Glennda Baker: Embrace What Makes You Different and Build From There
Glennda Baker: ...if I open my eyes, am I still here? Like, is it... is this a dream that I'm going to wake up from, or is really my life a dream? I am the Michael Jordan of real estate, and I want people to see the best in me. And for a single mother, homeownership was very difficult for her, and had a doctor not been willing to owner-finance for her, she would never have been able to purchase. So home has always been this significance of stability that I had never had. I was bullied and teased relentlessly because I was different. I had a big accent. I had big hair. I walked different. I talked different. People were always teasing me about those things. And it wasn't until I embraced the things about me that were different that things started to change for me.
Leo Pareja: Glennda, thank you for joining in Miami. I'm super excited. I know we've been trying to schedule this for a while. Pareja Unfiltered is about unpacking amazing journeys, and I normally tell everybody, I think social media's created this finished product—like a resume, a highlight reel—that, um, is nowhere close to reality. So in... in this conversation, I always like to unpack certain moments that took you across your journey. So, you're one of the most followed agents on both Instagram and TikTok that doesn't have a reality TV show. So that... I actually spent a bunch of time looking at your stuff and comparing you to other folks with that size of a following, uh, because I've been on a social media journey over the last two years. Um, I don't know if you know this, but the day I was announced CEO, I did not have a Facebook account. That's how recent I am to social. I actually wore it like a badge of honor. I was a millennial that didn't participate in social. And, you know, you've done a phenomenal job breaking into it. But before we get to that, I actually want to start early on, an interview I watched with you, and it's the "dream home on the hill." And so what I wrote down was your mom used to drive you through at the Atlanta Country Club as a kid and point to a California contemporary on a hill: "One day, pumpkin." Then you bought that house in March of 2021 in the middle of a divorce. What was that moment actually like for you?
Glennda Baker: It was... it was surreal. My mother is deceased, she's been... she passed away many years ago. And I was in a very hard season of my life—very hard season of my life—and that house came on the market. But my perspective of that house was from the back, as a child, looking up at it on a hill. It had never been on the market before. I actually bought it from the original homeowner's daughter. And so I had been looking in that neighborhood... I'd lost earnest money because I couldn't get my divorce finalized, so I had been looking at houses in that neighborhood for a year. And my friends called me, because a lot of people knew I was looking, and they're like, "Did you go see that house?" And I'm like, "Oh, I can't afford that." And my lender called me and he goes, "Hey, are you going to go look at that house that just came on the market?" And I'm like, "I can't afford that." And he goes, "You can afford that." And I'm like, "No, no, no, really." And he's like, "Just go look at it. Just go look at it." And, um, the light fixture in the family room is planets and stars, and he's like, "Have you seen the light fixture? It's like stars, you got to go see it." So when I walked in and I looked to the left and I realized, "Wait a minute..." And I walked out on the deck, being able to see like my mom in that car. And for a single mother, who... homeownership was very difficult for her, and had a doctor not been willing to owner-finance for her, she would never have been able to purchase. So home has always been this significance of stability that I had never had, and being able to look out there and just see me and my mom drive along... the house on the hill was mine. And we were in the midst of like multiple offers and houses going over the list price, and nobody else made an offer. I didn't pay over the list price, and I got that house. And it was just... it's been a dream for me. It's my place of peace.
Leo Pareja: And what was that full-circle moment like? You know, seeing something as a kid and then getting to grab it? And I think a lot of us go through these goal-setting exercises, and then when it happens, we're not sure how to interpret them or how to experience them, but...
Glennda Baker: I mean, you got to keep in mind, I mean, she's driving a car that's put together with Bondo, like, it doesn't have air conditioning. In my head, we don't... I don't have that kind of money. And so to realize that my mom told me to get into real estate, that I was able to take a career and turn it into a passion and a purpose, and then be able to buy the home that was her dream home... it... it was a dream that I never... I can't even believe that it came true. And every morning, like, I lay in the bed and think, "If I open my eyes, am I still here? Like, is it... is this a dream that I'm going to wake up from, or is really my life a dream?" And it's all because my mom believed in me, and she... she... she breathed belief and confidence into me. And I think that that's been a staple of my career, is that I have believed in myself and I have led with confidence. The... the ladies that work with me, and other agents, and I... I feel like that because I've done that, it's just came back to me.
Leo Pareja: And so that, I think, that perfectly dovetails into my next thought and question, right? Um, you are a persona and personality in... in the most authentic way—I mean it as a compliment, right?—with, from the... the glitter, and how you've created a persona around even a podcast. Was that a natural evolution? How did you think through that? And I guess the question that, for somebody watching who admires you, because you have a lot of admirers—I read the comments—um, was that intentional? Did you design it? Is there a line in the sand of what's Glennda personally versus the outward persona?
