ABOUT US

Dean Street Strategies, LLC is a premier management and financial consulting firm that advises emerging growth companies. Our services are as follows:

  • Management Advisory Services

  • Financial Advisory Services

  • Transaction Advisory Services

– “Specializing in solving business situations for emerging growth companies.”

Startup failures and growth issues are preventable. Our approach to advising emerging growth organizations is to discover a successful path to a sustainable business. Our services provided to our clients are properly planned and executed, and solutions that we recommend to our clients are based on the substance of issues, not on form.

Our Team

Christopher Garcia
Managing Director

  • Upon completing his studies at Texas Tech University and University of Texas at Dallas in the field of Financing and Accounting, Mr. Garcia began his career in public accounting with a significant amount of time spent at Grant Thornton, LLP. He exited the public accounting profession as a senior audit manager where he oversaw SEC enterprise public and private company attestation engagements. The skills Mr. Garcia developed while in the public accounting industry allowed him to have immediate success while working with multiple transactional firms in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex. While working primarily in transactional and management advisory, Mr. Garcia specialized in business performance and profitability improvement, spanning both in the public and private sectors. The primary areas of focus included operations management, cost control/reduction, operation efficiency, developing and streamlining systems, and evaluation of strategic business plans. Mr. Garcia has served in the capacity of CFO or COO for multiple companies including, but not limited to The Chron Organization, Inc., General DataTech, Ltd., BluGrass Energy, Inc., and Young Energy, LLC. Mr. Garcia obtained his Bachelors of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in both Finance/Accounting at Texas Tech University, Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) at University of Texas at Dallas, and Masters of Accounting and Information Management Systems (M.S.) at University of Texas at Dallas.

    Mr. Garcia currently services as the Austin/Central Texas Finance Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

Brian Steeg
Senior Director

  • Mr. Steeg’s career includes over 20 years in finance, accounting and operations.  Mr. Steeg has over 8 years of experience in commercial and investment banking with a focus on debt and structured credit products underwriting in excess of $10 billion in debt capital for clients across a wide range of industries.  Mr. Steeg has over six years’ experience as Chief Financial Officer of two telecommunications companies where his responsibilities included strategic planning, investor relations, financial reporting and operations planning.  Mr. Steeg has played a role in the formation, capitalization and management of 10 companies in industries ranging from retail sales and marketing to telecommunications to equipment financing. He has played a role in raising over $30 million to fund various early stage and start-up ventures.  Mr. Steeg has worked in a number of roles for the following current and former Fortune 500 companies, Bank of America, the Coca Cola Company and Arthur Andersen.  Mr. Steeg has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Texas Tech University and is a certified public accountant.

Desiree Freris
Vice Chair, Advisory Board

  • Desiree brings more than two decades of capital markets and municipal finance expertise to her role as Vice Chair of the Advisory Board at Dean Street Strategies. Her background spans trading, structured finance, municipal advisory, and executive investment leadership — positioning her as a trusted authority in governance, capital deployment strategy, and risk oversight.

    She began her career in 2002 as a Fixed Income Trader at HypoVereinsbank in New York City, specializing in Municipal Finance. There, she led Guaranteed Investment Contract (GIC) trading, pricing, and complex financial modeling initiatives, overseeing asset procurement and portfolio strategy during a pivotal period in credit market evolution.

    In 2005, Desiree co-founded Pallas Capital Corp., a highly rated Special Purpose Vehicle established to maintain strategic flexibility in a shifting credit environment. She helped shape the firm’s risk framework, capital allocation strategy, and client solutions, delivering GIC products to municipal issuers nationwide and strengthening liquidity and financing efficiency for public entities.

    Transitioning into Municipal Advisory in 2022, she focused on complex bond structures and strategic financing solutions, advising issuers on capital optimization, risk mitigation, and long-term funding strategies. In 2026, she joined MG Advisory as Managing Director of Investments and Municipal Advisor, overseeing strategic placement of bond proceeds across prepaid energy, higher education, healthcare, and housing sectors — aligning investment strategy with fiduciary responsibility and long-term stakeholder value.

    In 2021, Desiree founded Building the Cure Foundation, reflecting her commitment to pairing disciplined financial leadership with meaningful social impact. She applies the same rigor, strategic vision, and long-term focus that define her capital markets career to mission-driven community advancement.

    Desiree holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Mathematics from St. John’s University. As Vice Chair, she provides strategic guidance on capital markets, governance, risk oversight, and institutional growth — bringing the perspective of a trader, founder, advisor, and nonprofit leader to board-level decision making.

  • Mario Bauer serves as Advisory Board Chair of Dean Street Strategies, bringing more than three decades of executive leadership experience across enterprise strategy, operational transformation, and capital-intensive initiatives throughout North America.

    Mario is the Founder, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer of Bauer Investments, LLC, an institutional family office focused on long-term investments across real estate, industrials, services, and technology. His background as a disciplined capital allocator and owner-operator provides Dean Street Strategies with strategic oversight grounded in real-world investment execution and value creation.

    Throughout his career, Mario has advised and operated alongside large-scale organizations, leading complex modernization efforts, strategic restructurings, and multi-year capital programs at both the executive and board level. He has built, scaled, and successfully exited companies, guiding organizations through growth acceleration, strategic positioning, and sale transactions while aligning operational performance with long-term capital outcomes.

    Prior to founding Bauer Investments, Mario served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and senior executive within national advisory firms, specializing in enterprise strategy, mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and performance optimization. His leadership philosophy reflects a capital allocator’s discipline — focused on scalable platforms, strategic clarity, and durable enterprise value.

    Mario holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado.

Mario Bauer
Advisory Board Chair

  • Kathryn Watson serves as a Senior Consultant at Dean Street Strategies, the operating and advisory platform aligned with Bauer Investments. In this capacity, she provides senior-level accounting oversight, transaction advisory support, and financial governance guidance across portfolio companies and strategic initiatives.

    Kathryn brings a diversified background spanning public audit, tax, corporate finance, controllership, and transaction execution. Her experience bridges technical accounting rigor with real-world operating insight — enabling disciplined financial infrastructure, scalable reporting systems, and capital-efficient decision-making.

    Prior to joining Dean Street, Kathryn served in a controllership leadership role for a professional services firm, where she directed accounting operations, financial reporting, treasury management, and internal control design. She led the company’s financial transformation efforts and played a central role in preparing the organization for sale. Kathryn managed transaction readiness, quality-of-earnings coordination, financial diligence, and closing support, ensuring clean data integrity and institutional-grade reporting throughout the process.

    Her technical expertise includes GAAP compliance, revenue recognition structuring, working capital optimization, financial modeling, internal control frameworks, and audit management. In addition, she possesses a strong working knowledge of investment structures, securities products, capital formation strategies, and financial markets — enabling her to operate effectively within both operating companies and investment-driven environments.

    At Dean Street Strategies, Kathryn supports portfolio oversight, financial reporting standardization, transaction execution, and governance best practices. She works closely with executive leadership and investment partners to strengthen financial discipline, enhance transparency, and support long-term value creation across the platform. Kathryn is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Kathryn Watson
Senior Consultant