Neighborhood resident Madge Green started her career in real estate in 1969 thinking it would be a part-time job.

She soon learned selling real estate was an around-the-clock commitment.

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“You have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Green of Ebby Halliday Realtors. “It’s real easy to be a workaholic in real estate. I probably am.

“Helping people find a home is satisfying to me. You always get into a business to be successful and to make money, but first you must have an interest in the business because it’s hard work.”

Green is celebrating her 25th anniversary with Ebby Halliday. She began working as a sales associate in 1970, a position she held for about four years, she says.

Green then became an administrative assistant, and in 1986, she was promoted to sales manager for her branch office at 9730 Audelia.

Ebby celebrated Green’s anniversary at its annual awards banquet in January. The banquet usually recognizes sellers, not managers, says Green, who did not know she was going to be honored.

“I didn’t realize I had been here for 25 years,” Green says. “I was very shocked when they called me to the podium.”

As sales manager, Green trains new sales associates and helps her experienced sellers with problems, she says. There are 40 sales associates working out of Green’s branch.

Green puts in 50- to 60-hour weeks, she says.

“I’m always on call, night and day, even when I leave town,” Green says.

Before Green became a real estate agent, she stayed home with her two children, Rebekah and Mark, who are now grown and have children of their own.

Green waited until her children were in junior high school before she took a job outside her home.

“One thing about real estate, even though it is long hours and hard work, it gives you some flexibility with your children,” Green says.

“I was right here in the neighborhood if they needed me, and I could still attend all their activities.”

Green’s children attended Lake Highlands Elementary and Junior High. They both graduated from Lake Highlands High School, Rebekah in 1976 and Mark in 1978. Green and her husband Jimmy, a retired banker, have lived in our neighborhood since 1959.

“Lake Highlands is a city within a city,” Green says. “We have a lot of community spirit.”

Green joined the Lake Highlands Exchange Club this year and is on the scholarship committee, which awards LHHS seniors.

She also is a member of the East Dallas and the Lakewood chambers of commerce, which she joined in 1986 after becoming a sales manager.

She currently serves on the board of the Greater Dallas Associations of Realtors, and in 1992, she was the president of the Dallas Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors.

She tutors at Northlake Elementary, as well.

“I’m very much interested in the schools,” Green says. “I believe education is the foundation of everything we do. Everything is possible if you have knowledge.”