About Us

Shahar is a tax and accounting expert with over 15 years
of experience in the field, He is an Entrepreneur and known
as the “tax guru” in the west coast.

Shahar moved to Seattle from Israel and founded GPL tax and accounting, where he still serves as the chairman of board. Along the years, he served thousands of business owners and perfected the S-Corp management process. Shahar has MBA from Seattle University, and owns several S-Corps himself. In his free time he enjoys sports event and spending time with his wife and 3 kids.

Shahar’s super-powers: Personal Charisma and a loud voice!

Uri is a growth marketer, with over 12 years of experience in the start-up industry. He ran marketing and demand generation at several Seattle startup as well as at Amazon Alexa.

Before founding Formations, he ran marketing at Mindspace, an Israeli global coworking company, where he got to know and learn the self-employed market closely. Uri graduated with honors from the University of Washington and holds an MBA in Marketing. Uri is married with 3 children and he is a huge Seahawks fan!

Uri’s super-power: Separating the important from the trivial

Aaron has worked as an accountant for over 10 years and has certified on numerous fintech platforms.

He has specialized in maximizing efficiency through leveraging cloud-based apps while maintaining compliance to regulations for city, state, and federal agencies. In his free time, he enjoys playing guitar, gaming, and yelling at the TV.

Aaron’s super-power:  The All-father. He’s our accounting SME!

Adi brings over 20 years of experience in marketing, business, and relationship development.

She moved to the USA from Israel, lived in Boston, and finally settled in the Seattle area. Adi has MBA in business management and marketing, and BA in persuasive communication, trends, and technologies in media. When she’s not working, Adi enjoys hiking with her husband and daughters

Adi’s super-power: Multitasking

Akriti is a Product Leader empowering teams and businesses to build valuable technology-based products, where she is a collaborator and engages people at all levels in organizations.

She was born and raised in India and has made a recent move to Vancouver, Canada. Akriti is a CSPO certified professional building products for B-C, B-B, B-B-C and SaaS-based verticals. She has a demonstrated history of working with a range of companies including fortune 500 organizations and fast-growing startups.

In her free time, she likes to drive around to explore food and spend time backpacking to remote destinations to experience ways of natural living.

Akriti’s Super Power – Building product experiences and positive relationships!

Amanda was born in California and moved around before settling in the Pacific Northwest. She is a Seattle resident since 2005, she loves to travel, but misses mountains and ocean if absent too long. After studying Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, she has worked in service, sales, and the beauty industry.

Amanda is naturally curious and driven by serving others. When not working, she balances volunteering, walks and talks with friends, and quality time with Phoebe the cat.

 Amanda’s Super-Power: Curiosity 

Amanda grew up in Beijing, China. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Communications. Amanda has lived in Seattle for 13 years and she takes great pride as a resident of the Evergreen State. Amanda has worked in marketing and sales where she developed a passion for connecting with customers. She is a strong believer in finding real values over price tag. Aside from work, she enjoys hiking.

Amanda’s Super Power:  Authenticity

Anup is a Product Leader with extensive experience working for Investment Management, Investment Banks, Fintech, and eCommerce companies.

Anup is a CFA Charterholder and has an MBA in finance from Simon Graduate School of Business, Rochester. He has an undergrad in Electrical Engineering and has certifications in Machine Learning from Stanford University and Product Management from Darden School of Business, Virginia. He enjoys traveling and loves reading about finance, technology, history, and literature during his leisure time.

Anup’s Super-Power: Empathize with the customers

Bram is an American and Dutch dual national that has been living in Seattle since 2004. He graduated from the UW with a BA in Marketing in 2017 and has been working in sales ever since. His hobbies include running and trying new dishes to eat those calories back.

Bram’s super-power: Supernatural Caffeine Tolerance

After living in Seattle for over 11 years, Brian has moved full time to Portland, Oregon. He has studied Business Administration at San Diego City College and currently studies Accounting at South Seattle College.

Brian is an experienced Tax Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the accounting industry and educating professionals new to taxation. He is skilled in solving complicated tax reports and in risk management. Brian spends most of his free time working in his garden and enjoying the outdoors. He recently started to travel the world and have been to New Zealand, London, Sri Lanka, India, Israel, and Costa Rica and in less than 18 months! Brian’s personal mantra is “Per Aspera Ad Astra.”  It is Latin for through hardships to the stars.”

