Our Team
Our expert indirect tax team is here to help your business.
Partners
Experience, expertise, and established relationships define our Partners, each boasting decades of involvement in Indirect Tax matters, including extensive time with the "Big Four" firms. With over 30 years of trusted connections, our Partners are not only professional but also accessible and approachable. No matter your company's size, they are here to cater to your sales and use tax needs.
Jeff’s sales and use tax specialization has focused on refund recovery projects, audit defense, voluntary disclosure negotiations, sales and use tax software implementations and a myriad of sales and use tax planning opportunities. Jeff’s personal way with people has been responsible for some of the 30-year-old business relationships he still enjoys today.
Jeff earned a BS in Business Administration from Florida State University.
Jeff is a fiercely loyal alumni of Florida State University, traveling annually to see at least one game. Jeff is an avid golfer and enjoys spending time with his longtime wife and two grown sons traveling and hiking.
Jeff Stonerock, Partner, CPA, has nearly 30 years of experience in the indirect tax space. His specialization lies in tax planning, incentives, audit defense, refund claims and tax compliance. Jeff’s audit defense experience includes federal and state income taxes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, and various miscellaneous taxes in both the US and Canada. He’s also responsible for the innovation and implementation of Clarus Partners Exemption Certificate Management Software, AkuCert, and its Business Licensing Software, AkuLicense.
Jeff previously worked at Honda for nearly 18 years providing tax planning, incentives, and audit defense in state income tax, sales tax, property tax, and various miscellaneous taxes in both the US and Canada. Jeff was also responsible for the automation and integration of Vertex, Avalara, and TaxWare for several of the Honda companies. He’s taken what he’s learned from these software interactions to create the groundbreaking software solutions which Clarus Partners offers today.
Jeff’s path to his present expertise originated at The Ohio State University where he obtained a BS in Accounting and Finance. Jeff enjoys spending time with family, competitive sports, and creating solutions for his clients.
Brian Hollingsworth, Partner, brings 25 years of sales and use tax experience to the indirect tax niche of Clarus Partners. The lion’s share of his 25 years was spent with Big Four firms coupled with a brief time in his own practice. Brian’s talents are broad in the indirect tax specialization including but not limited to sales and use tax refund studies, voluntary disclosures, compliance process methodologies, transactional planning (particularly around mergers and acquisitions), percentage use tax reporting implementations, nexus studies, taxability matrices, managed audits, procurement card studies, sales/use tax payables account reconciliations, and audit defenses/protests. Brian also has valuable experience with Vertex, AvaTax, and SAP.
Brian’s education experience is through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Master’s in Accounting and a BS in Business Administration.
He now calls Idaho his home where he enjoys skiing, winemaking, camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing. He stays busy with his work, hobbies and of course his children—two grown and two younger twins.
Learn about Brian’s favorite hobby, Wine Making.
Steve Hanebutt, Partner, CPA, MST, has more than 25 years working in indirect tax matters, primarily within the state of Texas. After 10 years with a global public accounting firm and two local public accounting firms, Steve started his own sales and use tax consulting practice, which he had for over 15 years before joining Clarus Partners.
Steve has a BS of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Science in Taxation from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Steve’s outside interests include bowling, golf, travel, TCU football and a love of the theater. In fact, he considers himself an aficionado of the musical “Wicked”, having seen it 22 times in eight cities, five states and two continents!
Learn about Steve’s favorite hobby, Golf.
Sonia Walwyn, Partner, CPA, LLM, J.D., is a key asset to the Clarus Partners team as she’s a renowned expert in matters of abandoned and unclaimed property. As both a CPA and an attorney, while also being armed with more than 30 years’ experience in this field, she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s frequently featured as a speaker for countless well-known professional organizations and is often sought after to conduct in-house and external training in the area of unclaimed property. Sonia has also authored numerous articles on the topic in key industry journals throughout the U.S.
Sonia’s background includes serving as Deputy Treasurer/Deputy General Counsel to the Pennsylvania State Treasurer where she successfully defended Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property statute before the state Supreme and appellate courts. She’s also served a number of years in vital leadership positions with the Big Four accounting firms.
