LISTEN UP, CLASS OF 2025

WELCOME

Hello! When y’all read this, I will be one day away from leaving to go to the beach for ten days. Ten days!! This is my longest beach vacay ever, so excitement is an understatement. I would say I’m curious as to how many days I can go without wearing pants, but that sounds far more risqué than my actual intention of just getting up and putting on a swimsuit every day.

Before I go, let’s get a little philosophical today. Instead of talking about specific real estate principles, legislation, and whatever plague Zillow’s about to roll out next, I’d rather take a big step back and instead dole out some life advice. Intrigued? Keep reading!

STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Pull Up a Stool, I Have Advice

I was at the bar the other night having dinner—because let’s be honest, I am the kind of woman who likes to eat with a cloth napkin in one hand and a conversation in the other. I’d been talking to the gentleman next to me and when he left, a girl leaned over and said, “I overheard you just went to your 40th high school reunion. I’m coming up on my 10th. What advice would you give me?”

Now, I could have gone one of two ways: short and sweet, or full-on Glennda Baker Commencement Speech. And you know me; I gave that girl the whole damn speech. So in honor of every graduate out there—high school, college, or the School of Hard Knocks—here’s what I’d tell you, if I had a mic, a cap, a gown. (The mimosas are optional.)

Who You Are Right Now? You’re Gonna Outgrow Her

Let me start by telling you this: the girl you are today? In five years, you won’t even recognize her. That isn’t shade—that’s a promise. The last four years didn’t define you, but they did shape you. Think of them like Spanx: tight, uncomfortable, but necessary to hold everything in place while you get your footing. If you’re sitting there worrying you peaked in high school, oh my stars and stripes, you are so wrong. And if you think you flopped in high school? Honey, that’s just your launchpad.

I Was Barely Allowed to Graduate and Still Built a Multi-Million Dollar Life

True story: I missed 40 days of my senior year. FORTY. They weren’t going to let me walk in the ceremony. But my mom showed up at that school and she made sure I got that diploma. (I suspect she came in there with the same energy Kris Jenner uses to land her daughters a brand deal.)

School was not my thing. I didn't take the SATs. I definitely didn’t apply to college. While everybody else was filling out financial aid forms, I was selling ladies' shoes and making $2,000 a month… in 1984. That was a small fortune, y’all. I was part-time rich with full-time attitude.

I didn’t have a five-year plan. I had a paycheck. And it felt good.

You Can Be Broke and Still Be the Richest Girl in the Room

When I got my job at the bank in Buckhead, I was making $7.82 an hour—Monday through Friday, four hours a day. I was also slinging shoes on the side two nights a week and Saturdays. In all, I was raking in something like $22,000 a year. I thought I was on top of the world. I thought I was rich. And I just knew I was doing better than Rebecca Holland at Clemson, and that was a reward in and of itself.

Back then, we compared ourselves to the girl down the street, not Kylie Jenner. My sample size was small (basically, Rebecca) and that was such a blessing. When Rebecca's parents got divorced, I knew that, so I wasn’t comparing myself to her highlight reel. I had her whole messy backstory, so I knew she didn’t have it all, either.

But the Class of 2025? You’re comparing yourself to an algorithm. To edited, filtered, “casually crying in the Range Rover” content. That’s not fair. You can’t beat the algorithm. You can’t even compete with it because it’s not real.

Social Media Is a Lying Liar

I worry about y’all. I really do. Because the comparison game today is brutal. You’re looking at The Bachelorette and thinking that’s how relationships should be, and also, that you should have a number of ball gowns at your disposal. You're watching Love Is Blind and wondering why your soulmate isn’t sliding into your DMs.

You have to remember that social media is a scam. A beautifully curated, contour-heavy, scam. You think you're behind the game because you don't have a Chanel bag or a $4 million trust fund? What y’all don’t know is they're leasing the bag and overdrafting the trust.

I am 58 damn years old and I know better… yet I have to actively prevent myself from comparing and despairing when I look at the fabulous Jade Millses and the Dawn McKennas of the world. I have to remind myself that I am fine and I am enough. So are y’all.

The World Is Your Oyster—But Only If You Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper

If I were graduating right now, I’d probably be so disillusioned that I wasn’t ever going to be Kylie or Taylor that I wouldn’t even want to try. Don’t compare and despair. The secret sauce is this: you're not supposed to be Kylie or Taylor. You're supposed to be YOU. What’s magical is you are literally one prompt away from a whole new life.

Seriously.

I could type into ChatGPT: “I’m 18, just graduated high school, don’t want to go to college—how do I make a million dollars in five years?” And honey, that little robot genie (she is my friend and I call her “Chatty”) would give me the game plan. (Also, we’re going to get into the weeds about Chatty next week, so get ready.)

What I’m saying is, the blueprint exists. You just have to believe you’re allowed to use it.

No More Doubting Yourself

Graduates, or heck, any of you who need this pep talk today, here’s what I want you to remember:

• You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to take the next best step.

• Your success won't look like anyone else's—and thank God for that.

• If your dreams scare you, GOOD. That means they're finally big enough.

• And if you feel lost? You are not behind. You're just pre-GPS.

I didn’t plan this life. I didn’t manifest it on a vision board. I got in the game, I worked hard, and I stayed in rooms where I was underqualified until I wasn’t. I now run a real estate business where I closed $8 million this month. Not my team. Me. But I still catch myself comparing my life to women who sell $2 billion a year. So don’t think the comparison game ends when you “make it.” You just get better at ignoring it.

You Do You

I want you to be the girl who takes the job instead of the loan. Be the boy who starts the business nobody believes in. Be the kid who skips college and writes code in your bedroom and sells your startup for six figures at 22. Be the one who listens to her gut over her guidance counselor.

As you head out into the world, don’t be afraid to shake things up, Class of 2025. To take the road less traveled. Your future just walked across the stage. Go and make her proud.

@glenndabaker

Do you really need college? In an era where you can learn anything on YouTube and Google or you can deploy the assistance of chat GPT… Wil... See more

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GLENNDA’S GURU

Welcome Back, Brittany Hodak!

We’ve met here before, we love her, and we’re thrilled to highlight our friend, Brittany Hodak again! I could not be more delighted to share more Brittany video because she is the absolutely brilliant customer experience speaker and author. I feel like she has so much to teach us all. She creates superfans everywhere she goes, starting with me, so please enjoy!

Thanks again, Brittany!

GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

Kick Your Shoes Off and Stay A While

Have y’all ever seen those people who get a collectible and then they never take it out of the original wrapper so it stays perfect and pristine? Well, that’s exactly what we’ve got here in this property located in the gated Abberley Towneship. Not only has this home never been offered for sale, it has never been trod upon by a pair of shoes. I am not kidding! This home is as meticulously maintained as it gets.

Not only is this an end unit, so it’s extra light-filled, there’s a private courtyard that is ready and waiting for margaritas at dusk or summertime soirees. And she’s as pretty as she is practical, with the laundry room located upstairs!

So if you’ve been curious about Johns Creek, coincidentally the #1 Best Place to Live in the US for 2025, and if you love top schools, public parks, and fantastic shopping, this may well be the place! (And if it were yours, then YOU could decide whether or not it’s a shoes-off house.)