Brass Taxes: Who We Are & What We Do
Yeah, we do taxes, but we are also really cool (we promise!)
Updated 4 hours ago
In addition to being tax experts, our team comes from a wide range of creative backgrounds, much like you. Aside from making for a more fun and personable appointment, our knowledge of art, music, theater, comedy, fashion, food, literature, film, podcasts, dance (the list goes on) comes in handy when helping you figure out expenses- because we make them too.
Disclaimer: The information below gives you only a glimpse of how amazing our team actually is.

Alan G: Alan is an actor and producer living in New York. Since college, he has been working with fellow creatives to help them reframe their relationship with money. His favorite activity is walking through NYC with no headphones or destination. His least favorite activity is writing in the third person.

Alexis C: I'm a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and writer. If you want to nerd out about pencils (I think there are good, less expensive options than Blackwings) or tea (first flush Darjeeling is my fave), I'm here for it. I'm also fascinated by and have written a lot (and made a podcast) about how artists navigate money, which is why this was an appealing day job. I've also been a birder for a few years now, so don't be shy, whether you're curious or serious about our feathered friends.

Ben G: Ben has been an actor, furniture maker, massage therapist, teacher, counselor, role-playing game writer, and board game designer. Born and raised by Jewish socialist school teachers in San Francisco, he now lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with his wife and three kids, camping, playing, listening to every kind of music, and making games. Never bored, always eclectic.

Dan M: Dan is a cartoonist and illustrator from New Jersey. He worked several years in finance and accounting prior to joining Brass Taxes. Dan spends his Summers at the Jersey Shore and likes to restore furniture, watch baseball, and play golf when he’s not drawing stuff or prepping taxes.

Edy D: A musical artist and yoga teacher who loves cooking, nature, travel, sci-fi, and dancing like no one (or everyone) is watching. Edy has worked in public accounting, education, hospitality, and music tech. Based on the East Coast, she spends her time writing music, mentoring other creatives, and running miles around Prospect Park.

Elisabeth P: Elisabeth is an artist and craftsperson who works in music/sound, photography, metal, fiber, clay, and feelings. Her current focus outside of art and taxes is studying up on construction techniques and Land Back approaches while slowly restoring a 1920s bungalow built on unceded Wabanaki Confederacy land in so-called southern Maine, where she lives with her partner and cat.

Eric S: Ice cream connoisseur. Ping pong champion. Proud Cleveland native. Cultivator of an incredible beard. You’ll often find him wandering through an unfamiliar city in search of delicious food.

Ethan M: Ethan is a tubist who enjoys cooking, reading Wikipedia, and going for walks of varying distances. Professionally, Ethan has been a freelance musician, music teacher, arts administrator, and concert producer. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his partner, an opera singer.

Helen H: A New Yorker currently living in Alaska with her spouse and pupper, Mop. She enjoys shaping clay, foraging, and watching Asian dramas. She joined a bean club last year and now has accumulated over 25 types of legumes. She’s slowly cooking through them all.

James W: A performer and educator fascinated and shaped by the endless variety of music from around the globe. A lover of sounds and stories and the intersection of the two. A believer in the power of financial literacy for everyone. A Maine native and an admirer of the natural world.

Jasmine S: Bookworm, food nerd, wine nerd. Jazz enthusiast. Certified sommelier. Eastcoaster who used to manage restaurants, and now writes, illustrates, and educates about foodways. A life of varied jobs and gigs in NYC led Jasmine to pursue financial and tax literacy. When not cooking or learning a new language, she is a personal assistant to Bodhisattva, her terrier/schnauzer pup.

Jessika D: Jessika is a freelance floral designer and lover of all things ephemeral currently living in Nashville. She is an extensive list-maker and stationary enthusiast-probably stemming from parts of her childhood spent cataloguing Beanie Babies and itemizing her sister’s Pokemon cards. When her brain isn’t organizing, she loves doing crossword puzzles, pondering in nature and going on crunchy leaf walks with her partner and pup, Sherman.

Julian G: Julian is a published and awarded poet working on his first manuscript. He teaches creative writing classes, loves public libraries, and has worked as a NYC baker, high-desert farmer, and beloved nanny. When he's not helping you with your taxes, he's probably looking at plants and dreaming of the ocean.

Kaeb B: Kaeb rarely understands humor, but they make people laugh all the time. They’re a profound paradox in many ways: rocking a killer mullhawk while crying over the beauty of nature, feeling sensitive to magic with a keen mind for numbers and a fervor for details. Bodyworker, mediocre musician, and collage artist dwelling in the woods of Corbett, Oregon here to slay your taxes.

