As a child, Coenen loved to ask questions and was a strong math student. A CPA licensed in Wisconsin and Illinois, Coenen received her Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Law Studies with honors from Marquette University. She later went on to earn the designation of certified fraud examiner (CFE).

Coenen worked as a probation officer for the Internal Revenue Service and had a stint with Arthur Andersen, the once-reputable "Big Five" accounting firm convicted in 2002 of shredding documents related to an audit of the now-defunct Enron Corporation. Coenen joined forensic accounting firm Peters & Associates in Milwaukee as an auditor but left the firm in 2000 to pursue her passion for investigating fraud.

Sequence started out in 2000 with little money and no clients. With a laptop and a copy machine, Coenen began by working from home. She used a post office box as her company's address. To make ends meet, Coenen initially prepared tax returns and taught accounting classes at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee and Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin.

In 2005, Coenen opened an office in Chicago. A believer in networking, Coenen attended local chamber of commerce meetings, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce meetings, and bar association meetings with the aim of building up her clientele. Today, the majority of Coenen's business comes from referrals.

Coenen attends conferences across the country, has launched a blog, and writes for several industry publications. She no longer believes in hiring and managing employees and has personally investigated hundreds of cases of fraud in a variety of industry sectors. Her investigations have involved embezzlement, investment fraud, financial statement fraud, and insurance fraud. A sought-after litigation expert, she has served as an expert witness in several cases involving damage calculations, commercial contract disputes, shareholder disputes, and criminal defense. She serves as an adjunct professor at Concordia University and as an adjunct faculty member for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

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