Brian’s super-power: The power of disco!

Chandler grew up in Yakima, Washington and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Central Washington University.

He is passionate about continuous learning and helping others achieve their goals. During his free time, Chandler likes to spend his time at the gym weightlifting, on a mountain hiking, or in the kitchen cooking.

Chandler’s Super-Power: Self-Efficacy

Christie was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and recently moved to Seattle to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. She has a BBA in Finance, Marketing, and International Business from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and over five years of experience in the Financial Services Industry.

In her spare times, Christie enjoys hiking, exploring new cuisines, and traveling.

Christie’s Super-Power: Listening

Cori is a Californian at heart, Washingtonian in residence. She enjoys all the Pacific Northwest has to offer. She lives with the love of her life Mylee, her 7-year-old feline companion.

Cori comes from a Human Resources background where she managed the employee lifecycle for 350 tax professionals. Customer service, organizational skills, and dedication to the mission are her best professional qualities. Her favorite way to spend an afternoon is walking around the lake while listening to music

 Cori’s Super-Power: Sticky Note & Sharpie Master

Darya is originally from Orange County, landed in Seattle in 2018, and has lived a few places in between.

Darya is the type of person that likes to get her hands dirty. She has a broad marketing skillset that encompasses paid media, executive communications, brand strategy, and social media. She holds bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California.

When she is not consuming too much cold brew or marketing Formations, she can be found attempting to golf, learning to surf, trying a new restaurant, or hiking with her German Shepherd, Audrey.

Darya’s Super-Power: Grit

Denise has a multidisciplinary career, driven by creativity, strategy and communication. She has been working in different industries for over 12 years, from large banks to start-ups, focusing on creative projects, branding and design.

Born in São Paulo – Brazil, Denise moved to beautiful Vancouver – Canada in 2015. She has an Executive MBA, BS in Information Systems and 2 Diplomas in Graphic Design and UX Design. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, movies, travelling and good food and wine. Denise is a devoted wife with 2 children. She has 2 beautiful grumpy cats. Meow!

Denise’s Super-power: The power of trying new things

Gabi has lived in Seattle since 2017, but originally hails from Los Angeles. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English with emphasis in Creative Writing, and has a background in sales, learning and development, and beauty. In her spare time, she enjoys all things creative, including researching dark histories, writing and producing a podcast, and painting.

Gabi’s super-power: Emotional intelligence.

Isaac moved to Seattle in 2015, happily trading sunshine for water, trees and volcanoes.

He has been working sales in the last decade. Isaac holds a double bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations and Affairs from the University of Colorado Boulder.
On his spare time, he enjoys playing guitar, and Thai food

Isaac’s super-power: The power of listening

James grew up in California and received an economics degree from University of California, San Diego.

He moved to Seattle to further his education and is enjoying the Pacific Northwest, rain and all.

While he is not busy being a coffee snob, James splits his time between music, basketball (Go Warriors), and web development.

James’s Super-Power: Discernment

Jessica brings extensive experience in customer success, program and team management as well as deep love for customers and helping them achieve their goals.

Jessica was born and raised in Seattle. She then spent 12 years in Colorado, including her undergraduate work at the University of Denver, and several years bouncing been Vail, Denver and Aspen. She started her career in working in nonprofits and then made the transition to start-ups and technology. When she isn’t delighting customers, she is spending husband and young son. She enjoys the outdoors, cooking, finding new restaurants and like a true Seattlite – Costco and Nordstrom.

Jessica’s Super Power: Helping customers achieve their goals

Joe was born in Casper, Wy but grew up and lived all over Western Washington. He went to Western Washington University and has been in all different type of sales and management roles  in over 15 years. In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors and traveling.

Joe’s superpower: Being a Team Player

Julia was born in Riga, Latvia then moved to Israel, then Belgium, landed in Los Angeles (where she spent about half of her life “on and off” and where still considers her second home), but has since happily settled back in Seattle in 2015.

She has worked in retail, banking, in the real estate industry, and has a number of years as an office manager, administrative and executive assistant experience combined.

