“I Knew I Couldn’t Be Number One at Reading, but I Could Be Number One at Everything Else”: Allie Beth Allman

The most amazing story ran on WFAA-TV Wednesday night by Shelly Slater on our treasured Allie Beth Allman and her personal secret: Allie Beth has battled dyslexia all her life.

But it sure hasn’t stopped her.

She is an icon in Dallas Real Estate, buying and selling homes to top movers and shakers including the biggest sale in Dallas, to George and Laura Bush on Daria Drive when they left the White House and returned to Dallas.

(Hmmm. Who broke that story?)

We have profiled Allie Beth Allman, of course, who once actually worked for WFAA-TV, always focusing on her dynamic real estate career. I had heard about her dyslexia, but she has now come forward publicly because she has teamed up with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy.

The sweetest moment in this WFAA-TV produced piece: how Allie Beth’s husband Pierce reads to her:

“I’ll flip through and if there is something about a client, a former client, or potential client I will cut that,” said Pierce Allman during a morning debrief.

Allman reads to his wife, Allie Beth, for good reason.

“He knows what I can’t do but he doesn’t dwell on it,” Allie Beth said.

In fact, having people read to her is how Allie Beth made it through TCU and her Real Estate exam, which she had to take three times.

Dyslexia is a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence. In fact, dyslexics often possess superior intelligence that helps them compensate for brains just not wired to read the written word.

She can’t hear the sounds, comprehension is tough and she reverses letters. But she doesn’t dwell on excuses. She’s far too motivated.

“I knew I couldn’t be number one at reading so I thought I’ll be number one at everything else,” Allie Beth said.

Tom Landry, Tom Hicks, George W. Bush: Allie Beth Allman sure didn’t let a little learning disorder get in the way of one of the best real estate careers in the country.

She is also a terrific human being who rushes to help anyone in her life or community who suffers from the loss of a loved one, or from life’s struggles and pain. And it would take a book to list the number of agents she has taught the business to from the ground up.

Glad WFAA ran this story. The Allmans are working with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, to spread their love for the written word. That it comes from someone who has difficulty reading is even more powerful.

“She never forgot where she came from,” Pierce said.

“Yes ,it’s all the thorns you go through and growth you go through,” said Allie Beth of the (gifted) Bush painting when asked if it made her feel at home.

She’s a West Texas girl, who through it all never stopped believing in herself.

If you would like to learn more about the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and its upcoming Celebration of Reading Monday on October 24 click here. WFAA’s Shelly Slater will emcee on behalf of #ShellysBookworms.