Katelyn H: Katelyn is an artist, organizer, and helpful person living in New Jersey. She’s worked in education, non-profits, and small business management, and runs a creative and community art space in Jersey City. She loves gardens, zines, enchiladas, her local Buy Nothing group, and figuring out your taxes. Favorite activities include being outside on a nice day, anything with friends that doesn’t go too late or require inconvenient transit, and laughing with her partner and new baby.

Kristen F: When Kristen isn't logged in at Brass Taxes, she works as an Accountability Coach, helping creative professionals accomplish their goals and dream bigger than they've ever thought possible. She's a ceramicist, an amateur SM64 speedrunner, a long-distance hiker, an avid reader, a tarot enthusiast, and a mom to four cats.

Lee F: When not at the tax desk, I'm usually playing percussion instruments or playing in nature. I'm a musician and life coach. I freelance hustled as a grant writer, carpenter, fisherman, tour guide, circus drummer, and LGBT educator/advocate (to name a few). I currently reside in Los Angeles, California.

Mara M: Originally from the PNW, Mara now calls Brooklyn home. When not working with fellow artists on their taxes, she can be found messing around with synthesizers, biking around the city, developing film, or making a mess of ink in the studio.

Miguel M: Writer and editor who lives in NYC with his (1) dog and (17) plants. He loves tennis, devastating books by long-dead authors, and dissociating on Etsy. Y por fin está aprendiendo español, después de muchos comienzos en falso.

Ollie V: Ollie loves tea, specifically No. 55 “Lord Bergamot”, steeped for 3 minutes, with steamed milk and a splash of vanilla syrup. Living on an island in the Penobscot Bay affords them time to crochet, explore visible mending, and, more recently, weave! They have lived a thousand lives & had as many careers - mostly they are surprised they haven't been recruited into a cult yet, but haven’t totally ruled out starting their own.

Rus G: Rus founded Brass Taxes and at the time was making his living as a video editor, while working on becoming paid as a writer/performer. He started in standup and then moved to improv at UCB and the Magnet theater. Creating Brass Taxes became his favorite activity, and in 2015, he moved to St. Louis. He has a daughter and a stepson.

Ryan M: Ryan enjoys throwing pottery, tending to his carnivorous plants, playing his cello and coercing cats into cuddling. His professional background includes working in design and architecture, government, and bookkeeping for artists and writers. He currently divides his time between the USA and Barcelona, Spain.

Sarah G: Professional squirrel gazer and mountain admirer. When Sarah isn't drumming around the globe or making music in her NYC studio, she's enjoying incredible citrus from the Park Slope Food Coop.

Sarah K: Digs growing food and talking about growing food and eating food too. Gets jazzed up about numbers and making them make sense, a puzzle fan. Enjoys day-old lukewarm coffee for reasons she doesn’t even understand. Drives a Toyota as old as herself and fills the tank with love.

Sarah M: Sarah M is a writer and archivist who sometimes ends up on boats. She has worked previously as an abortion doula, letterpress printer, poets’ office manager, tallship dishwasher, social worker, line cook, barista, and teacher.

Sean C: I initially learned taxes through my job with the NYS Tax and Finance but I'm basically an artist who happens to be good with numbers. Used to play music professionally, now I make sculptures and installations, and sometimes furniture when the mood strikes. I also teach woodworking to farmers and anyone who wants to feel more empowered about their space. It’s the same philosophy I apply to taxes: knowledge is power!

Scott RB: In addition to slamming numbers, Scott is an actor, designer, rock climber, theatermaker, teacher, tap dancer, furniture maker, and pie baker. He makes his home in San Diego where the air is sweet and the tacos are plentiful.

Shannon L: Shannon is a visual artist, writer, and student of reiki and Traditional Chinese Medicine. When she’s not working with other creative people on their taxes, her favorite activities include cold swims, holing up in the cinema, drinking chamomile tea, or asking people about their dreams. Passionate about birdsong.

Theresa D: Theresa is a west coast-based documentary filmmaker, certified death doula, dancer, and student of astrology and herbalism. When she’s not helping other artists with their finances, she’s talking to folks about death while remembering to celebrate life by dancing to Missy Elliott, hiking in the forest with her partner and dog, and speculating about the solar system. Writes with the right, shoots a basketball with the left.

Zoë B: Zoë writes for a bunch of different publications about everything from tree pruning to wealth redistribution. She also helps run a DIY music venue in Brooklyn and organizes harm reduction teams at raves. Wherever she is, she loves talking about money and the confusing feelings it brings up for all of us.