The Team
Inovautus Consulting was founded on the belief that effective marketing strategy and execution, combined with acquiring and retaining the right key talent, is the foundation for growing public accounting firms. Our work with accounting firms keeps us sharp and on our toes, creating measurable improvements for our clients.
We operate in a virtual work environment, allowing us to draw the best talent suited for each client and circumstance. Lining up the right skills and the right people is critical, similar to when you’re assigning accountants to specific clients and their needs.
We don’t claim to be “all things to all people,” but without question, we cover a lot of ground in accounting marketing. Our experienced team, along with our ability to tap into talented part-time consultants and the creme of the freelancing pool, rounds out the differentiating factors that you’ll find with Inovautus Consulting.
Sarah Johnson Dobek
Founder & President, started her career as a marketing professional and human resources professional in an accounting firm. It was during this period where she learned a lot about how public accounting firms work and the importance of having a marketing and talent acquisition/ retention strategies running parallel to achieve growth.
Sarah primarily works with firms that are looking to embrace or integrate digital media into their marketing mix, or elevate their current marketing efforts. Her unique background in marketing and knowledge of digital media allow her to deliver insightful, practical advice that guide organizations down the right path for achieving the growth they desire. Sarah’s ability to understand where an organization is starting, matched with her disciplined approach to best practices drive results for firms. Read more
Jenni Thulin
As Marketing and Client Specialist with Inovautus Consulting, Jenni is tasked with coordinating and executing internal and external marketing efforts for Inovautus and its clients. In her role, Jenni frequently works with consultants and clients to provide support around business development and client-related marketing activities. With 10 years of experience as Marketing Director for a CPA firm in Central Nebraska, she loves to utilize her unique skill set and knowledge base to help other firms reach their growth goals. Jenni is also a member of CPA Consultants’ Alliance NEXT, a group of consultants and thought leaders within the CPA profession who bring fresh perspectives, skills and experience to the CPA Consultants’ Alliance.
Jenni lives in Kearney, Nebraska (Go Big Red) with her husband, three kids, and two Chihuahuas. She and her family stay busy following her boys in wrestling, baseball, football and showing 4-H pigs. In the warmer months you can find them boating and during those cold Nebraska winters, Jenni will be baking while her husband renovates something!
Heidi Holmberg
Heidi is a multi-tasker in business and life. Whether she’s writing for clients, coordinating training, designing a social media image or cracking the reins in CRM, Heidi is dedicated to the details. With over 10 years of marketing experience, Heidi brings an enthusiasm for the innovative and organized and thrives in a creative environment. One of the things Heidi loves most about working for Inovautus is being a part of a fantastic team. She enjoys collaborating on projects and bringing solutions to our clients.
Heidi lives 40 miles outside beautiful Chicago. With an amusement park in her backyard, and miles of river trails and a Great Lake to her east, Heidi is always two steps away from an adventure. Keeping young with three {adorable} kids, a {rockstar} husband, 2 {sassy} felines, she still finds the time to go on regular date nights. Heidi is passionate about learning and not-so-secretly wishes she could host a podcast.
Karen Ill
As an Executive Assistant with Inovautus Consulting, Karen has the opportunity to organize and focus on the details…her favorite things! Especially when it comes to number crunching and bookkeeping. With over fifteen years of experience working for a CPA firm, Karen has assisted clients as a QuickBooks® Proadvisor and managed administrative details of small businesses. She has a fresh enthusiasm for all the things that keep money flowing in the right direction and with accuracy. Karen has a unique understanding of our clients and their needs having spent most of her career supporting the accounting profession.
Karen has lived in and raised her family in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, but her love of the beach also brings her to a cherished home in South Carolina. She enjoys cooking…food, not the books 🙂 Food and family are her passions, and even better when gathered on her deck.
Laura Sparks
Laura gets a spark from bringing her clients’ ideas to life. As freelance writer and owner of Creative Sparks, Laura writes thought leadership content for accounting professionals, translating their ideas into compelling content. Diving into meaty content development projects for Inovautus Consulting’s clients is right up Laura’s alley. Whether it’s interviewing a firm’s C-level executive clients, authoring original technical pieces or delivering niche-based marketing content, Laura serves it up royally for firms to feast upon.
With more than 15 years of experience writing for and about the accounting profession, Laura knows the challenges and opportunities that face marketing and other firm leaders. She spent seven of those 15+ years writing and editing practice management newsletters for accounting firms, including CPA Marketing Report, CPA Personnel Report and CPA Managing Partner Report.
Laura has been a member of the Association for Accounting Marketing since 1998. As former chair of the committee responsible for producing AAM’s flagship publication, Growth Strategies, she helped to design and launch the quarterly journal.