Glennda Baker: So I barely graduated from high school, I didn't go to college, I don't have any training in marketing or branding. And I just... my mom said to me, she goes, "Pumpkin, your star. Dress like one." And so the stars kind of caught on, and in the comments people were like, "Oh, I love your jacket. Oh, I love your shirt." And I was like, "I think the stars have some legs on them, I'm going to make an intentional effort." Plus, they make me feel close to my mom, like she's here with me. And so it just... it was natural. It was a natural evolution. But I was bullied and teased relentlessly because I was different. I had a big accent. I had big hair. I walked different. I talked different. And I always had... like, people were always teasing me about those things. And it wasn't until I embraced the things about me that were different that things started to change for me. And I think that's where the authenticity was born, was I realized I didn't need to try and be like somebody else; I just needed to be me. And so my brand is built on being real, relatable, reliable, and relevant. And if I can't be those things, then I don't make that video, I don't talk about that, I don't do that event, I don't speak at that... at that conference. Everything about my brand is so I can be real, relatable, relevant, and reliable, and that's what the audience depends on from me.
Leo Pareja: Where does a young person who doesn't have the track record to accompany it, right? Um, I think I have a similar brand, where I'm... I speak different than other CEOs, and I think that's what audiences like. When I open my mouth, I... I curse, I... I say very authentic things that most NASDAQ CEOs don't do. What I see that you and I both have is a track record to back it up, because absent of it, it could come across as arrogance versus confidence, correct, right? The reason I think we're both interpreted as confident and not arrogant is because we have a resume to prove it. How do you advise someone who is still on their come-up and proving their track record on how to still be authentic without, um, at least even for themselves, talking them through the insecurity of it all?
Glennda Baker: Well, nothing accelerates credibility faster than proof, and you need to learn to speak intelligently, whether you've had one sale or a hundred sales. And how do you do that? Is by knowing your market, talking with people that are smarter than you, being curious. If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. I always encourage new agents, or agents that don't have a track record, to sit down with an agent, or sit down with a lender, or sit down with title, and ask them to... to teach them, learn from the people who have more experience than you. When I started in real estate, I was in a cubicle in a bullpen, and I got the lay of the land. I looked around the office, I moved my cubicle to right outside the door of the girl who was number one, and I listened to what she said. If she needed flyers done, if she needed signs taken, if she needed lockboxes, I was there. I listened to everything that girl said, and that was how I literally cut my teeth on being a real estate agent. And I read How to Develop a Six-Figure Income in Real Estate, and I went and previewed every single house. So it's not going to magically happen. And with social media, you have the ability to accelerate your growth and your confidence like never before. I mean, there's a young girl in Atlanta, she's been selling real estate 3 years. She did a video on my listing and posted it on her Instagram. I have 329,000; she has 20,000 followers. And a buyer DM'd her to buy my listing. I had done a video on my listing, they didn't DM me. And that's the thing, is you have now with social media the ability to number one, curate the narrative; number two, show your personality; and... and lean into who you are and... and what you love about real estate, or what you love about anything.
Leo Pareja: So even at 20,000, that's still, you know, a decent size audience to have built. What do you advise to an agent who, um, is probably like year two or three, mhm, under 10, 15 transactions, and they don't have a listing? You just gave a perfect example: to go and make a video about somebody else's listing, right? Um, if someone's listening who's probably like struggling in the industry right now, what is their, you know, one through five? And again, actually let's make it a little broader to entrepreneurs, because this podcast is mostly targeted to [a] broader audience, you know, it doesn't matter what size business you have, you have [a] small, midsize business—what are you documenting? Because I think there's a... a paralysis by analysis when it comes to social media. Yeah, everywhere you go, it's "Do social media," but then people go, "What do I do?" So what... what are some tactical things? Are you documenting processes, events? What... what specifically are your tactical instructions to folks?
