has over 10 years of experience servicing high net worth individuals and their families. Before joining BKFi she worked at Deloitte, Gresham Partners and PwC where she specialized in tax compliance, planning, and consulting services for individuals, trusts, and estates. She is a Chicago native but currently lives in the Washington DC metro area. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, long walks outdoors, and scrapbooking.
Kurtis Rohlf, CFP®, ECA
Senior Financial Planner
Kurtis is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with a passion for the client experience. Kurtis was previously a financial planning associate at wealth management firms in California and Connecticut. In his spare time, you can find Kurtis playing highly sophisticated board games or mentoring the local FIRST Robotics team.
Dan beyer, CPA
Director of tax
Dan joined BKFi in January 2022. He is a Certified Public Accountant who graduated college with a Bachelors of Science in both Accounting and Finance. He enjoys working with clients to help them understand the taxation of their equity compensation, as well as being a trusted advisor to those with closely held businesses.
Kelsey DUmo
Senior Tax Associate
Kelsey is a senior tax associate at BKFi. Although she enjoyed working on projects for large corporations, she discovered that her true passion is helping individuals, and she hopes to use her tax knowledge to help others achieve their financial goals. Her interests outside of work include spending time with friends and family, trying new restaurants, and playing with her family dog, Nala.
Caitlin Fastiggi, CFP®, CPWA®, ECA
Lead Financial PLANNER
Caitlin is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Certified Private Wealth Advisor™. She has over a decade of experience working with high-net-worth individuals with generational wealth. Caitlin has helped clients with home purchases, trusts, insurance and planning for major life events like starting a family or a business. She has a passion for financial planning and is excited to help BKFi clients meet their personal goals.
EThan burroff
tax associate
Ethan joined BKFI in July 2022 as a Tax Associate. He recently graduated with a maters in Taxation and Data Analytics from the University of Mississippi. He's excited to work with BKFI, their clients, and any tax problems that come his way Outside of work, Ethan enjoys working to rebuild a 1982 Toyota pickup, weekend backpacking, and fishing.
SARAH HILL
tax associate
Sarah is a graduate of Pace University where she received her Bachelors of Business Administration in Public Accounting and her Masters of Science in Taxation. Sarah enjoys helping small businesses and individuals with tax planning and preparation. Sarah resides in New York City and in her spare time likes to cook, go to concerts, and hang out with her two dogs.
eduard zolotarev,
CPA, MST, CFP®
Senior financial planner
Ed is a CPA and CFP with 10 years of experience in Public Accounting, specifically High Net Worth Tax compliance and planning. Ed started his career with EY, but has worked at smaller regional and national firms since. Ed immigrated to the US from Uzbekistan with his family at the age of 10 without knowing a single word of English. Ed's first language is Russian. He is passionate about bringing his Tax and Financial planning knowledge to help clients achieve their goals.
EMILY PURDON, CFP®
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Emily joined BKFi in November 2022. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with a background in advisory and consulting, Emily is passionate about organizational operations.
With a B.S. in Finance from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Advanced Financial Planning from Kansas State University, she started her career as a financial advisor at a large, fee-only RIA. A Virginia native, Emily moved to Montana in 2019 to coach financial advisors as they started, ran, and grew their practices. She then managed a high-growth, virtual tax practice for two years.
She enjoys spending time in Yellowstone National Park, where she photographs and studies wildlife.
KODY SHERLUND, CFP®
sENIOR FINANCIAL PLANNER
Kody is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who joined BKFi with six years of experience at an RIA in Saint Paul, Minnesota and a degree in financial planning from Virginia Tech.
He has an unending level of intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm to build plans to help clients achieve financial independence. When he's not nerding out on financial plans, he can be found riding a fat tire bike, playing hockey, or throwing a frisbee with his border collie.
JAMES MCDOUGAL, CFP®
ASSOCIATE FINANCIAL PLANNER
James is a CFP® Professional on a mission to help wealth accumulators achieve financial independence and a proud addition to BKFI's financial planning team. He's a guitar-playing, hiking, dog-loving enthusiast who can whip up a mean dinner on occasion.
When he's not busy crafting personalized financial plans, James loves spending time with his wife, Lillian (yes, just like Harry Potter's parents!), exploring the great outdoors, and serving as a volunteer guitar instructor.
Gregg Gillaspy, CPA, CFP®
tax manager
Gregg is a Certified Public Accountant, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, has a Finance & Banking degree from the University of Missouri (MIZZOU) and began his career with Arthur Andersen’s tax department in St. Louis, MO. He has extensive experience in employee stock compensation (ISO, NSO, RSU, ESPP, etc.) and can also advise on starting a business, selling a business and everything in between.
Gregg and his wife Nancy have four boys. Gregg has been involved in most all sports, completed a 100-mile triathlon and coached baseball, basketball and football teams his sons have been on. He also enjoys military "stuff" and anything that flies. His father was a Navy fighter pilot and owned a small airplane which Gregg grew up flying in.
MELANIE Taylor, CFP®
aSSOCIATE FINANCIAL PLANNER
Melanie is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ that has a passion for helping her clients align their finances with their personal values. She joined BKFi's financial planning team with over 3 years of experience at an RIA in Georgia and a degree in Financial Planning from the University of Georgia. Melanie truly enjoys connecting with her clients and is honored to be a part of their journey to financial fulfillment. In her free time, she enjoys painting, trying new recipes, and cheering on her favorite sports team!
CHARLIE
FLEA-E-O
Charlie joined the firm in 2019 and spends most of his days sleeping under Shane’s desk.
*Employee of our sister firm Brooklyn FI Tax