Business
A new direction
An estate attorney-turned-financial planner, Angela Baker, W’84, was building a successful career with a Northern Virginia wealth management firm when three major developments altered her life trajectory and put a lifelong philosophy to the test.
First, “I had a client that I loved very much, and she passed away,” Baker says. She noticed the client’s daughter pushing through grief and stress to sell her mother’s home and settle her financial affairs. Then, twin lightning bolts in 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, and Baker’s father suffered a stroke.
“That was very life-changing,” says Baker. “It got me to really put some serious thought into what I really wanted to do with what I like to call my ‘third 30’ and challenged my belief in myself.”
The result: a one-stop business that helps people navigate the emotionally difficult, often confusing process of major life transitions — such as retirement, death, and divorce — that involve elements of real estate, financial planning, or estate law.
I'm really motivated by the impact that I can have on my clients' lives.
“My whole goal is to make it as seamless and stress-free as possible,” she says. “I'm really motivated by the impact that I can have on my clients’ lives.”
Baker chose the University of Richmond for similar reasons — wanting to make a difference. A cheerleader and member of student government, Baker double-majored in political science and women’s studies, a choice she says prepared her for law school at Seton Hall University.
Her Richmond education “served me very well going forward into law school and then in all of my conversations with clients,” Baker says. “If you have a rich and diverse background, you can relate so well to all different kinds of people in all different stages of life. Now I’m the regional ambassador in Northern Virginia for the university. And I love that, too.
“It’s been a fantastic experience,” she says.