East Brainerd resident Sallie Brooks reconnected with her late father, Rod McKenzie, when she became manager of Pascarella & Miller’s Ooltewah accounting office in November.
Rod McKenzie operated McKenzie Tax Services in the very same office space on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road 18 years ago, with Brooks at his side.
“He treated everyone with respect and kindness,” Brooks said. “I watched as the little millionaire widow was treated the same as a working girl from Summit. This has influenced me so much over the years and I feel so thankful and honored to have spent that time with him in the business world and not just as father-daughter.”
East Brainerd resident Sallie Brooks, right, manages an accounting office in the same space she and her late father operated McKenzie Tax Services 18 years ago. The new Ooltewah office is owned by Athens, Tenn.-based accounting firm Pascarella & Miller. From left are partners Lou Pascarella and Marilyn Miller.Rod McKenzie died three years after opening his accounting practice. The early-1990s buyer moved away last summer, clearing the way for Pascarella & Miller to acquire the space.
Brooks had worked with partner Marilyn Miller at another accounting firm and was a driving force in expanding the Athens, Tenn.-based Pascarella & Miller offices to Ooltewah.
“One because Sallie knows everybody in this area and, two, Ooltewah is just growing by leaps and bounds,” Miller said of the firm’s decision to open the new branch location.
Pascarella & Miller is a full-service accounting firm offering bookkeeping and payroll services and tax preparation.
Brooks specializes in personal and small business tax preparation, and Lou Pascarella and Miller both said public relations and marketing are her strongest attributes.
“She knows no stranger,” said Pascarella about Brooks, who began working out of her home and now holds 25 clients.
Brooks grew up in the Highway 58 area and graduated from Central High School. She is married to Mark Brooks, whose family owns Brooks Dairy Farm, and their three daughters graduated from Ooltewah High School. Her brother, Rick McKenzie, operates a dental office next door to Pascarella & Miller.
“I want to provide exceptional and personal client services. I want my clients to feel like they have someone they can go to,” Brooks said – all in her father’s tradition. “I do feel him here, really,” she said.