Sonia earned an LLM in taxation from Villanova School of Law, a J.D. from Dickinson School of Law and holds a BS in Accounting from Elizabethtown College.
When she’s not busy successfully slaying unclaimed property dragons she loves to relax with a good book.
Tax Directors and Managers
Meet our extraordinary Managers and Directors – the crème de la crème of the indirect tax business. Their vast expertise and first-class service mindset are invaluable assets to the Clarus Partners family. With their high levels of competence, we ensure a consistent delivery of certainty for you!
Rachael Appel, Manager, brings extensive expertise in unclaimed property to her role at Clarus Partners. She truly values her client-facing position, which allows her the opportunity to work one-on-one with her clients to address their unclaimed property issues and needs.
Rachel earned a BA in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, majoring in Accounting with a minor in Finance.
Outside of work, Rachael enjoys unwinding with freshwater fishing, watching baseball, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Rachel Billing, Senior Manager, has been with Clarus Partners for more than a decade. Rachel played an integral role in the development of our Exemption Certificate Management Software, AkuCert, and provides a myriad of consulting services to the various clients served by Clarus Partners.
Rachel earned an MBA from Ohio Dominican University. While there, she continued her love of playing volleyball and basketball, which she discovered a talent for at a very young age. She continues with that activity today as she still plays in a weekly sand volleyball league.
Rachel enjoys trying a new food or restaurant while traveling and playing a good game of cards with friends or family.
Anel Salinas Dorhauer, Tax Manager, has a strong background in Louisiana and Colorado sales and use taxes as she was an auditor in both Departments of Revenue as well as with one of the parishes. Considering Louisiana and Colorado are two of the more problematic states from a sales and use tax perspective (i.e., the home rule local jurisdictions), Anel’s knowledge and skillset will be extremely beneficial to Clarus Partners and its clients!
Prior to joining Clarus Partners, Anel worked as an Indirect Tax Consultant at EY. Anel is excited to bring her knowledge and skills to our consulting team and help companies navigate the complexities of sales and use tax regardless of the jurisdiction. Her goal is to educate businesses on reducing their exposure and ensuring compliance.
Anel holds a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Louisiana Tech University, and she is fluent in Spanish. When she’s not working, Anel is spending time with her husband Craig and their three pups. She also enjoys hiking, traveling, cooking, music, crafting, and being actively involved in the community.
You can learn more about Anel here!
Dennis Eastman, Director, has more than 30 years of experience in the Texas State Comptroller’s office working in several leadership roles as state tax auditor and oversaw thousands of sales and use tax audits. He subsequently used this expertise as a formidable Texas sales and use tax audit defender for companies of all sizes, including Fortune 500 companies.
With a BS in Accounting from Angelo State University, Dennis brings heart to Clarus Partners as an avid family man and active participant working in his community and church. He pauses from his work to spend time with his family and to tend to his yard and garden as well as answering the occasional call of trout fishing in Colorado and Wyoming.
Read more about Dennis here
Jim Heine, Senior Manager, with nearly 20 years of expertise in indirect tax, has successfully guided numerous large corporations in the Columbus area through complex sales and use tax matters, including nexus analysis and audit defense. His specialized knowledge extends to sales and use tax, property tax, and federal and state/local income tax.
A proud alumnus of The Ohio State University, Jim earned his BS in Business Administration while performing in the marching band, famously playing the tuba in the iconic script “Ohio” routine.
Based in our Columbus office, Jim enjoys life with his family, staying active with their many pursuits and activities.
Kelli Kirwan, Tax Manager, brings 25 years of expertise in various fuel taxes, sales and use taxes, and state and local tax audits to her role on the compliance team at Clarus Partners. She began her tax career in the aviation industry as a Fuel Tax Analyst. She advanced to Fuel Tax Manager over two decades, gaining extensive knowledge of fuel-related tax returns, federal fuel returns, and state tax audits while building strong relationships with state and local jurisdictions.
Kelli later transitioned to the retail industry, focusing on sales and use taxes, licensing for brick-and-mortar retail locations, and managing state tax audits. Her broad and versatile tax experience makes her a valuable asset to the Clarus Partners team.
