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Company Description

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Banister is a firm that specializes in Lifespan Navigation®. We offer expert advisory and management services during life’s most difficult challenges. We meet people in their toughest moments — serious illness, end-of-life planning, family conflict, or systemic barriers — and help them find clarity, stability, and relief.

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We’re known for bringing order to complex situations, translating across all systems, while ensuring the path forward is manageable for families. Our work is grounded in compassion, clarity, and principled service to meet people where they are, honor their agency, and hold ourselves to the highest standards.

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At the heart of what we do lies one simple truth: no one should have to navigate overwhelming challenges alone. Our role is to partner with clients so they can move forward with dignity, resilience, and a clearer path ahead.

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Primary URL | https://www.banisteradvisors.com/

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Social Media 

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LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/banister-advisors

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Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/banister_advisors

 

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/BanisterAdvisors/

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Hashtags | #lifespannavigation #banisteradvisors

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High Resolution Company Logos (for download)

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Vanessa's Bios

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Job Title | Vanessa Laughlin, Principal & Founder, Banister Advisors, LLC

 

Short Format (77 words)

Through founding Banister Advisors, Vanessa's passion for client services has met the opportunity to ease the complex emotional and logistical burdens that individuals and families confront in the face of critical circumstances across their lifespan. She holds an MBA with distinction from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a BA in Economics from Tufts University.  She was honored in 2019 by The Puget Sound Business Journal as a 40 Under 40 Finalist.

 

Long Format (189 words)

Vanessa’s 20+ years professional background spans strategy development, implementation planning, business process improvement, product marketing, technology implementations, organizational design, and change management. Through the founding of Banister Advisors, LLC in 2018, her passion for client services met the opportunity to ease the complex emotional and logistical burdens that individuals and families confront in the face of critical circumstances across their lifespan. The concept for Banister Advisors was inspired in large part by the 2016 death of the founder's father-in-law, Jay Banister Laughlin, MSW, after an unexpected health crisis.  The memory of Jay’s sacrifice and dedication to serving his family and community as a social worker, mediator, and therapist, serves as the foundation for Banister’s mission.

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Vanessa holds an MBA with distinction from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a BA in Economics from Tufts University in Boston.  Vanessa is a proud member of the 2015 Class of Leadership Tomorrow Seattle and was honored in 2019 by The Puget Sound Business Journal as a 40 Under 40 Finalist. A native of Whidbey Island, WA, she now lives in Seattle with her husband and two young sons.

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Vanessa High Resolution Headshot (for download - may be cropped)