Real estate legend Allie Beth Allman, Texas Christian, began her career by chance. After successfully selling her own Dallas, Texas, home by owner, a Tri Delta sister asked her to sell hers.
“I put a sign in her yard and sold it during an open house,” Allie Beth remembers.
That Tri Delta sister was Alicia Landry, Texas, wife of Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. The two initially met at a Dallas Alumnae Chapter meeting. Both had just moved to Dallas and ended up sitting next to each other at the meeting.
After selling another friend’s home, Allie Beth’s husband suggested she get her real estate license.
By 1985, she had built up a nice Dallas-area clientele and had more business than she could handle alone. A friend of hers had an interest in commercial real estate, so Allie Beth suggested he help her answer the phones — he was her first employee and still works with her today.
“We started out in my garage, and it grew from there,” Allie Beth recalls. “I never had any fear about starting my own business; I never thought about not succeeding. I just took baby steps…one thing would lead to another until the company got bigger and bigger.”
In 1995 Allie Beth sold her company, Allie Beth Allman Real Estate, to the largest independent real estate firm in Dallas. But a few years later, she began thinking about reopening after several of her previous agents and customers encouraged her to do so. She went to the person whom she had sold the business to and asked for his blessing. His response? “I want my condominium to be your first listing!”
Today, Allie Beth Allman & Associates is synonymous with the best estates, high-profile clientele and superior customer service in the Dallas luxury real estate market. In 2012, it was the first single office firm in Dallas history to achieve over $1 billion in sales. That streak continued as it achieved over $1.5 billion in 2013-2015. Allie Beth alone has made more than $2 billion in sales in her legendary career.
She has personally sold homes to several members of the Dallas Cowboys, including owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett.
Most notably, Allie Beth is perhaps the only real estate agent to have sold both a former United States President and former United States Vice President their homes — she worked with both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
But if there’s one thing Allie Beth takes great pride in, it’s each relationship she’s built over the course of her career.
The emphasis she places on maintaining relationships stems from her experience in Tri Delta. Growing up in a small West Texas town, Allie Beth knew that she wanted to go through “rush” — as recruitment was then known — at Texas Christian University.
“I had an older sister who was a Tri Delta at Texas Tech. And when I went through rush at TCU I felt the most comfortable with the Tri Deltas. It was a wonderful experience for me. Tri Delta gave me a lot of self-confidence, exposure and a wonderful group of friends that I’m still in contact with today.” One of the most important things Tri Delta taught her, she says, was loyalty. “I’ve been friends with many of my Tri Delta sisters since I pledged. They’ve all been very loyal friends, and loyalty is a trait that can carry on throughout your life in whatever you do.”
As she transitioned into alumnae membership, in 1967, Allie Beth became the youngest alumnae chapter president of the Dallas Alumnae Chapter. That year, the chapter was recognized with the outstanding chapter award at Tri Delta’s national Convention. She says that experience taught her how to work with a diverse group of people of all ages.
For Allie Beth, Tri Delta is also a family affair: both of her sisters and niece are Tri Deltas, and she has a Tri Delta daughter and granddaughter, who both pledged at Texas Christian University.
As for those wanting to follow in the footsteps of realtors, like herself, Allie Beth offers the following advice: “It’s not a profession for someone who doesn’t want to work hard. It’s not a 40-hour work week if you want to do well. A career in real estate is achievable by anyone but you have to have patience and good work ethic.” Her philosophy is “do not burn bridges; instead, build bridges.”
She adds: “One of the most important things to remember is never put money ahead of your customer. Your reputation is the most important thing you have, and if you ever blemish that you cannot completely recover.”
Allie Beth also acknowledges the impact Tri Delta has had on her career, from that first house she sold for her Tri Delta sister to those relationships she maintains today: “Tri Delta has opened up many doors for me.”