A graduate of Western Michigan University with an Associate’s in Applied Science – Accounting, Kelli lives in Livonia, Michigan, with her husband and their two daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and cross-stitching. She treasures family time at their Northern Michigan home, where she loves the outdoors, four-wheeling, fishing, and relaxing on the beach.
Kelli is excited to join the Clarus Partners team and looks forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead in her role as Tax Manager.
Carolyn Pearson, Manager, has an impressive 30 years’ experience, 15 of which are made up of sales tax compliance. She also has strong accounts receivable and accounts payable background from her time spent at a local CPA firm, which gives Carolyn tremendous insight into the intricacies of a sales and use tax audit.
Carolyn loves the work/life balance that she finds at Clarus Partners. She also values the flexible work environment and the appreciation she receives for her work from both Clarus Partners and her clients.
Carolyn and her husband love to follow their seven grandkids around to their various sporting events. When she has time to herself, she indulges in reading and travel.
Susan Phillips, Manager, brings decades of sales and use tax compliance experience to Clarus Partners. Susan has been with Clarus Partners since its inception and is invaluable in our sales and use tax compliance team.
Susan earned an Associates in Accounting and Business Management from Hocking College as well as a BS in Business from Franklin University.
In her free time, Susan enjoys boating, watching crime series and history documentaries, and visiting wineries. She also plans to volunteer with sea turtle conservation efforts and treasures spending time with her sons, who are her greatest joys and best friends.
Gillian Roth, Manager of the Compliance Department, ensures that each of our sales and use tax compliance clients receive the first-class service that Clarus Partners is known for. With her unyielding pursuit of excellence, Gill helps clients minimize liability exposure while thriving in her responsibilities. Her attention to detail and ability to manage multiple moving parts bring a sense of calm and assurance to those around her.
Gillian earned her Bachelor of Science from Ohio Dominican University, where she balanced academics with two years of collegiate basketball and her role as a Student Ambassador. She applies that same dedication and balance to her work at Clarus Partners, seamlessly managing diverse compliance responsibilities while staying physically active and competitive in her downtime.
Read more about Gill here.
Nic Schatte, Director, CPA, has been an accounting expert for 20 years, serving as a state auditor for Ohio, working with a couple of the Big Four firms and handling the income tax planning and indirect tax issues for a Fortune 20 company.
Nic earned a BS and MS in Accounting from the University of Illinois, with a specialization in Taxation, Nic brings a robust level of expertise to Clarus Partners and an admirable level of focus and dedication.
When he’s not making Clarus Partners look stellar for their clients, he enjoys his time with his schnauzer, cycling, reading, exercising, and gardening, which you can read about here.
Stacie Sedgwick, Manager, brings Clarus Partners decades of experience in indirect tax compliance. She has vast experience in filing sales and use tax returns, food and beverage returns, and business licenses, which lends a unique expertise to our compliance team.
Stacie earned an Associates in Accounting from Marion Technical College and her BS in Business Administration from Franklin University.
When Stacie isn’t at home she’s likely camping or watching her daughter play volleyball and softball at her university or enjoying her grandkids.
AJ (Alex) Stewart, Manager, brings a wealth of experience to the consulting group at Clarus Partners. AJ’s role is to assist in growing, strengthening, and expanding our network of client relationships while continuing to provide invaluable services.
AJ brings almost 17 years of experience from his previous firm, where he spent 13 years as part of the Sales and Use Tax/Indirect Tax team. Over the last 7 years at his previous firm, AJ became deeply involved in a major telecommunications account, handling compliance and consulting duties for sales tax, telecom tax, USF reporting, and annual reports, in addition to the month-end close process, including monthly reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, use tax reviews, registrations, refunds, audit representation, and voluntary disclosure agreements.
AJ lives in Texas with his family. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, coaching his kids in sports, and indulging in his passion for coffee. AJ has a particular love for a well-prepared cup of light-roasted, whole-bean, single-origin Ethiopian coffee. He also enjoys listening to Paul David Tripp’s podcasts and sermons.
AJ holds a BBA in Finance from Southern Arkansas University.
Kimberly Vance, Manager in the sales and use tax compliance team, enjoys getting to know her clients and their needs. She likes the pace of her duties with Clarus Partners in that she gets the opportunity to learn new components of the work continually and there’s always a new client scenario to explore.
