Our Team
Katina Peters, Jami Johnson, and Jaime Staley are the owners and founders of PJS & Co. CPAs. Peters, Johnson and Staley began working together at a former virtual CPA firm, where they founded a business relationship and discovered the strength they had as a team. While the core of our business is providing a service of unmatched quality, our true essence is mission driven. Our values as a company can be found on our About Us page.
PJS & Co. CPAs’ commitment to providing the best value in the industry has been paramount in earning a reputation of trust and reliability. We support a team of accomplished, dedicated professionals you will be thrilled to welcome to your business.
Katina Peters, Owner, CPA, CGMA, is a business growth and profitability advisor with a passion for helping clients achieve their dreams. Katina works with service-based businesses, focusing her expertise on law firms and construction contractors. She utilizes her credentials, education and 20+ years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant in providing clients with insight to their business and acts as a partner in strategic planning and execution.
Jami Johnson, Owner, CPA, MSA, focuses on increasing growth and profitability for service-based businesses and specializes in insurance, IT, real estate and health care industries. Her passion for entrepreneurship began at an early age. You could say it runs in her blood. Her grandparents and parents were all small business owners, so she grew up watching the work it took to invest in something bigger than yourself. With this firsthand experience, she developed a passion for helping others.
Jaime Staley, Owner, CPA, MSA, is focused on improving growth and profitability for her service-based business clients. She specializes in dental, healthcare and IT industries. With over 20 years of accounting and finance experience, she excels working directly with business owners to help them understand the financial status of their company. Jaime prides herself on her strong work ethic, passion for teaching and ability to learn quickly. Her clients love her personable approach and know that she operates with their best interest in mind, acting as a partner and advisor.
Melanie Nuckolls, CPA, obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance and her Master of Accountancy from Texas Christian University. Melanie began her accounting career over 12 years ago with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Dallas, Texas. While at PwC, she participated in the audit planning, fieldwork and completion of private equity funds invested in foreign and domestic debt and equity securities for Fortune 500 companies. Melanie then gained 9 years of financial accounting experience in the private sector with Beal Bank. During her career at Beal Bank, she progressed from a Senior Accountant position to Assistant Vice President of Loan Accounting. In this role, she was instrumental in creating a new cohesive chart of accounts across multiple entities and upgrading the accounting system, resulting in more efficient and accurate reporting. In addition, she designed databases for forecasting and oversight used by executive management. She also has experience developing, implementing and documenting internal control procedures for multiple industries. Melanie resides in Frisco, TX, with her husband, young daughter and German Shorthaired Pointer.
Theresa Lauer, CPA, is on a mission to help people; with their lives, businesses and passions. Theresa attended the University of Wisconsin Madison where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration followed by a Master of Accountancy with an emphasis in Tax. Her career started out somewhat traditionally as she spent 10 years as a tax CPA with Grant Thornton LLP. During her tenure there, she worked primarily with corporations and their owners to meet compliance needs and provide tax consulting. While Theresa gained deep technical experience, her true love was small business. Theresa decided to make the leap and obtained SBA financing to launch a business with her husband. During that time, she also served as the Finance Manager for a large Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Theresa eventually sold her family business and made her way back to public accounting where she felt she could best help others with the experiences she had gained.
Theresa is truly a holistic accountant because she knows first-hand what it is like to be in the clients’ shoes. Theresa works with a variety of small businesses – not just to crunch numbers and prepare tax returns, but to help navigate life as a business owner from startup to sale and everything in-between. Outside of helping her clients, Theresa loves trying out new recipes on her family, building Legos with her kids, and working in the yard with her husband.
Ilze Mattheus, CPA, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Pretoria. After three years in public accounting with Ernst & Young South Africa and obtaining her CA license, she got the opportunity to continue her career at Binder Digker Otte in Dallas. During this time she worked with a variety of clients in a range of sizes and industries and also qualified as a CPA.
