The Team

SUZANNE TYLER

Suzanne has been an entrepreneur almost from birth. As a child, she watched her father create his own paving company. Her first job was holding a measuring wheel out the passenger window in his truck and writing down the distances. Her quest for new experiences and “finding a better way” has led her from creating child-care cooperatives to filling a 1500 seat concert hall. Her experience includes building businesses from the ground up and leading a multi-million dollar company as the Chief Financial Officer. Suzanne has developed and maintained human resources, bookkeeping, and office management systems, to name a few. She is what you might call a wearer of many hats!

Suzanne has over 25 years of direct construction accounting and management experience. She has a passion for learning and continues her self-education on a daily basis. She views it as the driving force for innovation and growth in a company. Her natural talent for learning computer applications and the communications skills to teach others are at the core of the business. Clearly communicating her enthusiasm, Suzanne says, “I live for the ‘aha’ moments. There’s nothing more rewarding then seeing the face light up on a student or client and hear them say that they get it now.”

Having overcome adversity and challenges, as a single mother, Suzanne has risen from the paralyzing grip of poverty to financial security. She credits much of her success to support from her community and her mentor. It was with great pride that she was elected to the Board of Directors for Mary Erickson Community Housing and served on their executive board for three years. She is past President of the Board of Directors for the South Orange County School of the Arts and served on the Board of Directors for the California Conservatory of the Arts. She currently serves on the Executive Board for the San Juan Capistrano Friends of the Library.

Originally from New York, Suzanne is the mother of four and lives in San Juan Capistrano.

KENNETH E. FRIESS, Ph.D.

Ken has over 45 years experience in the construction and real estate industries, as well as wide practical knowledge and experience in academics, business, politics, and urban planning. He is actively involved in managing projects, construction mediation and arbitration, construction defect research and analysis, conflict resolution, land use management, government relations, and construction litigation.

Ken started a full-service general contracting business in 1981. His knowledge and experience spans academics, business, civic affairs and urban planning. He also has a PhD. in Leadership and Human Behavior. Ken served 17 years as a San Juan Capistrano City Council member; including four terms as Mayor. He has served on many boards of directors; including the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies, San Juan Capistrano Redevelopment Agency, Capistrano Valley Water District, San Juan Capistrano Housing Corp. and the Orange County Affordable Housing Task Force.

As a past president of Mary Erickson Community Housing, Ken was instrumental in raising awareness for community-supported affordable housing. He is also a past President and founding board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Capistrano Valley.

GRACE LAHATT

Grace joins the team with a unique blend of teaching and bookkeeping skills and experiences. With a Bachelor’s Degree from Kansas State University in Elementary Education, she is an experienced teacher, educator, small business owner, and bookkeeper.   Grace came to Southern California in 1982 to teach in a small private school in San Clemente. A year later she married a carpenter who had his own custom cabinetry business and soon became involved in helping him run his business by assisting with his bookkeeping. In the late 80’s, she worked for 5 years as a Preschool Director, gaining more experience running a small business and bookkeeping. As her family grew, she worked part-time for a large construction company as an administrative assistant and assistant to the CFO, where she began learning QuickBooks.

With a strong interest in computers, developing her bookkeeping skills using QuickBooks was pivotal in advancing her skills as a business owner and bookkeeper. Now with over 15 years’ experience with QuickBooks, she will soon be completing her QuickBooks Pro Advisor Certification. Additionally, Grace served over 12 years as the full-charge bookkeeper for a non-profit low-income housing organization and her church. She has served in many leadership positions in Cub Scouts organization, homeschool groups and her church. Grace enjoys working with and teaching people to help them reach their goals and fullest potential.

As an educator, Grace is constantly seeking creative ways to foster a dynamic learning environment and is always looking for ways to work smarter rather than harder. Married for 27 years, she is the mother of 4 sons and lives in San Clemente.