Having attended the University of Akron, Kimberly began her career in accounting in 1991. Highlights of her lengthy career are inventory control, accounts payable, payroll, and income tax returns.
She enjoys doing just about anything that involves her son and her husband.
Khayyam Zubair, IT Manager, brings a strong background in financial technology operations and development, with seven years of experience in the field. Though new to the indirect tax industry, he has quickly made significant contributions to advancing Clarus Partners’ software development and executing key IT projects.
Khayyam earned a BA in Computer Science from Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was an academic scholarship recipient and a consistent dean’s list honoree. He also holds an MBA from Capital University.
Outside of work, Khayyam enjoys playing tennis and cricket, exploring world history, tracking financial markets, and engaging with discussions on global affairs.
Team
It takes all kinds to make up a complete family and our Clarus Partners family wouldn’t be complete without the hardworking members that make up the rest of our team. These team members come with equally as impressive backgrounds as their counterparts. Come on in. Sit down. Relax. Get to know us a bit. You’ll be glad you did.
Chad Bell, Senior, discovered his passion for sales and use tax right out of college during his time at JP Morgan Chase, and he’s been hooked ever since. A graduate of West Liberty University with a degree in Business Administration, specializing in Management, Chad brings a solid background in indirect tax and banking to his role at Clarus Partners.
Chad thrives on the challenge of constantly learning within the indirect tax field and exploring the dynamics between state and local tax entities. He also enjoys building strong relationships with clients.
Supported by his co-workers and his wonderful wife, Jamie, Chad spends much of his free time cheering on his son at his school sports events. When he can, he enjoys golfing, fishing, and light travel with friends and family.
Audrey Bensman, Staff, is a valued team member at Clarus Partners. Audrey holds an associate degree in Applied Business from Edison State Community College and is currently pursing a Business Management Certificate, with plans to return to school in the Spring of 2024.
Outside of work, Audrey enjoys spending quality time with family and friends. A passionate basketball enthusiast, she also stays active in the outdoors, finding solace in the beauty of nature.
Learn more about Audrey here
Jacqueline Billing, Senior, has loved the challenges that the indirect tax space at Clarus Partners has provided her. She readily tackles the requirements of the sales and use tax compliance division and thrives in it.
Jacqueline earned a BS and MS in Education from The Ohio State University.
Her husband and daughter benefit from her passion for cooking as do her family and friends with whom she enjoys spending time. She also loves being outside with all that those activities entail.
Hannah Brightbill, Senior, shares her great smile and sunny attitude as an asset to the Clarus Partners family where she loves working with great people and coming together as a team to accomplish a common goal. She loves seeing the project develop from its beginning to its end and takes great pride in her work. Her aptitude serves us well as a vital part of the AkuLicense team here at Clarus.
Hannah earned a BS in Accounting from Ohio Dominican University. Her left brain thrived in extracurricular activities such as Treasurer of the Future Accounting Professionals Club while her right brain basked in her duties as the campus DJ.
When she’s not spending time with her family at the family farm you can find Hannah playing piano or shopping.
Sarah French, Staff, shares two decades of focused accounting and finance work with Clarus Partners. She loves digging into numerical and logistical research and coming up with solutions. This experience is highlighted with her work on our AkuCert team.
Sarah enjoys life at home with her family which includes her husband, daughter, and a very high energy Labrador!
Her favorite activities outside of her family are quilting, knitting, and learning about American history with an emphasis on quilting and textiles.
Paula Fuchs, Staff, brings a solid background in business and prior experience as an office manager to Clarus Partners. She is a valuable member of our compliance team, offering a wealth of knowledge to support our clients..
Based in South Bend, IN, Paula enjoys of being surrounded by her five grown children and five grandchildren. Outside of work, Paula finds solace in knitting, crocheting, and indulging her passion for gardening.
Michael Givens, Staff, possesses an extensive background in payroll, AP and AR matters which she’s cultivated through more than 30 years of working in that space. Clarus Partners is grateful that she’s using those talents to now assist in the needs of some of our biggest clients with their sales and use tax compliance.
