Biography

I am proud to be a native Utahn. I’ve lived here for the better part of my 44 years, married, raised a family, and carved out a successful career as an accountant and working with my family on several business ventures. You can say I’m an every day man, who loves Utah and loves our country.

I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Harry R. and JoAnn Stout. I was raised in the Olympus Cove area of Salt Lake with my three sisters and four brothers until the family moved to Sandy. I attended Alta High School and competed in speech and debate, graduating in 1984. After the summer of my senior year, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and trained as a radioteletype operator at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Later that year I married Jennifer Sells, and had two daughters, Mercedes and Heather Stout.

I served an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) position as a U.S. Army Reserve Recruiter in Ogden, Utah. After my father died, I left active duty to provide accounting support for the family business. I obtained an Associate Degree in Business from Salt Lake Community College in 1997 while working as a bookkeeper for a family business. I went back to school to finish my accounting degree at the University of Utah in 1999.

I have nearly 20 years of experience in accounting and tax. My love for accounting began from an accounting class at the community college, and from there it blossomed into a career. I spent 7 years as a full-charge bookkeeper before taking a unique position with Stampin’ Up!, in 1997, where for six years I was the company’s sales tax accountant as well as independent contractor payments supervisor. I have been the tax manager for Investools and Check City as well. I founded SalesTaxSolutions.US in 2005, which is a sales and use tax consulting firm in Salt Lake City.

My daughter, Mercedes, is married to Joshua Pierce, and they have two children, Gage and Maggie and live in Tooele.