Katie brings more than 20 years of audit and tax experience. She joined the Brown Edwards team in 2025. She started her career as a staff accountant with DesRoches & Company in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She specializes in serving common interest realty associations (CIRA), providing comprehensive tax, audit, and consulting services.
We interviewed Katie to get to know her, outside of her profession, and we were surprised to learn that she loves getting her hands dirty with home renovation and construction projects! She has put a lot of sweat equity into her 120-year-old farmhouse and several rental properties over the years, but her biggest project was restoring an abandoned and severely deteriorated building in downtown Nebraska City. It was built in the 1870s and nearly ready to collapse. She gutted and restored the building, doing much of the work with her family. She loved the process of designing the office spaces and second-floor apartments. This is where her office is located, along with a few other commercial tenants.
I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. My husband was in the Navy, so I’ve lived in several different places over the years, ultimately landing in Virginia Beach for the last ten years of his military career. When he retired from the Navy, we moved back to Nebraska to be near family. I currently live on a farm just outside of Nebraska City, Nebraska, a charming little town of 7,000 people.
My free time is mostly spent with my 10-year-old son and all his activities – soccer, basketball and Scouts. We have a number of rescue animals including five dogs and ten spoiled barn cats. I’m involved with several community organizations, including program director for our local leadership program. I also love to compete in jigsaw puzzle competitions.
The last thing I read was The Midnight Library by Matt Haige…a bit disappointing. The Measure by Nikki Erlick is another one I’ve read recently…highly recommend!
I’m overdue for a trip to the Outer Banks. We used to make it there every summer, but it’s been a few years since I’ve been back.
My superpower would be the ability to make more time – time for all the things I need to do and the things I want to do.
Seafood, which is terribly unfortunate since I live in the land of beef and corn.
To be honest, I think public accounting chose me more than I chose public accounting. My husband and I met in college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He graduated a year ahead of me and was transferred to San Diego just a week after our wedding. At that point I’d switched college majors a number of times and had no idea what I wanted to do, but accounting was the quickest path to graduation and getting to California with my husband. As it turns out, it’s exactly what I was meant to do! I went on to get a master’s degree in accounting from the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, and then joined DesRoches & Company, where I specialized in common interest realty associations. I enjoy working with board members and helping them understand financial statements and tax returns even when numbers aren’t their “thing.”