Why did Michael choose Clarus Partners? Michael expresses it in one word—“Opportunity!” She loves being surrounded by the expertise of her coworkers and soaking up tips and tricks of the trade from their prowess. She claims that “opportunity abounds in education, camaraderie and growth with Clarus Partners”.
When she’s not focused on Clarus’ clients, she’s contentedly spending time with her family.
Barbara Hoersten, Senior, comes to Clarus Partners with a BS in Business Administration from The Ohio State University and an impressive background that makes her a great asset to our indirect tax consulting team. She worked as a state auditor for Florida for several years as well as seven years in the North American Tax Dept. for a Global Fortune 500 Company.
Barbara comes from a hardworking family where she grew up working in the family restaurant. Today she loves hiking, particularly in the mountains of New Mexico. She also enjoys gardening and Cleveland Guardians Baseball. She still harbors a dream to become a Blackhawk pilot someday.
Read more about Barb here – https://www.claruspartners.com/a-passion-for-adventure/
Mac Knaus, Staff, began as one of our returning interns at Clarus Partners. He specializes in our ERTC program compliance and data collection. He’s educated at Capital University as a Financial Economics major, on a full tuition scholarship (CIC Tuition Exchange). He’s a part of the Tau-Mu chapter of Kappa Sigma where he plays for their recreational basketball team in the winter.
Mac loves all that he’s learning at Clarus Partners and helping in the growth of the firm and the success of our clients.
His passion for playing, watching, and practicing golf has led him to also work as a caddy in his spare time at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin which hosts the Memorial Tournament every year.
Vanessa Lindsay, Staff, comes to Clarus Partners with the skillset to make our sales and use tax compliance team that much more stellar. She has over 15 years working in various capacities with the State of Ohio including Accounts Payable and Budgeting.
Vanessa obtained an Associate of Arts degree with an emphasis in Psychology and Sociology from Columbus State Community College.
Vanessa is drawn to Clarus Partners because of the opportunity to use her passion for Excel data manipulation from a remote working environment.
Vanessa is also passionate about her cat, Agatha, who’s a snuggle muffin and constant companion. She also adores her only child, Josiah, and his wife, Brooke as well as their puppy, though not necessarily in that order. She enjoys crocheting and going to festivals and playing Euchre. Spending time with her family and best friends is her ultimate happy place.
Read about Vanessa’s Crochet hobby here
Brooke March, Senior, comes to Clarus Partners with an extensive background in bookkeeping, forensic accounting, and other vital supporting roles which are clearly demonstrated in her work ethic. You’ll find her to be a motivated problem solver if you ever have the opportunity to work with her directly. She’s typically found working in our indirect tax compliance department working with our Exemption Certificate Management System, AkuCert.
Problem-solving is Brooke’s happy space. She’s renowned in our team as a go-to person for finding solutions which may challenge others. She also loves to create streamlining options and enhance those skills every opportunity she gets. This environment is what she loves about her work here at Clarus Partners.
In her personal life she winds down with her two dogs, close friends, and is very close to her family, including her sister who also works at Clarus Partners. She finds time to do several hours of volunteer work each month and is an avid gardener, crocheter, quilter, and baker.
Kendal March, Staff, can be succinctly described as working in a field of expertise in which she thrives. She genuinely LOVES working in spreadsheets. Her entire career has been spent in the accounting world. Kendal works primarily on our Business License Management team with our groundbreaking software, AkuLicense. She loves the flexibility of working remotely or in office with Clarus Partners and the caliber of people with whom she gets to work.
When Kendal isn’t entertaining herself in Excel, she enjoys playing with her dog, a rescue terrier mix.
Learn more about Kendal here.
Lauren Sedgwick, Staff, is learning to excel in indirect tax matters, specifically on our Business License Management team and working with our groundbreaking software, AkuLicense.
She enjoys the friendliness of everyone at Clarus Partners as well as the flexibility in being able to work from home where she can also keep an eye on her young daughter and her Labrador retriever.
Megan Sloan, tax staff, focuses on registrations and business licenses at Clarus Partners. Although she comes from a science background, Megan is eager to transition into the field of sales tax. She graduated from Ashland University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and worked as a Research Technician at Charles River Laboratories in Ashland, Ohio.
