After an appearance on The Tonight Show, Allen began to expand into television work, including becoming a host for NBC's Real People.
[3] His interest in show business began during his childhood when he accompanied his mother, Carolyn Folks,[4] to NBC Studios in Burbank (where she worked as a publicist).
[5] At age 14, Allen put together his first stand-up routine and began appearing on amateur night at comedy clubs throughout the Los Angeles area.
[8] Following his appearance on The Tonight Show, NBC cast Allen as a reporter for its series Real People—his first role on a network prime time program.
Allen distributed the program under a bartered model, in which it would be offered to stations at no cost, with revenue sharing on advertising sales.
[25] In 2018, Allen was selected for the Bloomberg 50 as one of "the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, technology and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy".
[29] In February 2023, the African American Student Union of the Harvard Business School presented Allen with its inaugural "Legendary Honor".