Glennda Baker: The good, the bad, and the ugly. You think that people know about real estate because you know about real estate, so you don't break down what is the most elementary things that most Bobby and Suzy everyday buyers don't know. Like, I don't know anything about homeowners insurance in Miami. I don't know, like, how close to the water can you be? Or what is the elevation? Or what kind of the exterior I should have? Talking about things that are elementary are the best way to get started. And who do you want your audience to be? You got to keep in mind, when I started, I lived in an apartment and I didn't... I didn't live in a house, so I didn't have a farm or neighborhood that I could lean into. So if you don't have anywhere to start, pick a three-mile zone. Don't go wide, go deep. It's easier... easier... easier if you pick a product and you go deep there. So what is your three-mile zone, your TMZ, where you work, where you live, where you play? Okay? Make that into a triangle and know everything about that area. Know the vendors in there, know the... have a list of people that you can refer, because those people will then refer business to you. But if you are new and starting out, you need to be previewing five houses a day, five days a week, because you want to be able to speak intelligently about real estate. If you go out to eat, sit at the bar. The people that sit at the bar, they want to talk. The people who don't want to talk sit at a table by themselves and read a book. And when somebody says to you, "Hey, how's it going?" "Going great, living the dream, selling houses every day." "Oh, you're in real estate?" Everybody wants to talk about real estate. And so you want to be able to speak intelligently, and you can say, "Oh, yeah, you know, that house down the street..." Always know about Elton John's penthouse or Tyler Perry's house that Steve Harvey now owns, like topics that you can kind of off the top of your head, that's what you want to do. And you... because you want to be able to speak confidently and intelligently about real estate. And if you don't know what to talk about, ask: "Where are the friction points in your market in real estate?" And if you are like, "Well, Glennda, where would I find that?" There's this thing called ChatGPT. Ask them, and then ask them to review... read it, Reddit. Ask them to review Reddit: "What are people arguing about on Reddit?" And then you can talk about it.
Leo Pareja: That's a really good one. So, how would you search, cuz, and again, Reddit is, um, one of the main sources that LLMs pull from—what are you searching specifically? Cuz I... we were recently in an event and we had Neil Patel, and he was saying to make a handle, like "I sell Atlanta" or something like that, and go in and answer questions on Reddit versus create a thread. Have you found what works and what doesn't on Reddit?
Glennda Baker: You always want to answer the questions. You don't want to create the thread, because the majority of people that go to Reddit want to bitch and complain. You want to be the solution. You want to be the source for the... for the information. Don't create the thread.
Leo Pareja: That's great advice.
Glennda Baker: But go into ChatGPT and say, "Give me five topics that are the most talked about, have the most friction, that people are complaining about in real... about real estate on Reddit." And if you will put in that prompt, it will give you number one, the topic, but number two, what is the pain point? That's what you want to understand, and you want to make a video about that. And all of your videos that you're making today should be answering a question, okay? So you... so I am the Dear Abby of real estate. I... I want people... I want to answer people's questions about real estate. So every video that I make, I am making it in an answer engine optimization format so that if you go on to ChatGPT about, "What's the worst thing about homeowners insurance in Atlanta, Georgia?" you will see my video that says, "Homeowners insurance, I just got cancelled..."
Leo Pareja: No, that's... that's... I'm... I'm actually thinking about my content creation process, um, and by the way, you're doing a great job. I follow you, I share a lot of your stuff, because it's very... the way that you deliver it is very applicable to... to our business, to us as real estate agents. And that's what I love, is when you're... when you're giving the advice, it's very direct and common-sense foundation, which is a very much the way you talk. You are very direct, and the majority of what you say is common sense, but the way that you say it is so that people will actually hear it. And I think that that's what makes you different than the majority of people that are posting content. Just a little shout-out right there.
Glennda Baker: I appreciate that.
eo Pareja: And I got follow-up questions on your process. So you shoot a month's worth of content in a single day—30 to 50 videos with your producer, uh, Denver Bailey. Most people get really caught up on the daily grind. Can you walk us through your actual system? Like, every entrepreneur says, "I don't have time to create content." And again, I've made it a conscious effort where I block entire days to do it, um, and then batch create. Walk me through your process, because I still think you create, you know, orders of magnitude more than myself or other people who need to get to that level.
Glennda Baker: Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. Take a Google Form and put it on the homepage of your phone. And what is the idea? What was the inspiration? What do you want to say about it? And any notes to your videographer. And if you don't have a videographer, what notes... what's going to ring the bell for you, right? So you make a Google Form, you put it on your home screen. Then that way, at 5:12 p.m., when you're driving home today and you're stopped at a red light and you see something that inspires you about real estate, you can put it in that form. Then you open up your laptop when you're having great hair or great makeup, you're feeling really good about shooting videos, and you can shoot five videos and you just do it right on the laptop camera.
Leo Pareja: Yeah, absolutely.
