JUST GOOD OLD FASHIONED ADVICE

WELCOME

Today, I’ll offer a “howdy!” as I’m writing this in Oklahoma with rollers in my hair. In about an hour, I’ll take the stage at OK RECON where I have the honor of being the keynote speaker. (With what should prove to be bouncy hair.) I’ve already gotten the best welcome from this group and I’m so happy to be here!

There’s something about travel that gets me in my head. Maybe it’s all that quiet time on the plane. As I traveled here and was planning my remarks, I found myself looking back on my career, so today I’m going to share the advice I wish I could have given myself thirty years ago, when I was a baby agent. So I invite everyone to put on your flannel shirts or your baby-doll dresses and Doc Martens and travel back in time to 1994 with me!

THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE

Who’s Got Your Back?

A while back, I made the switch to working for Coldwell Banker. Oh, my stars and stripes, this has been such a good decision for me! One of the reasons I was compelled to move there was because of their infrastructure and their war chest. As our industry changes and scandals break, it gives me great peace of mind to know that I’m with a company who has a huge legal team to protect our interests as agents.

But in looking at my own security, I have to wonder what’s happening in the flat-fee brokerages, the downline brokerages, the low-cost/no-cost brokerages. How are those brokerages going to litigate and guard themselves against the lawsuits that are inevitably going to come as we try to find our center again? If you’re with a brokerage that doesn’t take much from you as an agent, that doesn’t have a massive war chest, do you feel protected, and if not, is it changing the equation for you?

I would love to hear from y’all on your thoughts about this. Ping me on social media and if I get a sizable or surprising response, I’ll definitely provide the update.

@glenndabaker

Cheap, fast and experienced is not an option… #G#GlenndaBakerR#RealestateA#AtlantaRealestateR#RealestateAgentGo#GoogleGlenndalenndaTok

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

So Much of This Still Applies Today

If I were able to reach back in time and give myself advice, I have a few things I’d want to stress, outside of the most obvious piece of advice of never cutting my own bangs.

First, I’d tell myself that discipline and consistency matter most. Even today, a million years since I ever set out my first Open House sign, it still matters. I find that once I’ve gotten some momentum, my tendency is to take my foot off the gas—and that’s not the best move.

Think of it like this—let’s say you’ve been a paragon of diet and fitness for thirty days. Green juice and cardio, all the way. Your knees feel better, your jeans fit nicely, and you see the definition on your jawline again. It’s so very easy on Day 31 one to say, “I’ve been working so hard, I deserve a banana pudding milkshake at Chick-fil-A.” Just taking your foot off the pedal for that one thing that’s a distraction can be a disruption and suddenly it’s so much harder to get back on track.

I’ve been actively working on my consistency lately, focusing on posting every day on TikTok and Instagram. What I’m finding is that the algorithm is rewarding that change in consistency. So if I were to go back—after I slapped the nail scissors out of my hands—I’d tell myself that discipline is the key to sustainable success.

However, life doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s hard to maintain that discipline when you’re not seeing results at first. I’m sure Baby Agent Glennda would tell me that. What I’d say to her is, you have to realize is that you’re getting results, they just may not be the results you planned for, at least at first. You’d be expecting to get all the listings, but it’s not happening, so it feels like your efforts didn’t work. Here’s the thing—it is working. You’re putting in the reps, you’re building that muscle, you’re preparing for that greatness.

Another thing I’d tell myself is to stop worrying about making everyone like you. I used to be so consumed with, “Do those girls like me? Why don’t they want me to be in their group? How come they get to be the broker’s favorites?” If I’d been let into their little clique, I would not be about to take the stage in front of 600 Oklahoma Realtors today. A lot of times we believe that an unanswered prayer is that God failed us. But it’s not failure—you’re either being spared or prepared. If years ago I’d married that millionaire who owned car dealerships, I’d never have had Lucas.

Last night at the speakers’ dinner, someone asked me what’s my biggest regret. I did not mention the homemade bangs. Instead, I said, “I could probably name a dozen, heck, a hundred, but I choose not to look back with regret. I always want to look forward with reflection.” So don’t dwell on the past; learn from it. Maybe there’s a time that you think you’re at your lowest moment, but what it actually is turns out to be your moment of breakthrough. You’re just being prepared for the greatness in your future.

Honestly, the worst place to be in life is where you were twenty years ago. I learned that a long time ago from when I’d listen to Tony Robbins on a cassette tape. He’d say that life is about constant and never-ending improvement. Don’t kid yourself that if you’re standing still and everything is fine that you’re fine, because everyone else is then moving ahead of you. That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t be satisfied with what you have; rather, it’s holding yourself accountable as to how you can be better.

Never forget that every mistake you made, every experience you went through made you the person you are today.

What’s funny is I’m about to get up on stage and the guy who’s going to interview me wanted to send me the questions so I could prepare. I laughed and said, “I promise you there’s not a question you can ask me that I am unprepared to answer.”

So I’m about to unroll my hair and get on that stage and be in the moment with all the OK Realtors, giving them honest answers from my heart. And I just think that if the Baby Agent Glennda from thirty years ago knew where we’d be today, she’d be awfully proud.

@glenndabaker

I’m feeling very reflective today… The bottom line is you can’t change the past, so suck it up buttercup and do everything you can to make... See more

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