Julia is a big sports fan: GO Hawks!!! Baseball, hockey, etc. The Olympics are her absolute favorite, both Winter & Summer. She also enjoys movies, concerts, ballet, and the theater.

Julia’s Super-Power: The power of negotiation

Krithika was born and brought up in India and moved to Seattle in 2016. She studied Computer Science & Engineering and did a Post Graduate Program in Marketing and Communications.

Krithika is experienced in Customer Relations, and in her spare time, she enjoys painting, singing, cooking new dishes, biking with her family and spending quality time with them.

Krithika’s Super-Power: Effective Communication

Kyle grew up in Issaquah Washington, graduating from WSU with a BA in Communication and a minor in Criminal Justice. He enjoys being in the mountains whether its snowmobiling with his family or skiing with his friends. He has been working in sales for the last 5 years.

Kyles Super-Power: Positivity

Kyle was born and raised in Snohomish, Washington, and has been working as a Market Leader in various SaaS companies since 2018.

Kyle is a very outgoing and active person who enjoys hiking, fishing, and camping. As an adrenaline junkie, he LOVES motorsports. During the winters he goes snowmobiling every weekend, and during the summers he is either riding his street bike or dirt bike.

Kyle’s Super-Power: Enthusiastic

Max grew up in Bellevue Washington and received a finance degree from Central Washington University. He is a gamer, and loves coffee, music, and football. His favorite team is the San Francisco 49ers.

Max’s Super-Power: Bringing people together

Marcus is an experienced tax consultant who graduated from Western Michigan University and moved to the Washington area in 2016. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy and is an Enrolled Agent.

Marcus has a passion for helping customers through their tax issues and implementing tax saving strategies. When not doing tax work, he enjoys playing games with his friends and exploring the Seattle area for food and fun. He and his wife live with their cat in the SeaTac area.

Marcus’s Super-Power: Getting Things Done

Melissa, originally from Portland, OR, received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Portland State University.  She Spent 9 years in Aspen, CO and then settled in Seattle in 2014. 

Melissa has an extensive background in customer service, luxury retail management, and even spent a few years in the mortgage industry.

When Melissa isn’t helping customers achieve their goals, she enjoys hiking in the Cascades, paddle boarding on lake Washington, cooking healthy meals, exploring PNW wineries, and spending time with her husband two kids

Melissa’s Super Power: Multi-Tasking 

Monica is a Customer Success Manager, with experience working with business owners to help achieve their goals. She also has a background in marketing at a tax and consulting firm where she learned to translate technical tax jargon. 

Monica grew up in Sacramento, CA, and went to Loyola University Chicago for her undergraduate degree, double majoring in International Studies and French. She moved to Seattle right after graduating and hasn’t left since! Outside of work Monica spends time outside with her dog and loves cooking and eating locally grown food with friends and family.   

Monica’s Super-power: Relationship Building 

Nick in a recent college graduate from Central Washington University where he acquired a bachelor’s in accounting.  When he is not at work, his favorite hobbies are fishing and mountain biking. In the summers, he spends most weekends trying to catch king salmon.

Nick’s super-power: Super Positivity

Nick is a Seattle native who has enjoyed living in the Pacific Northwest his entire life. He graduated from Washington State University with a BA in Strategic Communication, a minor in Business Administration and has been working in sales for the past 4 years. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and being outside fishing, hiking or skiing.

Nick’s Superpower: The power of kindness  

Patrick was born and raised in Billings, Montana. He brings a broad sales background with him, primarily focused on IT, but most recently in helping launch a specialty beverage brokerage in eastern and central Montana. He is committed to providing world class customer experiences.

In his free time, he loves spending as much time as possible with his two boys, cooking, CrossFit, chess, writing, and building epic charcuterie boards.

Patrick’s Superpower: Curiosity and building meaningful relationships 

Penny is a product designer with 7 years of design experience in e-commerce and marketing industries for companies and platforms of all sizes.

She was born and grew up in South Korea and came to Vancouver, Canada 5 years ago.  In her spare time, she likes outdoor sports and enjoys cycling, hiking, snowboarding, and golfing.