Glennda Baker: Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. I love live video like nobody's business. I cut my teeth on live video, and it was just easy for me, because I would put it in my car, I had great lighting, and if I was whacked out about something, I could like get it out of my system. So whether it was an inspector that had, um, talked about the brick being moist, or had misdiagnosed the dishwasher that wouldn't run, you know, I was able to get it out. One of the first... actually, the first live video I ever did on Instagram was when Zillow bought ShowingTime. And I said, "What does this mean for you, the real estate agent?" And I think that a lot of people didn't realize all of that data and 123 Banana Street and how many showings did it have. And this was back when Zillow was buying houses, and I was like, I think this is really kind of going to... going to give them this behind-the-scenes information of how many showings was that house getting, and what was the feedback on that house, and do they want to buy it off-market? And so I was kind of going down this conspiracy theory rabbit hole, but that video got a ton of views and I was like, "Hey, I think that this has got some legs on it." So in the moment, I do live video when I need to get something out, I need to get something off my chest, I do live video, um, good, bad, ugly, behind the scenes—that's my stories. So I'm going to go up in the attic, I'm going to pull the rat out, because the closing's at 2:00 and nobody's available to get it out, and the buyer's refusing to close 'til the rat's out of the attic—I'm going to go up there and get the rat out with my flip-flop. I mean, that's what... that's what I have to do to get paid $76,000. Praise the Lord and pass the rat. So I mean, it's the good, the bad, and the ugly, cuz people want to see, like, I'm not in a septic field in my stilettos, this is not Selling Sunset in Atlanta, Georgia. So for me, I want to show people what really happens. I'm not selling $50 million houses in California, I'm selling $500,000 houses in Atlanta, Georgia. And so I want to show the everyday buyer what it really looks like to buy a house.
Leo Pareja: Talk to me about the difference between, uh, visibility and virality.
Glennda Baker: Oh, my stars and stripes, don't get my head spinning around. So, this is the thing, is like you think you need a million followers, you think you need a million views—you don't. You need to bring value to the video content that you post. How are you giving value to the consumer, to the audience, whoever is your audience, and is it getting to those people? So you want to be visible, but you want to have valuable content. I have a friend, and he's a mortgage guy, and he talked about how he was convinced that the reason that McDonald's was missing 50,000 chicken nuggets was because he had eaten 35,000 of them, because if there were 10 employees and they each ate 100 chicken nuggets a day, that was that the 50,000 that were missing, right? Well, that video went viral, but he didn't get a single mortgage application from that. And so that's the... you're missing... you're missing the connection point. Like, you want to... people to be able to connect to you. So how does this impact them? How does this inspire them? How does this inform them? That's what I'm trying to do with my content. And if you're not... if... if you don't have an action item behind the content that you're posting, like... like what action do you want people to take? You don't even have to give them a call to action if you inspire them to take action. And that's what I really do, I don't have a call to action. I remember a coach said to me, you know, "Glennda, those videos aren't going to do very well, because you don't have a call to action." I've posted 6,093 videos; I've never ever had a call to action. That's just not my deal. I want to inspire you to take action. I want to trigger you to take action. So when somebody calls me and they say, "Hey, Glennda..." just like this man yesterday... this man sends me a text message yesterday, crossed my heart, and he says, "I want to list my house in Kennesaw." He follows me on TikTok. And why did he... why did he reach out to me? Because I told a story about how a seller waited too long to list their house, and the house that they wanted to buy was no longer available, because they couldn't buy house two without selling house one. And that guy was like, "Wait a minute, I'm getting really close to my house being finished. If I want to close on my loan, I need to get something done." And so that's exactly how it happened. And he called me and I'm going to list his house—$800,000. Thank you very much.
Leo Pareja: Talk to me about, uh, your early experiences with YouTube that didn't pan out and then trying again four years later, because I think it's a really good example of not giving up, right?
Glennda Baker: Doesn't work the first time around. I mean, first off, I was going through menopause. I was sweaty. I was smelly. I... I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what to do. I was just trying to, like... I was trying to make it work. I was trying to figure it out. And the thing about it was was it... it was terrible. It was so bad, we couldn't even post it. I mean, some of them I posted and they were horrible, and they're still there today, cuz I don't know how to get them off. But anyway, I digress. But this is the thing, is like I knew that I had something to say. Like, I... like I want to talk to my best friend, I want to talk to my best client, I want to talk to my therapist about real estate. Like, I knew I had something to say that was valuable. That's why I didn't stop. And if this didn't work... like, this is the thing, is like, if the open house on Sunday didn't work, does it mean that open houses don't work? No, it just means maybe you need to change the time, maybe you need to change your offering, maybe you need to change your advertising, maybe you need to change your marketing, maybe you need to talk to more sellers. That's the thing, is just tweaking it. It's like this compound effect: you change just a little, just a little, just a little, and finally you like hit the jackpot. This is what works, and you just have to continually watch what you're doing and where is the engagement, and what are people excited about, and then double down on that.