Ilze enjoyed auditing, but always had a passion for advising and strategic management, creating accounting processes and improving internal controls. It was a natural next step to work as a controller after leaving public accounting. In addition to accounting and month-end close, she gained experience in cashflow management, budgeting and creating reporting packages that supported management to make timely and informed decisions. By far her favorite experience was being a part of a tech start-up that doubled revenue and sold to a private equity firm during her time there.
Ilze lives in Frisco, TX with her husband and three kids. She loves to travel and is always planning the next family adventure.
Lisa Turner, CPA, earned her accounting degree from California State University, Chico. Lisa brings more than 20 years of experience in tax, financial, and business consulting. She began her career at Matson & Isom Accounting Firm in Chico, CA. While there, she worked with a variety of clients, performing audits. Lisa continued with a smaller firm in Sacramento, CA focusing on small business and individual tax returns for over 10 years.
Lisa enjoys helping clients grow their business and is passionate about providing great customer service. She has experience in many different industries and multiple state tax returns. More recently, she lived in beautiful Alaska working for Swalling & Associates in Anchorage, AK, performing audits and preparing tax returns for larger businesses.
Lisa now resides with her family in Coeur d’ Alene, ID. She enjoys long walks with her 2 dogs, spending quality time with her extended family, and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Bethany Wolfe, Accountant, is a seasoned accountant and full charge bookkeeper with 20 years experience in the field. Bethany earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Aurora University. Recruited to an independent accounting firm following college, she progressed from intern to Senior Accountant. She spent her tenure assisting the CPA and owner in accounting and tax preparation for clients in various industries, including contractors, rental properties, residential service, product sales and financial and professional services. In this role, she not only performed full service accounting and payroll, but also helped on projects to identify and implement workflow process improvements, utilizing up-to-date technologies and systems.
Bethany finds the current industry trend toward virtual accounting and bookkeeping both fascinating and exciting! In practice, she understands that many business owners are passionate about their trade, but not the accounting that accompanies running a company. She loves to take that piece and turn it into clean and concise reports that help a business owner make the best decisions to thrive in their industry.
Bethany resides with her family in Louisville, KY. When away from her desk, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and two kids, volunteering at her children’s school, and walking her Great Dane and Golden Retriever.
Victoria Ingersoll, Senior Accountant, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in accounting from New Hampshire College. After 12 years at Holy Rosary Credit Union, where she progressed through positions of increasing authority, she went onto manage William Noyes, DDS dental office. She worked for him for three years when she was hired as Office Manager for Robert Christian, DDS. After several years, she became the Practice Manager and grew the practice with marketing, diligence to patient care, and staff management, as well as all aspects of accounting for the practice. She had a key role in expanding the practice, including changing its name to Keystone Dental Arts, hiring an associate and expanding staff due to growth. In her role as Practice Manager, she had full responsibility for all accounting and payroll functions, including Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, creating and managing critical KPIs, and managing ROI factors for marketing campaigns.
Victoria decided to change her career and focus on the aspect she loves the most – accounting! By using the latest technology and systems, she is able to assist our clients with their bookkeeping to create accurate financial statements. With her dental background, she provides advisory knowledge to our dental clients, focusing on their practice management, key growth areas, and streamlining processes.
Victoria has spent her life living in Southern Maine. She and her husband love watching their son play hockey and traveling to his tournaments and clinics around the country.
Kim Nixon, Director of Operations, is a former hotel executive and controller with 20 years of operations, financial, management and sales experience and has a proven track record of creating and implementing operational controls that improve the bottom line. Her career spanned properties of all sizes from the small family-owned inn to the large high-end resort. Kim grew up with a father in the military and a mother who devoted her time as a volunteer. Being about service is in her DNA and she is committed to doing her job well. Kim has learned to be focused on the long-term success of an organization and make decisions with this goal always in mind. Kim helps others set priorities and stick to them. She uses her outstanding project management skills to focus the team on the critical path to success. She is a leader you want on your team. Kim is an active community volunteer and lives in San Diego with her husband and their two children.
