Luke Strawn
Luke Strawn, a graduate of the University of North Texas, had been working in mortgage and real estate for more than 10 years when he was recruited to run McGraw Realtors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which also happened to have a small title company. “I felt like I was being led to focus on the title side of the business,” Luke recalls. In 2015, he left McGraw to focus on FirsTitle, a Tulsa-based title company, and Smith Brothers Abstract, a historical Tulsa company founded in 1920, which Luke’s group bought in 2014. It was FirsTitle’s only company at the time, alongside their 70 employees and two Tulsa locations, but that wouldn’t be the case for long. FirsTitle is now part of AllFirst, which is a holding company encompassing eight brands, all of which deal with title insurance and real estate closings. FirsTitle, their Oklahoma company, closes transactions and writes title insurance for realtors and builders and Allegiance is their brand in Texas, among others. They recently purchased their 19th company.
Today, as CEO, Luke leads 500 AllFirst employees across 51 offices in four states: Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and, most recently, Arkansas. Luke attributes AllFirst’s considerable and relatively rapid growth partially to timing, but mostly because AllFirst has acquired many family-owned companies over the years, all while providing solid support and service to their clients and employees. Very much focused on their employees, they’ve built a solid reputation of doing right and getting the best results for everyone involved in every transaction. Their companies work together to efficiently help clients across the four states. “We can help in just about any area of the four states we’re in,” Luke says. “And it’s beneficial to our employees, as well, because they get to work for the local brand with the benefit of a larger company behind them. If it’s good for our employees, then it’s good for the client.”
Their breadth of operations extends to the kind of work they do too, which includes both residential and commercial transactions. They’re also vertically integrated, which better allows them to handle anything to do with title insurance and real estate closings in all four states thanks to the inclusion of key software, which Luke saw as necessary to the firm’s continued growth. “We’re real estate and business people first, and that comes through in the service we provide to our customers,” he says. “We’re employee-focused and that really is the differentiator in the industry.”
In addition to leading AllFirst, Luke sits on the Board of Regents at OSU Tulsa. He’s also involved in organizations such as A New Leaf and Lead Learn Live, both of which help people with developmental disabilities lead full, vibrant, and productive lives. “I’m passionate about helping people with special needs improve their lives, and I know firsthand what they bring to a workplace he says. In fact, AllFirst has a department currently employing three people with special needs. He also coaches youth sports in his community. Luke lives in the Tulsa area with his wife, Paige, and their four children: Turner, 18; Shelby, 15; Mack, 11; and Bodie, 10.
Luke Strawn
CEO — AllFirst
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukestrawn/
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