When it comes to Steven D. Struck, many words come to mind: Baker Holtz Tax Partner, staff leader, extrovert, classic funny-guy. But there are also a few less common words that describe our tax-guru: New Jersey, people analyzer, and avid sports enthusiast. Learn more about Steve Struck and his influence on the world both inside and out of the four Baker Holtz walls on this month’s “Staff Spotlight”.
Steve was born and raised in New Jersey and found his first high school job at the local grocery checkout counter where he quickly established a rapport for holding the title for most scans-per-minute. It was there that Steve learned the importance of client relations learning that the “customer is always right.” Choosing to relinquish his title as “Productivity Champion”, Steve left the grocery industry to pursue larger aspirations in Grand Rapids at the University formerly known as Calvin College.
Steve came to Calvin with the intention of pursuing a career in Psychology to feed his urge to listen and help others with their problems. After reading a few too many Sigmund Freud whitepapers, Steve decided to take an aptitude test resulting in a change in major to Accounting. Right then, he saw the opportunity to combine his love for business, his need to create strong relationships, and to help others. After graduation, Steve began his professional career at Deloitte focusing on taxation, culminating with a Masters of Tax graduate degree from Grand Valley State University. His best move, of course, was coming to Baker Holtz as the firm’s first “tax supervisor” over 17 years ago.
Baker Holtz provided Steve the opportunity to listen to others, to assist them in fixing problems, and then to ultimately help them reach their goals. Steve enjoys the aspect of relationship-building the most, both internally with associates and externally with clients and centers of influences. He finds joy from meeting new people and establishing strong connections with his existing contacts.
Outside the world of Baker Holtz, Steve takes pride in a great many things. From his inversely proportional relationship with consistently working out without any weight loss to his continuous practice of golf without ever getting any better, Steve truly is perseverant. You can also find Steve passionately cheering on his New York Mets, New Jersey Devils and a multitude of SEC football teams in which he can carry out his need to build relationships with his fellow fans.
Whether you are looking for the fastest grocery checker in suburban New York City, for a former psychology major turned tax guru, or for the only Mets fan in Grand Rapids, you can find them all wrapped up into one with Steven D. Struck!