Megan resides in Loudonville, Ohio, and is enthusiastic about expanding her skills and knowledge. Megan’s family includes her husband, who works at his family’s greenhouse in Loudonville, and their dog, whom Megan describes as a certified cutie.
In her free time, Megan enjoys visiting the local coffee truck on weekends, binge-watching “Dr. Phil” and “The Good Doctor,” spending quality time with friends and family, especially her two nephews, Griffin and Henry, and traveling to new places with her husband.
Jared Warfield, Senior, takes great satisfaction in managing the monthly compliance work for his clients at Clarus Partners. With a passion for both math and geography, he excels at keeping his clients’ sales and use tax compliance processes organized and running smoothly.
Jared earned a degree in Math Education from Miami University and was a math teacher (11th grade mostly) where he discovered an affinity for working with students. Jared says that he’s learned way more geometry than anyone needs to know!
Outside of work, Jared is a confessed diehard Baltimore sports fan (Go Orioles and Ravens!). He plays fantasy football religiously and is on a slow-pitch softball team. He also loves to watch films—he’s up to more than 1,450 of them and loves to learn the trivia connected to them. He’s presently raising a bernedoodle puppy with his wife.
Read more about Jared in this blog.
Sales & Marketing Team
Meet our exceptional sales and marketing team - your perfect gateway to the world of Clarus Partners. Embodying a "service-first" approach, they work in perfect harmony to consistently deliver the finest products and services in the industry. Prepare for an unparalleled experience every time you need us.
Natassia Butler, Sales and Marketing Manager at Clarus Partners, is dedicated to driving revenue growth through strategic planning and execution. Leading the sales team and collaborating closely with the marketing function, she ensures campaigns effectively generate leads and build brand awareness. Natassia focuses on nurturing client relationships, analyzing market trends, and refining processes to keep Clarus competitive.
With a strong background in sales and customer service, Natassia thrives in both her professional role and as a mother of three boys. She lives in Columbus, OH, and attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University. In her spare time, she loves a good book, action movie, or adventure series, and enjoys the beach, camping, and traveling. Natassia values the growth opportunities with Clarus and working with her team.
Becky Forbush, Director of Product Solutions at Clarus Partners, brings a wealth of experience in the sales tax industry, both in compliance services and related software solutions, and has proven herself as a seasoned sales professional. Not only has she excelled in her field, but she has also guided and mentored newer sales professionals to reach their full potential.
Outside of work, Becky is an active member of the philanthropic group, Women’s Life. She and her colleagues empower local women in their community, making a positive impact in the lives of others. Becky also values quality time with her family, especially her mom. Additionally, she holds an associate degree in sign language from Oakland Community College, showcasing her commitment to personal growth and communication.
When it comes to leisure activities, Becky finds joy in boating on the stunning Higgins Lake. Recognized as the 6th most beautiful lake in the world by National Geographic, it’s no wonder she enjoys spending time there. Cooking is another passion of hers, and she loves to whip up delicious dishes in her free time. Becky and her husband Rod have had the pleasure of raising her nephew, Ethane, who now has two little ones, Ridge and Lilly. Being grandparents to his children brings them immense joy. They also have two biological children, Grace who is 24 and Ben who is 22. Last but not least, their family is completed by a sweet (and crazy) rescued Goldendoodle named Chloe.
You can learn more about Becky here.
Amanda Johnson, Director of Product Solutions at Clarus Partners. With over 12 years of direct sales expertise and two decades in customer service spanning diverse industries, including hospitality, finance, SaaS, and tax compliance, Amanda possesses a keen understanding of customer needs and excels in delivering exceptional, value-driven solutions.
In her previous leadership roles, Amanda demonstrated her commitment to fostering employee and organizational growth through comprehensive training, mentorship, and process improvement initiatives.
Amanda’s contagious enthusiasm for life and new experiences is matched only by her dedication to providing top-tier customer service. She eagerly anticipates the opportunity to embark on a journey of learning and growth with Clarus Partners, driven by her passion for assisting individuals and businesses alike.