Leo Pareja: Um, you and Tyler on your podcast have been pretty open about sobriety.
Glennda Baker: Yep.
Leo Pareja: I've been in this business for 24 years, and I would say that, you know, real estate happy hours, client dinners, closing celebrations, alcohol has been embedded into the culture. One of the things I've done as a CEO is I don't allow the corporate team to drink if we're at an event and I'm picking up the tab—no one drinks. And when we're at a conference for five days, don't charge it to my credit card, I'm not paying for it. And if we're out, we're just not allowed to consume it, right? This is not a vacation, we're working, right? Um, I... I think it's interesting because I think we're living through a societal shift. Um, I just read recently that, um, liquor companies lost collectively like $830 billion or something like that, which is... which is crazy, which is great, I think. Yeah. Um, how have you, um, led through that, changed your... your culture, and your team, and your business? And how do you think other agents or... or leaders, right, who probably still feel the social pressure and how they should think through stuff like that?
Glennda Baker: So I... I mean, I definitely struggled, but I wasn't the best version of myself. I'm not the best version of myself when I drink, and I am the Michael Jordan of real estate, and I want people to see the best in me. And so that's why it was critical to my success, I felt like, to give the best version of myself, and that didn't include drinking. And I still see today, um, how agents depend on alcohol and drugs, and they use it to be cool, they use it for confidence, they use it to be comfortable. And if it's... if it's not making the best version of you, like don't do that, because people are watching you: your buyers, your sellers, your coworkers. And from an executive, I think that is a great position. We're working, like this is... this is not your kicking back in the cul-de-sac. And don't... and especially now, don't think that people aren't watching you when you're off the clock, cuz they're watching your behavior when you're off the clock. And do you think that they're going to trust their single largest asset to somebody who can't control themselves in that manner? And so I just think that for me, I've... I've struggled. I... I did great for a... a long period of time with my sobriety, and... and then struggled with it for a few years. But for me, I want to be the best version of myself, not only for my clients, but for my family. I have these two amazing grandsons, and I want to be... I want to live longer to enjoy them. I want the quality of my life to be better. And I also want to remember every moment, milestone, and memory that I have in my life. And that's the thing, is like I went to a conference in 2017, and my son said... I took my son, he was really in... very struggling at that point in his life. And, um, I told him, "We're going to go to this Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within." He's like, "I'm not going to that." I'm like, "Yeah, we're going." And we're there four days, and at the end of those four days, my son's taller than me, and he hugs me, and my ear is right next to his heart, and he says, "I'm never going to forget these four days with you." And it was in that moment in time that I literally said, "I want a lifetime of moments strung together like this." And that... h... really has led to my leadership, to my sobriety, to trying to always be the best version of myself, and never thinking like, "Oh, I've sold this many houses, I don't need the money anymore, like I don't need to do this." Like, I love it. It's not a job to me. This is my passion. This is my purpose. I love... I'm here in Miami to speak to agents about how to implement video into their business strategy. I'm so excited to see them tomorrow. Like, for me, I want that leadership role, because I was the last kid picked on the playground, and now today to think that there will be a thousand people that'll look at me tomorrow and be excited on everything that I have to say turns me on.
Leo Pareja: Well, I opened with a question about your mom and I want to close it the same way. Um, some... what's something your mom told you you still think about today?
Glennda Baker: Probably the thing that she said that sits with me every day and in every decision is: "You're different. You're not like everybody else. You're not meant to be like everybody else. Don't try to be them, always be you." And it's difficult, you know, cuz you see somebody who's doing better than you, you see somebody who's got more than you, and you're like, "Oh, well, if I had this pocketbook, or that car, or if I could sell this house, you know, or if I did this, or if I did that, I could be like them." And every time like that flies through my head, I remember my mom saying, "You aren't meant to be like somebody else. You're meant to be you."
Leo Pareja: Well, thank you so much for spending the time with me and sharing so transparently. It was a pleasure having you on.
Glennda Baker: Thanks, Leo. I'm so excited. And I have to tell you, I was honored to be invited to sit with you today. I have such admiration for you and how you lead your company and how you, um, speak to your team and your agents. People think, cuz I talk a lot, that I'm a talker, but really I'm an observer. And I've had the opportunity to observe you with your... with your team, and it is... it is, uh, a wonderful reflection on your company and on you.
Leo Pareja: Thank you so much.