Master Recruiter: In the early 2000s, Allison Gambone was a struggling singer-songwriter who had scored a minor hit on Billboard Magazine’s dance charts with a song called "Can’t Go On." While apartment hunting, she encountered a Queens rental agent who charged her $800 to look at one apartment, she says. "I couldn’t believe it. It seemed like so much money. I decided then and there that I needed to get involved in real estate."
Part-time start: For the next few years, she worked part-time as a rental agent in order to finance her music career. Gradually, but not totally, real estate took over. Today, as manager and associate broker of Keller Williams’ only New York office, she supervises about 200 salespeople, who produce $137 million in volume and 260 sides.
Team building: She recruits aggressively. "I bring in about 12 new agents a month," she says. Indeed, in 2008, she received an award from Keller Williams for her recruiting success. "I was No. 1 nationwide," she says. Meanwhile, she’s still singing and recording.