Jaquilla Ross is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a proud Milwaukee Public Schools Alumni, graduating from Rufus King International High School in May 2007. She went on to attend Marquette University to pursue a Bachelor’s of Science majoring in Accounting. Upon graduating in May 2011, she immediately entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. She received her Masters of Professional Accountancy in May 2013. While attending graduate school, she began her accounting career at Johnson Controls. Jaquilla later went on to become an auditor at one of the “big four” accounting firms, Deloitte & Touche.

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In July 2016, she left corporate America and started her own firm, Ross Financial, LLC. Ross Financial provides income tax preparation for individuals and small business owners, small business accounting services, and financial consulting. Over the course of three years in business, Jaquilla’s firm has helped citizens in the local community save nearly $30,000 in taxes. They also serve nearly 100 clients during the tax season. Outside of tax season, Ross Financial, serves small business owners with their monthly accounting services, and educates the community on financial literacy.

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In addition to running her accounting firm, Jaquilla is an accounting lecturer and currently teaches for University of Wisconsin Whitewater and Milwaukee Area Technical College. Furthermore she is extremely passionate about educating her community on financial literacy. After facing financial difficulties in her early 20s, she was determined to help others learn from her mistakes. Throughout the years, she has presented financial literacy workshops at numerous organizations such as the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, Marquette University’s Project BEYOND-2, the National Association of Black Accountants, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and countless more.

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Seeing the increasing need for financial literacy in her community, she decided to take things a step further and re-branded herself as the “Finance Gurl.” Building her brand by using social media platforms, she consistently share financial literacy tips and post “Finance Fridays” videos weekly educating the community on a variety of financial topics. As her brand continues to grow, Jaquilla goal is to become a global brand and help others build economic wealth.