Editorial
Front Page - Friday, June 4, 2010
Realtor turns right place and right time into right career
David Laprad
Tammy Babb is the lease administrator at Luken Holdings. She also takes residential and commercial listings for clients outside of the company.
- David Laprad
Tammy Babb is providing an impromptu tour of the James Building on Broad Street, pointing out the cast iron stairs that lead to the second story, the quiet break area near the back of the ground level and the skylight that illuminates the high ceilinged passageway in that part of the structure.
She appears to be a natural at pointing out amenities and calling attention to the beauty of the 12-story edifice, built in 1906 according to the specifications of renowned architect Rueben Harrison Hunt.
And it’s not even her job to sell the space.
Instead, Babb handles all retail lease renewals for Luken Holdings. It’s not what she envisioned doing when she moved to Chattanooga 12 years ago, though.
“My mother said I was going to be a professional student because I kept changing my major,” she says. “But I eventually graduated from Chattanooga State with a paralegal degree.”
While Babb was going to school, she took a job doing data entry work for Bob Corker’s mayoral campaign. As she ap-
proached graduation, she accepted a position answering phones at Corker’s real estate company, which would later become Luken Holdings when Corker sold it during his bid to become a U.S. senator.
When the lease administration job at Corker’s company became available, Babb snapped it up and never looked back. “I was in the right place at the right time,” she says.
Although the position represented a change in direction for her, she says her paralegal education came in handy whenever she had to customize a lease to address the needs of a particular client.
Babb says working for Corker and Luken has been a good experience. “When Bob owned the company, he was good to us. And Mr. Luken has been the same.”
She especially likes being a part of a small group of people that have worked together for a long time.
“There are nine of us, and we’re tight. Everyone knows his job, but we also work together as a team,” she says.
Although limited in size, the staff at Luken manages over three million square feet of rental space and more than 500 tenants. As the one re-
sponsible for lease renewals, Babb has enough work to stay busy. Even so, she’s continued to further her education, shifting her emphasis to real estate to allow her to take on more responsibilities at Luken.
“First, I got my real estate license, and then last year, I got my broker’s license. Now I’m working on my Graduate Realtor Institute designation. It’s an intense program, but I only have three more classes to go. I should knock that out this year,” she says.
Babb’s new credentials have allowed her to begin taking residential and commercial listings for clients outside of the company. “I can represent someone who wants to buy or sell a building. We didn’t do that before because we had so much property to market, but now that we’re almost full, we have time to do other things. Monday, I closed on a building for a doctor.”
With Luken leaning toward listing and selling residential properties, more opportunities might open up for Babb in the future. “I’m preparing for that,” she says, referring to her push to obtain the GRI designation.
Babb says one of the things that excites her about her future with Luken is the opportunities she’ll have as a Realtor to sell Chattanooga to people coming to the city for the first time. She grew up in the area around McDonald and Cleveland, Tenn., then moved to Chattanooga 12 years ago. Before relocating, Babb says she never imagined she’d be living in the city, let alone working downtown, because of how little activity there was.
“I love telling people how much Chattanooga has grown. Years ago, it was a ghost town, but now, it’s a beautiful, booming city. We’ve got it all. I can’t imagine not working downtown,” she says.
Besides tending to her responsibilities at Luken and going to school, Babb stays active in her community. In addition to participating in the East Ridge Chamber of Commerce, she’s a member of Executive Women International, the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, the Tennessee Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. She’s also looking for a volunteer opportunity, but wants to make sure it’s a good fit for her.
“I don’t want to jump into something without having done some research because when I don’t enjoy what I’m doing, I don’t put my whole self into it,” she says.
Babb puts everything she has into one special project at home: her 15-year-old son.
“After work, my main thing is keeping him straight. I wanted him to know his mom is always going to be looking over his shoulder. He’s a good kid, but you never know,” she says, laughing.
She also makes time for her husband, with whom she enjoys camping, boating and traveling.
Babb is one of the many success stories that can be found among people working in real estate in Chattanooga. She didn’t set a course for a career as a Realtor, but she did turn an unexpected opportunity into a gratifying profession. In turn, she’s proven to be an asset not only to her employer but also the city at large.
Perhaps Babb’s most important quality is her drive to always do more. With years ahead of her to learn and explore new avenues, there’s no telling where she’ll end up. Wherever it is, she’ll get there by being in the right place at the right time.
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