On a piece of paper that remains at her desk, Chelsea Timmons wrote down her professional goals 10 years ago. The list included that she wanted to be an area sales manager by age 40.
Today, at 37, Timmons can say she checked that box in 2016, a goal she presumed to be lofty back when she started out in new construction sales. “I just never would have dreamed that I would have accomplished so much in a decade,” she says. “Maybe I didn’t dream big enough.”
An Austin, Texas, native, Timmons now serves as vice president of community experience at Tri Pointe Homes—a leap from her beginnings as a sales assistant in 2013. Yet, Timmons has a reputation for knocking it out of the park.
In only seven weeks on the job as a sales assistant at another regional builder, she was promoted, also winning Home Builders Association Greater Austin Rookie of the Year Award in 2014. Now, she is being honored as BUILDER’s first Builder on the Rise.
Growing Perspective
As an up-and-coming leader in the industry, Timmons is enthusiastic about driving her team toward success. Since joining Tri Pointe in 2020, Timmons’ scope of responsibility as vice president of community experience has broadened as she has hired an area sales manager and a marketing manager and oversees the design studio and new-home specialist teams as well as the online sales team.
She believes being a good leader involves staying connected to all parts of the business, including getting out in the field.
“You cannot get stuck sitting in the ‘Oval Office,’ if you will,” she says. “You have to make sure you’re not just stuck at your computer all day so that you can connect with the people that you serve—and meet them in a place of empathy as well.”
Learning to balance managerial tasks with the ability to open her door and be ready to help is something Timmons considers necessary as a leader—a task she says she is learning daily as she leads the sales and marketing for Tri Pointe’s 13 neighborhoods within eight new-home communities in the Austin area.
Timmons adds it is an easier task thanks to Tri Pointe’s unwavering commitment to prioritizing both the well-being of its people and the excellence of its product. “Tri Pointe Homes places a premium on fostering a culture that values the care and development of its employees, recognizing that happy and empowered team members are crucial for delivering exceptional results,” she shares.
“Equally, the company’s dedication to producing premium homes is evident in their willingness to empower local decision-making, ensuring that each division’s unique needs are met with the highest standards of craftsmanship and service. I am proud to have the trust of this organization to allow me to ensure our customers are met with the best of both.”
The Austin division of Tri Pointe develops in the state capital as well as Dripping Springs, Georgetown, Leander, Liberty Hill, and Round Rock.
Taking a Chance
Now with a deep understanding of new-homes sales, Timmons feels she is influencing the industry with her willingness to give young professionals a chance at learning the business.
“It’s my call to pay it forward by not being afraid to hire someone with no experience,” she says. “Had someone not taken a chance on me, I would never have gained the experience that I have now.”
She looks for grit, hard work, and professional persistence as key behaviors to someone’s success. These characteristics can also be found in Timmons’ personal toolkit, says Jeff Shore, founder of Shore Consulting.
“I have watched Chelsea develop into one of the smartest and most capable leaders I have ever had the pleasure to work with,” he says. “Her standards are exceedingly high, but she possesses both the intelligence and the grit necessary to bring out the best in her team.”
From Gap Year to Career
Understandably, Timmons’ tender spot for hungry-but-less-experienced professionals is rooted in her journey into new-home sales that began during a gap year between undergrad and law school. As a pre-law political science student getting ready to transition, she found herself with little passion for the field of politics and legislation in which she once was interested.
“I started to realize that I was quite extroverted and a people person and wasn’t sure that it would be a great fit for me to be sitting in the House of Representatives or courtroom all day long,” she says.
Opting to take a gap year before moving on to higher education, Timmons found new-homes sales and the home building industry.
“I never looked back,” she says.
While trying to break into the industry, Timmons was told no more often than she was told yes in interviews. Nine out of 10 times to be exact.
“After having the door shut on me so many times because I did not already have experience, I just vowed that I would try my hardest to make sure that is not the case for the next generation. I am more than happy to roll up my sleeves to jump in there with them.”
Having known Timmons for the last decade, Danielle Lipari-Mareth, vice president of sales and marketing at Century Communities, says, “She is completely unapologetic about having high standards and expecting her team to meet them, but she is also tireless in her efforts to empower them with the support, skills, and knowledge to do so.”
Keep Progressing
Goal driven and willing to learn, Timmons has continued to develop her leadership skills through various programs and reading numerous books. In 2022, she completed the Key Leader Program at the University of Wisconsin Center for Executive Leadership and Development, a development program independently spearheaded by Tri Pointe Homes, and participated in the Shore Consulting Women’s Leadership Program.
She is a past board member of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and was also named president of the Advisory Board for Luxury League Austin and Platinum Top 50 in 2023.
Outside of developing future leaders in the home building industry, Timmons is wildly passionate about baseball as she spends most evenings at the diamond with her two boys and her husband who coaches. As the sister of brothers who also played, the sport feels like home to Timmons.
“I’m a baseball girl through and through, and I would not have it any other way,” she says. “I am required to be at baseball six nights a week right now with both of our kids’ practices and games, but we always find a seventh night to go watch more baseball.”
As for the next 10 years, Timmons says she does not know what the next big thing may be, but looking back at her list of goals, she played her dreams a little small. She says, “I’m really challenging myself in this next decade to dream bigger and figure out what that looks like.” Whatever that may be, we have a feeling it will be a home run.