JP Morgan Chase Bank of Mercer Island private client adviser Susan Barnett thrives on connecting with people through her job.

She’s been a financial adviser for 25 years, including 22 of them on the Island with JP Morgan Chase and Washington Mutual before that, and enjoys being a part of the community.

“I think the reason that I love what I do in financial services so much is really the people. If I have to say one thing that makes me go to work every morning, it’s my clients and my relationships that I build with them,” Barnett said while she discusses their money, portfolios and goals.

Barnett’s expertise in the financial realm has reached beyond the Island as she was recently named to the 2022 Forbes Top Women rankings for advisers.

It’s a great honor to be recognized, said Barnett, noting that she has worked alongside many talented peers during her lengthy career in the financial industry.

After launching her banking career in 1995 for Washington Mutual on the Island, she soon moved to southern California with her husband to work with her financial services mentor for about 10 years. She returned to the Seattle area in 2008 and worked with a couple firms before landing back on the Island with JP Morgan Chase in 2012. (Chase purchased Washington Mutual in 2008.)

“I just loved the community and the people there and was just excited for that opportunity (to return),” said Barnett, who grew up in the Redmond/Woodinville area and graduated from Redmond High School. She is part of a close-knit family and has six sisters.

It was through family that Barnett was drawn to the financial industry.

“My grandmother had a financial adviser that would come to her house and help her. I always thought that was a really interesting field and loved banking and really wanted to kind of pursue that,” she said.

Barnett said it’s her job to create a plan that’s customized for her clients and to guide them along the path of making good decisions with their bank accounts. She’s been there for clients when the markets were closed for three days following 9/11 and during uncertain times like the pandemic and current world events in the Ukraine and Russia.

“I’m constantly saying to people, ‘The same investment could be the worst investment for someone and the best investment for someone else if it doesn’t match their risk tolerance,’” she said. “People call it their risk tolerance, but it’s really their pain tolerance, and that they can weather through that in times when we see volatility.”