Megan Spicer, Marketing & Business Development Manager, has experience working over 10 years in various marketing-related roles that focused on events, social media, website development, brand building, logo and other creative design. She began her office career working in accounting but quickly fell in love with marketing as she fulfilled the marketing assistant role in a small business. She was given the opportunity to plan an anniversary party from start to finish. When the event brought in three times more revenue than prior years, she was hooked on the results-driven success that can accompany a well executed event or campaign.
Megan continued to gain experience while attending school and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from San Diego State University. After obtaining her degree, she went on to earn a position building a brand from the ground up after a total overhaul and launch of a new product line. As a marketing professional, she has continued to pursue knowledge of programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, as well as earning certificates from Google Analytics, Google Adwords and Hubspot. She enjoys continually learning and enjoys reading to provide a well-rounded view of successes and opportunities. Megan enjoys spending time with her husband and children hiking many of California’s amazing trails and volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth.
Kendra Whiat, Billing Manager, has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, a Master’s in Business, and brings ten years of professional consulting and management experience to our team. Kendra started her career with KPMG Consulting, working for clients within the Department of Defense to provide accounting, financial, and system support. While at KPMG, she gained experience in automating manual processes, writing requirements for system updates, and analyzing business processes for best practices. This created a passion for combining her knowledge of technology and business to help improve and streamline processes for clients. She was then able to use this experience managing the technology for a corporate tax department within the banking and home loans industry. While in this role, Kendra managed updates, testing, data imports, and reporting for federal, state and local, and use tax software, where she automated tax adjustments and helped integrate separate processes to create cleaner and more efficient reporting. She then got the opportunity to work for a small manufacturing company, successfully upgrading their Customer Relationship Management system, implementing their first e-commerce website, and writing the request for proposal for a new enterprise resource planning solution.
After years of working in the traditional, corporate setting, Kendra then decided to follow a different passion and take some time to be home, full-time with her children. She loves being a mom and homeschools her children part-time. She and her husband live in Texas, where they love seeking out weekend adventures and taking road trips to see family.
Crystal Baker, Team Liaison, is a human resources professional with over 10 years of experience in providing excellent service. She has refined her skills in policy interpretation and administration, recruiting, conflict resolution, and confidentiality with a background in industries ranging from medical, manufacturing and retail. The majority of her career was spent in manufacturing, where she gained expertise in leading projects, working closely with associates on confidential issues and concerns, and recruiting at colleges all across the southeast.
Crystal left the workforce for a few years to become a stay-at-home mother and wife to raise her young children. In returning to her professional career, she found exactly what she was looking for in PJS & Co. CPAs. As the Team Liaison, Crystal helps grow the company by meeting recruitment and hiring needs, as well as keeping the team connected in a virtual workplace. Creating a successful remote work option is something she is passionate about, so she is committed to helping everyone feel connected and important within the company.
Crystal lives in Alabama with her husband, two children, and their Toy Poodle. While crafting and reading are some of her favorite things to do, her top pick is spending time traveling with her family (especially to Disney World.)
Liz Hedin, Executive Assistant, is a master multitasker with a love for organization. She enjoys working closely with our owners to provide support in organizing tasks, managing schedules and resources while overseeing special projects for our entire professional team. Liz is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Sciences. She spent her college years as a scholarship athlete on the Crew team and working as a Physical Therapy aid. With a love for exercise, she spent a few years working as a personal trainer, which led to opportunities in team management. Finding her niche in a support role, she worked as an office manager in a busy tutoring center. It was there that she refined her skills in organizing a complex schedule, client relationship and supporting the Director in all aspects of the business. Liz then stepped away from the workforce to raise her young children. Excited to be back in the game, Liz sees joining the PJS & Co. CPAs team as a dream come true with the balance of work and lifestyle.
Liz is originally from California and recently relocated to Maryland. She and her family have lived all over the United States while supporting her husband’s Air Force career. She is an active volunteer in their parish and children’s school. When the weather is warm, you will find Liz and her family boating on the Chesapeake Bay.
