Zonda senior vice president of advisory Bryan Glasshagel reads countless words each day as he reviews feasibility studies and market reports to better understand what’s going on across the country. But it’s the first few thousand he pours over each morning that he believes truly sets him up for success.
“My day starts with reading the Bible, every day, in prayer,” Glasshagel says. “That sets my day up more than anything. If I’m not doing that, I can see a difference in terms of my mindset. After the kids are off to school, that’s my first 30 to 45 minutes every day.”
Glasshagel is the perfect example of growing up through the ranks. He got his start at Zonda’s predecessor, Meyers Research, in the early 2000s in Southern California. From 2000 to 2008, he worked closely with Tim Sullivan, Zonda’s chief advisory officer. Before joining Zonda in 2019, he spent nearly a decade in various credit and lending roles at J.P. Morgan Chase.
Besides leading the Zonda team that runs market studies in Texas and around the country, Glasshagel does market presentations and moderates panels on homebuilding, finance, and economics at Zonda’s national and local events for clients.
“My team works on engagements across the state and nation. Big markets. Small markets. Texas. Not Texas,” he says. “We do it better because we work around the country and can point our clients to innovative solutions that they might not see in their local market today. You don’t get ahead in our industry by looking backwards and just doing what has always been done. We view this national platform and experience as a strength for us, not a weakness.”
When he worked with the Meyers group and Sullivan Group in the early 2000s, before his time in banking, Glasshagel was mainly doing the heavy lifting on producing market studies. He now focuses on sales, client engagement, and leading a team of consultants and associates who provide advisory services in Texas.
Glasshagel describes his leadership style as that of a coach providing feedback.
“I like to give people the room they need to grow through taking ownership of what they work on, providing guidance and mentorship along the way,” he says.
“I give them the latitude to be able to operate in a way that gives them a little bit of autonomy when making day-to-day decisions with the work that we produce. But I love getting people to the point that having that autonomy, growing them into that point where I can hand something off, and they’ve got the ability and the confidence to go through and take things from start to finish.”
While he often mentors others on skills and career progression, he learned the ropes from his own mentors over his time at Zonda. Glasshagel has considered Sullivan his mentor, with whom he has worked on and off for almost 25 years. He also looks up to Adam McAbee, who works from Zonda’s San Diego office.
“We’re now peers, but when I started, I was working under him as a very green analyst,” Glasshagel says of McAbee. “I would say he influenced my work ethic and dedication to doing things the right way. I think a lot of my approach to our work comes from just what I learned working on engagements under him.”
Knowing the company’s clients entrust his team with so much when they’re making acquisitions or other large investments, Glasshagel is inspired to deliver, to exceed their expectations for answers and innovative solutions.
“That’s what builds repeat business, those long-term relationships,” Glasshagel says. “You get to know a lot of these clients, more than just transactionally. We’re not just doing a market study or feasibility study, but getting to know them and their success. I love being able to be a small part of that success alongside our clients.”