Penny’s Super-Power: Seeing the big picture

Peter moved around a lot growing up, lived in Toronto, Dallas, New Jersey and settled in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated  UBC computer science and has worked as a backend developer ever since.

In his free time, Peter enjoys bouldering and rock climbing, league of legends, archery and cooking.

Peter’s Super-Power: Intuition

Renee is an Enrolled Agent from Brooklyn, NY with over 10 years of experience in financial reporting, tax compliance, and audit initiative implementation. Having served as Chief of Tax Reporting for the NYC Office of the Comptroller, she handled large-scale 1099 issuance tasks including design and analysis of data-driven reports, statistical sampling, control procedures, and policy development.  Renee holds a BA in accounting and is past president of the New York State Society of Enrolled Agents, NYC Chapter.

Renee moved to the Pacific Northwest in October 2020 because she enjoys being outdoors and wanted to get off the subway.  She now enjoys mountain hiking, amateur astrophotography, and scenic rides on her new Harley.

Renee’s Super-Power:  Riding against the wind and finding Sasquatch. 

Samantha was born and raised in the Seattle area and graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She is also currently enrolled in her M.B.A. program through Colorado State University.

In her free time, she enjoys being outside, spending time with her dog, and cheering on her favorite teams.

Samantha’s Superpower: Efficiency

Sarah was born in Tennessee, growing up on southern food and country music, and now considers the Pacific Northwest her home since moving to Seattle in 2016.

Sarah joins Formations after a career in public education, and more recently from the world of small-scale sustainable agriculture. Through these roles she cultivated skills essential to the CSM position – defining goals and objectives, effective communication, and relationship building. When she’s not supporting customers, Sarah enjoys working in her dahlia garden, laboring to complete the Sunday crossword puzzle, and exploring the many park systems with her partner and their goldendoodle!

Sarah’s Super-Power:  Anticipating Needs and Next Steps

Scott is an advocate for the Self-Employed and passionate about helping others who are taking full control of their career. He brings a background in Marketing and experience as a Self-Employed Professional to work everyday as he helps Formations grow their impact on the lives of the Self-Employed.

Scott is a life-long Pacific Northwesterner, studying Marketing (and waterskiing) while at Western Washington University and earning an MBA from Seattle University. He’s a devoted husband and father to 2 precious girls who he affectionately refers to as “Love Bug” and “The Dooders,” and is an avid golfer.

Scott’s Superpower: Learning mindset

Sean has lived in the northwest his entire life. He has a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University and has been working in sales to help people reach their goals for over 10 years. In his spare time, he enjoys woodworking and brain teasers.

Sean’s superpower: Empowerment

Senthil is a Product Aficionado with 15+ years of experience building and scaling customer products

Senthil is an experienced product manager with a strong background in product management, software engineering and data analytics. He grew up in South India and worked in Europe for few years, before moving to Canada to earn his MBA degree from University of Alberta and now calls Alberta his home. He loves hiking and travel.

Senthil’s Super-Power: Customer obsession

Shiv is a product & technology leader with 12+ years of experience building innovative software products that customers love — and grow the business.

Before Formations, Shiv built several award-winning, consumer-facing applications both at startups and large enterprises. He is a product enthusiast and codes for fun when not spending time with his family. He grew up in the foothills of Himalayas in India and now calls the pacific northwest his home.

Shiv’s super power: Be in the customer’s shoes.

Sonia is a Front End Engineer with 6+ years of experience in web development and have worked on various domains like Industrial, Medical, Telecom and Pharmacovigilance.

Prior to Formations she worked in Japan on web applications for Rakuten.
Sonia was born and brought up in India and now settled in Calgary Alberta, Canada.
She love travelling, listening to music and playing scrabble.

Sonia’s Superpower: Motivational optimism

Taylor was born and raised in the Greater Seattle Area.  Graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Physiology.

Straight out of college, she primarily focused on coaching/training clients to their health & wellness goals and transitioned into sales management a little over 3 years ago.  In her spare time, Taylor loves to go mountain biking, and wine tasting!

Taylor’s super-power:  The power of observation

Toan has been working as a Software Engineer for over nine years and has been involving in various projects.

He was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2017. Toan loves hiking and playing badminton.

Toan’s Super-Power: Problem-solving