Do you owe taxes or up for a refund? How a Broward financial pro views job
Kerrina O’Connor had enough of corporate life.
She had enough of covering the work of others and working alone during the pandemic. And she didn’t see herself rising through the ranks to one day replace her boss.
So she started plotting. A new job, a new life, within a year.
Then her father stepped in.
“My dad asked, “Why are you waiting a year?” said O’Connor, 33. “He said, ‘Tax season is coming in January. Just leave now and start.’ ”
So, the Lauderhill worker made the big move: She left her compliance job at ADT, a Boca-based home security company, and went out on her own. She turned her father’s advice into her own financial firm, and hasn’t looked back.
Now, the busiest part of her work has started: tax season.
Mission of a tax professional
O’Connor sees her mission as helping others get through what can be a painful time: gathering paperwork, filling out forms, figuring out whether you owe or get a refund.
She started her tax business, Kake Financial, in February 2021 with 10 referred clients. The name for O’Connor’s business comes from her goal of making taxes “as easy as cake” for her clients. The four letters also reflect the first letters of both of her parents’ first names and that of her brother Kelvin, 26.
Her goal? Simple:
“I help solopreneurs who have IRS and tax problems run their businesses with confidence,” O’Connor said. “That includes people who have a tax bill and want to pay in full or pay back taxes for the past six years.”
O’Connor was born in Clarendon, Jamaica, and moved to the United States when she was 2. In 1998, her father, Eaton, and mother, Ann Marie, moved their family to Sunrise. Wanting to be a lawyer, O’Connor decided against attending Piper Senior High, her neighborhood school, and entered a magnet program for future lawyers at Fort Lauderdale High School.
“I just knew I was going to be a lawyer,” she said.
After graduating from Fort Lauderdale High. O’Connor majored in finance at Florida International University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s in 2011.
But taxes eclipsed the law for O’Connor. She landed what she considers one of the best jobs of her life at FIU. She had a work study job in the financial aid department as an undergraduate that turned into a part-time job when she was a graduate student.
“I didn’t really know about taxes,” she said. “In order for your financial aid to be done correctly, you and your parents’ taxes have to be done correctly. I’d find myself having to explain to students.”
One moment opened her eyes to the complexities of the tax world.
Twin sisters had financial aid packages to attend FIU, but one received more aid than the other. They grew up in the same house and had the same parents, but one sister had a part-time job at McDonald’s. That small detail became a big thing.
After earning her degrees, O’Connor began working for ADT in Boca Raton.
And now, she runs her own tax firm. Most of her clients are minority workers and entrepreneurs trying to stabilize their businesses.
Challenges for small businesses
Small businesses face financial challenges, said Dan Lindblade, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
“Businesses don’t make it because of the structures and how they are financed,” he said.
It’s an issue O’Connor is plenty familiar. Growing up in an immigrant family taught O’Connor how to be frugal. During a recent visit to Jamaica with her family, she saw where her father grew up, and noticed there was no indoor plumbing.
“It does shape you,” she said.
Those healthy financial habits extended to O’Connor’s childhood in the United States. Her father made her an authorized user on an account before her 18th birthday, and he also paid off loans in her name so that it could build her credit.
Understanding tax laws and healthy financial habits underscores the importance of O’Connor’s work, said finance professor Boyce Watkins, who has taught at Syracuse University and founded The Black Business School, an online course that has taught 150,000 people.
“Financial security is the objective,” he said. “Most Black households don’t feel financially secure. There’s a lot of paycheck to paycheck living. Living check to check affects your mental to physical health because you are always living with the anxiety of, ‘What if.’ ”
‘Easy to follow’
Los Angeles-based educator Jasmine Smalls has a client of O’Connor’s since 2024. Smalls met her at a workshop and was quickly impressed by O’Connor’s status as an enrolled agent. An enrolled agent is a tax practitioner authorized by the government, and the status is the highest credential awarded by the IRS.
“I appreciate her professionalism,” Smalls said. “Working with her was very easy. She is very thorough and crosses her T’s and dots her I’s. The system she uses makes it extremely easy for you to follow.”
Smalls has enjoyed the experience of working with O’Connor so much that she referred several people to Kake Financial. Those referrals have helped O’Connor keep a steady workflow.
In six years, her clientele list has grown from 10 people to 50.
As for her father’s recommendation to start her own business? It has paid off.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 12:47 PM.
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