Amanda attended Cal State University Fullerton and studied business administration. Residing in Helendale, CA, with her husband Michael and son, Aiden, Amanda finds joy in cooking, gardening, and spending quality time with her family by the lake. Her unwavering dedication to both her family and professional excellence make her a highly valuable addition to our team at Clarus Partners.
Learn more about Amanda here.
Natalie Raplee, Director of Product Solutions at Clarus Partners, brings over two decades of experience as a solutions provider, with a strong focus on customer-centric strategies. Throughout her career, Natalie has excelled in sales and account management. Her business development background, which includes roles at Fastenal, Global Knowledge, and Avalara, has equipped her with the skills to effectively collaborate with clients, lead sales teams, and drive organizational growth.
Natalie graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in Business Management, concentrating in Marketing. She currently resides in New Hill, NC near Raleigh, with her husband and two children. Outside of work, she enjoys camping, traveling, and spending time at the beach. She is excited to continue her growth and learning as well as provide meaningful contributions to the team and organization. Natalie’s commitment to professional excellence and her passion for helping businesses thrive make her a valuable asset to Clarus Partners.
Administrative Team
Our dedicated admin team ensures seamless day-to-day operations, employing their organizational skills to keep everything running smoothly and working to create an efficient and productive work environment.
Ashli Stonerock, Attorney at Law, is a Manager with Clarus Partners and comes to us with vast experience that strengthens our sales and use tax service experience. Her focus will be in our human resources department as well as our ERTC reviews and documentation.
Ashli has over two decades working with Ohio’s CAT tax as well as exemption certificates and tax determinations. Ashli’s law experience is also vast. She’s worked as a Guardian Ad Litem and representing juveniles in court for more than a decade and has served in various capacities as an attorney in human resources, employment law, unemployment, and worker’s compensation, as well as in-house counsel for more than two decades. She’s also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney and as a board of trustees member for several years.
Ashli was educated at Capital University where she received her BA while studying criminology and sociology. She then attended Capital University Law School and graduated summa cum laude and was subsequently admitted to the Ohio Bar. Even with her busy schedule, Ashli still focuses on continuing education such as the leadership training of the highly acclaimed Focus 3 she recently attended.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters as well as her friends and family. She loves the outdoors especially mushroom hunting for the elusive morel mushroom. And she’s always looking for a reason to bake!!
Ashli joined Clarus Partners because she admired the talent which the partners had—especially as she observes them thinking outside the box. Ashli loves a good challenge so when the idea to assist the HR team came up, she was ecstatic. Having long been a part of the HR world she’s discovered that she absolutely loves working with people and watching them grow personally and professionally. Ashli says that being a part of that experience makes her smile on the inside.
Carolyn Cutri, Administrative Assistant, is one of the select few who are trusted in keeping our office running smoothly. She fills this vital role with a cheerful demeanor and deft skills developed over the past seven years she’s served in such a role.
Carolyn is a master at finding quick ways to update processes and keep the organization in place throughout the Clarus Partners firm. She loves the ability to have a work/life balance with Clarus Partners, which also affords Carolyn the opportunity to manage and operate a theater company where she designs, acts, and directs.
Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater from The Ohio State University. It was a natural choice for her since she’s been singing since she was seven years old. She also studied abroad in London and was the President of her theater fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega.
Carolyn declares her dog, Dobby, as her most favorite thing in the world, with sleep running a close second.
Read more about Carolyn here
Cassidy Lott is an administrative assistant and HR specialist at Clarus Partners. With a BS in Education along with an Associate of Arts in Human Ecology from The Ohio State University, Cassidy shifted from teaching to administration and HR, where she quickly excelled. At Clarus Partners, she manages a wide range of tasks, from coordinating office operations to handling HR responsibilities. Her strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to handle multiple tasks make her an invaluable asset to the team. She also values the company’s flexibility, which allows her to balance in-office and remote work, encouraging a healthy work/life balance.
Living in Marysville, OH, Cassidy enjoys spending time with her husband, Eric, their two boys, Griffin and Gavin, and their dogs, Lucie and Perrie. She loves attending her children’s activities, drinking coffee, visiting wineries, and spending time with family and friends. Cassidy is excited to rejoin the Clarus team after a year and a half away.
You can read more about Cassidy here!