Meet the Team

Alex and John have been working together since 2013 and became partners in the practice in 2024. Together, they bring a nearly 50 years of combined tax experience and complementary skills that strengthen every client relationship. Alex primarily focuses on individual tax planning and preparation, while John specializes in business entities and corporate taxation. Both have worked in practices large and small, and they’ve used that varied experience to refine how they serve clients—blending the personalized attention of a boutique firm with the technical expertise you’d expect from a larger practice. It’s a partnership built on trust, shared values, and a commitment to doing right by the people they serve.

Alex began her career at RSM McGladrey, one of the top five global accounting firms, where she gained invaluable technical experience. But after several years, she realized that the world of corporate public accounting wasn’t how she could best serve her clients and community—she wanted deeper relationships and the ability to truly partner with the people she works with. Since leaving Orange County nearly twenty years ago, she’s spent her time growing gills and webbed feet to adjust to the soggy Pacific Northwest climate.

Alex and her husband (and co-worker!), Dan, are proud parents to a trio of big dogs named Lenny, Carl, and Miley and two unruly cats named Rod and Todd, who keep their home lively and their floors perpetually muddy. On the weekends, you can usually find them traipsing around hiking trails all over Oregon and Washington, or experiencing Portland’s incredible food scene. Outside of tax season, Alex is often traveling, digging through record store bins, gardening, cooking, reading too many books at once, and looking for trouble in the great outdoors.

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 1999, John moved to the SF Bay Area to begin his career in public accounting. Beginning at large accounting firms, BDO Seidman and Burr Pilger & Mayer, John quickly escalated to the role of Tax Manager, specializing in tax consulting and compliance for small businesses and their owners in a variety of sectors. Realizing that these types of clients would be better served at a smaller, more focused tax practice, John opted to leave the world of large public accounting firms to help build a new boutique-sized tax practice in San Francisco with another colleague. At this new venture, John and Alex met and worked famously together for over 10 years managing the ever growing tax practice. A few years later, John and Alex reconnected to take the ultimate plunge in starting their very own joint tax practice based in the Portland Metro Area, Ascuena & Campbell Tax Consulting!

During John’s time in San Francisco, he met his wife (Emily) and welcomed their first-born son (Cole). After spending a dozen or so total years in the Bay Area, they made the move to Emily’s hometown (Iowa City, IA) to be close to extended family and enjoy raising their kids in a Midwest college town. Soon after, their second-born son (Troy) and adorable rescue mutt (Marvel) joined the family. John is still a big SF 49ers and LA Lakers fan, loves a wide variety of music genres and movies, and fancies himself as a better-than-average cook & amateur bartender. Most recently, John has added a classic truck to the household (1986 Chevy C10) in honor of the old chevy pickups that his dad drove growing up… he looks forward to adding “mediocre weekend mechanic” to his list of hobbies.

Dan is an Oregon native and has lived in the Pacific Northwest all his life. His career was originally rooted in IT support, where he developed a knack for solving problems and keeping systems running smoothly. He met Alex in 2009, and made the leap from the corporate world to master the many hats of office manager in 2021. His background in technology has proven invaluable in creating the firm’s seamless, paperless client experience, and his attention to detail ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.

When he’s not working, Dan enjoys camping, hiking, and disc golf in the great outdoors—taking full advantage of everything the Pacific Northwest has to offer. He’s a dedicated music lover and attends as many concerts as he can each year, always on the hunt for the next great show. At home, he’s a gamer and tech enthusiast. Dan juggles life with three dogs, two cats, and his boss (aka his spouse), and somehow manages to keep everything balanced. He brings a calm, organized presence to the practice and ensures everything runs smoothly behind the scenes, so clients always have a seamless experience from start to finish.