The Pegasus Group: Meet the Real Estate Team Building Oak Cliff.
It’s a little after 11am on a Thursday as the crowd at our workspace buzzes with morning energy. As Robb Puckett meets me at the front door, he flashes a wide smile and extends a hand. There is something extraordinary about him, and about Joanna Robben, Kent Frederick, and Richelle Tilghman, who followed him shortly after – something you can’t quite pinpoint when you first start talking to them.
Sitting there in our cozy corner of the space, hearing about their life experiences and unique connections to Oak Cliff, you’d never guess that this ‘Fantastic Four’ of Oak Cliff real estate banded together just one and a half years ago. Since then they’ve helped many clients find their dream home nearby.
They’re a humble, fun-loving bunch – so perhaps that’s part of the allure. They don’t seem to be concerned about who gets the credit, either. They accomplish their work as a single unit, even though they each serve their own clientele. They have a “single-text” rule too – if any of them ever needs coverage for a showing or client, or is taking off on a trip out of town, all they have to do is send a text and someone on the team will step in.
“Trust is a huge element,” Richelle said. “And, really, we all just enjoy working with each other.”
Unless you ask, you would never learn that each of them have had tremendously successful careers outside of real estate. Kent, for instance, was the global head of all Telecommunications Contract Negotiations for EDS, working there for over 20 years. Joanna too spent about the same amount of time serving in senior management roles with various, national healthcare companies. All of them have significant corporate experience under their belt.
They have also quietly served the community behind-the-scenes for many years. The team has been involved with both Heritage Oak Cliff and North Oak Cliff Greenspace, which partners withStevens Park Golf Course and Coombs Creek trail to enhance the surrounding area for the neighborhoods (apparently, the city only maintains the greens and fairways). Richelle and Joanna have served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster children while Robb served as President of Kessler Neighbors United Neighborhood Association. Combined, they’ve probably served on over twenty different boards and community committees.
Maybe that’s it? Maybe it’s the impressive careers and acts of service that they’ve collectively achieved over the years. Maybe it's the wisdom and stories mixed with the humor and humility that makes them so special. I was trying to put my finger on it…but no, it must be something else.
As we chatted, our conversation kept circling back to their love of Oak Cliff – it’s community, typography, architecture, and overall vibe. Joanna recalled how she and her husband first learned about Oak Cliff by running in the Dash for the Beads race. The very next day they purchased a home over here. Robb, Kent, and Richelle reminisced about their own first impressions and the instant connection they felt with the area.
After about an hour of talking together, it finally made sense to me. What’s special about them is that they sincerely care about their home. They have, in their own ways, discovered Oak Cliff and committed to it. They each live in their own Oak Cliff neighborhood and, simply put, they have no plans to leave. “At the end of the day, it’s more fun and meaningful when you can work in your own backyard–and be resources to your neighbors, and just keep improving it,” Robb said.
“We’re your neighbors”
It’s fitting; this is their unofficial tagline, and I think it suits them well. But who are they, anyways? And how did this powerhouse team come about? Keep reading and learn more about The Pegasus Group.
Meet the Team
Robb Puckett
Originally from San Angelo, Texas, Robb has called Oak Cliff home since 1995. After bouncing around the metroplex, he visited Oak Cliff one day and was wowed by the architecture, the trees, and the typography. “I was sold,” he said with a smile. “And so I moved here as fast as I could and have been here ever since.”
After graduating from UNT, Robb spent 17 years working with CitiGroup in a variety of roles; that is, until the Great Recession hit. He decided to take matters into his own hands, as the economy had hit rock bottom. He reinvented himself as a real estate agent and charted a new course. And for more than a decade, his focus has been on helping his neighbors sell and buy homes in Oak Cliff
“There's no other place that I've lived in north Texas where neighbors actually care to get to know each other and interact and participate in community,” he said. Robb started his real estate career around the same time Go Oak Cliff began. So he’s seen the catalyst that community engagement can be – and he, in turn, has led his own neighborhood in a variety of ways.
He spent ten years serving on the board of Kessler Neighbors United Neighborhood Association, serving in nearly every officer role you can imagine–including President. During his tenure, he helped raise all the funds needed to restore the Kessler Steps. He also has been involved with Heritage Oak Cliff. Today, he remains active in the community and enjoys participating in community events.
He was also the impetus for the formation of this group. He was the first to join the home office and started dreaming about a day when he could form his own team. So he watched the others and quietly evaluated their talents and abilities. At first, he talked to Kent and very soon after that, both Joanna and Richelle agreed to join.
