Five Questions With: Rebecca Pavese, Director Of Tax Practice
Rebecca Pavese, CPA, has worked extensively in Palisades Hudson’s tax, financial accounting and estate planning and administration practices, and is a member of the firm’s investment committee. A client service manager since 2005, Rebecca became director of tax practice in 2025 (the first in the firm’s history). She initially joined Palisades Hudson in 2000 as an associate in the Northeast but has been based in the firm’s Atlanta office since 2008.
1. Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Rebecca and her family at Rosemary Beach. (click to enlarge)
Photo by Pure 7 Studios, courtesy Rebecca Pavese.
This is a dead tie between Walt Disney World and Rosemary Beach, Florida. I have been going to Disney since I was very young, and some of my best memories were made there. It truly is the most magical place on Earth for me and my family. We visited Rosemary Beach, a quaint beach town on Florida's Gulf Coast, a few years after we moved to Georgia. The water is clear, the sand is soft, and the neighborhood feels like a town you read about in books. It's where I truly feel relaxed and calm.
2. What’s your favorite thing about your work at Palisades Hudson?
The people. You don't stay somewhere for almost 25 years if you don't love the people you work with and the clients you serve. Larry [Elkin, the company’s founder and president] has created an environment here much like a family atmosphere. He values — in addition to technical ability — loyalty, kindness, effort, understanding and appreciation. These are important values to me and our clients. Further, I've had the opportunity to work with many families and help them work not only through the technical side of taxes, investments and financial planning, but the soft side of navigating significant life events.
3. If you’re a sports fan, what teams have your loyalty?
I'm a long-standing (and long-suffering) New York Mets fan. My dad is a Mets fan and I remember watching games with him in elementary school, going to Mets games with him in my 20s, and generally enjoying watching baseball. I'm a big fan of David Wright, who, if you have followed our company for a while, you will remember I wrote about when he retired. The rest of my sports loyalty follows my daughters. My older daughter, Lexi, is on the cross-country team at Tennessee (go Vols!) and my younger daughter, Mac, is signed to play softball at Clemson (go Tigers!) in the fall.
Rebecca and her daughters at Disney World. (click to enlarge)
Photo by Disney Photopass, courtesy Rebecca Pavese.
4. What’s a piece of advice you’ve received that mattered to you?
During a difficult time I read Mother Teresa's poem “Do It Anyway,” which was published in my church’s bulletin. It was exactly the message I needed to hear at the time. I often find myself rereading her message for inspiration.
5. What’s something you’re looking forward to in the next 12 months?
Looking forward to or dreading? It's a toss-up. Mac will move to college in August and, for the first time since 2004, my husband and I won't have children living at home. I'm not looking forward to her leaving, but I am looking forward to watching her play softball at the next level and seeing both her and Lexi continue to make their own paths in the world. We raised them with the goal of creating strong, independent, successful women, but it's hard to watch them leave the nest.
