CHIEF PLANNING OFFICER • PARTNER
Lauren Stansell, CFP® earned an honors B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech in May 2012. She earned her second honors bachelor’s degree in Finance, summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech’s CFP® Certification Education Track, a CFP Board-Registered program, in December 2012. Lauren passed the CFP® exam in July 2014 and became a CFP® professional in February 2015. Lauren earned her Master’s in Advanced Financial Planning with a concentration in Taxation through Golden Gate University in 2019.
In 2024, Lauren was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural list of Rising Stars*, a list of the best Wealth Managers and Advisors under 40. Also in 2024, Lauren was named to Forbes’ Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list*, Lauren’s second recognition by Forbes. Her first came in 2023 when she was named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list*. According to Forbes, advisors on these lists “represent the true role models of the industry – advisors that are leading the way in offering best practices and providing a high-quality experience for clients.” Lauren has also been featured on various podcasts including ‘NextGen Planners Podcast’ and the ‘You’re a Financial Planner… Now What?’ podcast. She has also been quoted in publications including InvestmentNews, WalletHub, BankRate.com, and AssetTV. She has served as both a speaker and a moderator for various panels and presentations at conferences around the country including a hiring presentation, a succession planning panel, and a Women in Wealth panel. She was also involved in building a new course with The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard and moderated the first class on the history of the financial planning profession.
Lauren co-founded the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) Student Chapter at Virginia Tech and was the first president of the organization. In the first year of its existence, the chapter grew to over 70 students, making it the largest student chapter in the country. Lauren’s passion for engaging with the next generation of financial planners led her to take on the role of Co-Director of NexGen for the FPA of the National Capital Area in 2014. A natural born leader, Lauren served as the 2021 President and 2022 Chair of the FPA of San Francisco. Lauren is a graduate of FPA’s Residency Program and had the honor of serving as a Mentor to the Residents in June 2019 and 2021; she looks forward to serving as a Mentor again in June 2025 and the future!
In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with family (especially experiencing the joys of childhood with her daughter, Nora, and her son, Owen), hiking, exploring new cities and areas of her home city (San Francisco), horseback riding (she started riding when she was four years old), trying new restaurants and recipes with her husband, Daniel, and enjoying jogs and long walks along the San Francisco Bay.
Client Focus: As Chief Planning Officer, Lauren strives to empower Clients to pursue their Live Big lives, to be their “deep breath” in times of need, and to facilitate and participate in the meaningful relationships built. Lauren’s role on the team as a leader is an integral one: not only does she provide guidance and mentorship for those who support her, but she’s also considered the Protector of our core values, ensuring that all strategies and decisions are in alignment with who we are at our core.
Current Update: Lauren is enjoying 2025 for many different reasons! First, she, as always, enjoyed the FPA NorCal conference in San Francisco at the end of May. It was a great time for connection with other financial planners and was full of deep, technical sessions. Lauren particularly enjoyed conference sessions on leadership and teamwork, tax planning, and insurance planning and awareness (especially in California with the state of the insurance market).
Lauren then had the honor of serving as a mentor again at FPA Residency – a week-long bootcamp for new financial planners in the profession focused on building relationships and fostering communication. The week was intense – full of mock interviews and discovery meetings, plan work, and plan presentations. All the work the Residents do is on pen and paper, and the focus is on what is referred to as “above-the-line” work – who and what matters to the mock Clients, and why. It aligns so well with how Yeske Buie approaches our work and relationships because it is fundamentally about who and what matters to you, our Clients, and why. It’s why our discovery process is such a pivotal part of our work together – we must learn about you to get to know the operating instructions for your life!
Being a mentor is an honor – it’s a lot of work, communication, and feedback. And, at the end of the week, mentors always walk away gaining so much more than they gave! The passion and energy brought by all Residents is contagious and the ideas, life lessons, and learning from one another is a gift to the mentors.
Lauren has enjoyed great family time this year, too. She recently officiated the wedding of her dear friend (so dear they’ve referred to one another as cousins for their whole lives) at a beautiful venue in Healdsburg, CA. She is looking forward to spending time with her family swimming in Arizona over the preschool summer break, and then heading to the Denver, CO area for the Yeske Buie team Retreat in July!
*Recipient advisor or wealth manager of an award and/or ranking is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment in the future. Disclosures for Awards and Rankings are available here.