Kent Frederick
Kent comes from a true Cajun family in Southern Louisiana (his grandmother spoke french!). He moved to North Texas in 1988 to take a job at EDS. He spent 24 years with the company, eventually running their Telecommunications Contract Negotiations Team globally before taking an early retirement. His unique skill as a contract negotiator is one of the things that drew him into real estate. “In any conversation, there are things that are said, and there are things that are not said. You have to learn how to read both,” he said. “And I really, really enjoy that aspect of my work.”
He lived in Plano during that time and watched it turn from nothing but flatland into a booming metropolis. And while he appreciated the newness of the city, he knew something was missing. Coming from Louisiana, he remembered large lots covered with old, colossal trees; in Plano, he grew tired of his neighbor’s dog barking all night just ten feet away from his bedroom wall. It was too tight, and perhaps too new.
So he kept moving South until he landed in Oak Cliff about twelve years ago. For him, it was the rolling hills, mature trees, the community that drew him in. There was a slight resemblance to the culture he experienced in his childhood, and he loved that.
Around four years ago, he began his career as a real estate agent. But he was no stranger to the world of real estate. His father owned a number of rental homes, as well as cattle and farm barns. And he and his family did all of the construction work. “There were no Saturday morning cartoons,” he said with a laugh.
But perhaps more than anything, Kent loves to help lead and guide others. As a leader at EDS, he was responsible for hiring, firing, nurturing, and educating his team members. “I was able to help my teammates fulfill their career goals and dreams,” he said. “And when people are looking to either purchase or sell a home, it’s a very similar feeling.”
Kent was already working with Richelle when Robb approached him. He had been her mentor, and they’re business partnership led to the ‘single text’ rule the team adopts today.
Joanna Robben
Joanna first discovered Oak Cliff when she and her husband participated in Dash for the Beads. They immediately fell in love with the place. She smiled, saying, “We loved it so much over here, we bought a home the next day.” After 20 years of living in Dallas and Coppell, they now live in the Kessler area.
Joanna is no stranger to commercial or residential real estate and construction. She grew up in Chickasha, Oklahoma, where her mother and father were custom home builders. She remembers cleaning bricks for a penny as a child. During her summers, she helped build basements with her father’s construction company. Since she was the thinnest, it was up to her to retrieve tools when they fell down between the walls of dirt. “It was a whole different world back then,” she said. “But my father paid me very well to do the construction work, so I had no complaints!”
Joanna later worked in the healthcare industry where she developed and managed a multitude of delivery systems. She recalls the Staff Model HMO that operated a center out of Redbird and provided services to the Oak Cliff and greater South Dallas population–in the location where UT Southwestern operates today.
After spending 25 years as a senior manager in major healthcare companies, her company was purchased and she decided she was done with the intense travel schedule. So she turned her attention to real estate and hasn’t looked back since. Today, she loves helping first-time home buyers navigate the real estate market–her three girls and their friends are all at that age. “All of those kids that used to come play at our house are now looking, and they call me to help them,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Joanna joined up with the team too after noticing how helpful it was to have someone to lean on when you’re out of town or spread thin. And so their team grew.
Richelle Tilghman
Richelle and her husband moved to Dallas a little over 20 years ago for his job. They moved to Arlington and she worked for the legendary flagship Neiman Marcus in Downtown Dallas. They eventually decided they’d like to move closer to the city center because they knew something was missing. “I grew up in New Orleans and in Mississippi,” she said. “There was character and culture and it wasn't homogenous like a lot of other places I've seen around the metroplex.”
That’s when they discovered Oak Cliff and got hooked. Richelle had received her real estate license, and they had been casually looking for a new home to move into. “My husband and I actually met down in Bishop Arts for dinner one night and decided to take a look at one of the homes that had just been listed,” she said. They had no real expectations, but when they walked the streets of Bishop Arts and saw people walking around having fun, they fell in love and put an offer on the home immediately.
“Oak Cliff feels like a small town in so many ways,” she said. “It’s a very close knit feel, and it’s important to us to raise our daughter and do business here.”
They landed in their new home less than a year before the pandemic began.
You’ve probably seen the iconic Pegasus flying in downtown Dallas. The group’s name is a nod to this city’s history and the relentless revitalization efforts that have made it world-class.
Learn more about The Pegasus Group and get in touch with them today.
Disclosure from Go Oak Cliff: The Pegasus Group is a 2022 Go Oak Cliff sponsor.
