Laura Garofalo, Founder, Professional Banter

Your value goes beyond what you do.

It's the unique combination of skills, knowledge, and perspective only you bring. I'm here to help you see and communicate that value, so you can find the right opportunities.

I'm Laura Garofalo, founder of Professional Banter and a growth strategist for professional services leaders.

For 15+ years, I’ve worked at PR agencies. I started on the client account side, helping innovative companies shape and share their most important stories, then moved into business development and marketing roles.

Along the way, I became an expert at positioning expertise and building practical systems that grow pipeline, revenue, and reputation.

Before consulting, I built and led marketing at a top PR agency.

In 2016, Inkhouse reached an important inflection point. With 100+ employees and continued growth, the agency was ready to formalize its business functions and take a more intentional approach to its next chapter.

I was hired to build the marketing function from the ground up and, over the next several years, helped strengthen the firm's brand, market position, and industry reputation. What I accomplished at Inkhouse:

BUILT THE BUSINESS FUNCTION
Created the marketing strategy, systems, and infrastructure to support the agency's continued growth.

DESIGNED THE CONTENT ENGINE
Developed thought leadership and integrated campaigns that increased visibility and nurtured relationships with senior decision-makers.

STRENGTHENED MARKET POSITION
Increased visibility, trust, and credibility with priority audiences and across the industry.

REPOSITIONED + REBRANDED THE FIRM
Led a full agency rebrand to better reflect the firm's evolution, capabilities, and market position.

The Result:

Inkhouse entered its next chapter with a stronger brand, clearer market position, and more established marketing function, and was ultimately acquired by Orchestra, a newly formed strategic communications company.

I see growth from multiple angles

  • Marketing & communications

    Positioning, messaging, content, thought leadership, brand, and visibility.

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  • Business development

    Capabilities, pipeline, outreach, client journeys, and relationship development.

  • Client service

    Understanding how expertise is delivered, how trust is built, and what professional services buyers actually value.

  • “Laura's strategic, intelligent, hard-working, and kind. I trust her implicitly, and all these years later, I still learn something new every time I talk to her.”

    — Beth Andrix Monaghan, Founder & Former CEO, Inkhouse, an Orchestra Company

  • “Laura is a brilliant marketing strategist who is skilled at crystallizing company messaging, helping companies grow their new business pipelines and creating and overseeing strong marketing programs. Laura is also an absolute pleasure to work with who contributes as much to a company’s culture, as she does to a business’ bottom line.” 

    — Lisa van der Pool, Founder, Van Der Pool Media Strategies 

  • “Laura is a high-energy professional who quickly connects and builds relationships with reporters, prospects and colleagues. She is fluent at the rare intersection of communications, sales and project management, equally adept at media relations, content creates and building a pipeline. She's also a joy to work with!”

    — Bryan Scanlon, Founder, Look Left Marketing

    Former President, Schwartz MSL & Global Practice Director, MSLGroup, where he worked with Laura

  • "Laura brings a rare combination of calm, clarity, and strategic insight, helping me turn ideas into a clear, actionable plan that aligned with both my goals and my capacity."

    — Lindsay Cotterpong, LICSW Psychotherapist, DBT Group Coaching

  • "I've struggled over the years to find someone to help me with business development who can both think strategically and roll up her sleeves to help me actually move things forward. Laura is the rare professional who does both. If you're a business owner who's ready to grow but could use a smart strategic partner to help you get there, I can't recommend Laura highly enough. Working with her has been one of the best investments I've made in my business.”

    — Sarah Gershman, Founder & CEO, Green Room Speakers

  • “I worked with Laura to assess my website and current digital content to better position my business to better define offers, drive leads, and ultimately sales. In a week she gave me an amazingly thorough, easy to understand, and clear road map to fix things up and get the outcomes I want for my business, along with some new creative ideas I hadn’t thought of. She has an amazing energy, is crazy-smart, and doesn’t bring BS. 10/10.”

    — Kate Bachman, Founder, Way & Words