WANT MARK, TOM, OR BOTH AT YOUR NEXT EVENT?

The Straight Up Chicago Investor podcast is Chicago’s #1 Real Estate Investing podcast hosted by industry experts, Mark Ainley and Tom Shallcross. In the podcast, listeners are provided with a wealth of information on a variety of the hottest topics pertaining to Real Estate.

Tom & Mark have spoken at dozens of events from both educational and motivational perspectives. Their knowledge of the industry, the city, the suburbs, changing market trends, and everything you should know when investing in Chicago, would make them great guests. They would gladly moderate a panel, be guests on a podcast, be webinar guests, or present on various aspects or real estate investing and more!

Request them both or individually to participate in your event and they will bring their A-Game for your audience! When you work with Tom and/or Mark, you will also be provided with the full force of their marketing team to help promote you both before and after the event!

Mark Ainley

Price is what you pay, Value is what you get! I want to provide value to others and make some money along the way. I have a solid foundation in Chicago real estate because I am a Real Estate investor in both Residential and Commercial/Industrial markets while being a founding partner at GC Realty & Development LLC and co-host of Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast.

In the last 20 years we renovated 500+ properties, invested in commercial properties, managed over 7000 units/tenants, leased over 4,000 properties, featured on CNBC’s TV show The Deed, co-host on Chicago's AM560 Real Estate Revealed Radio Show, and invited to speak & sit on panels at numerous investment summits across the country. I have also been blessed with the opportunity to be a guest on over 30 top podcast platforms.

GC Realty & Development, LLC, currently manages over 1,200 investment properties throughout the Chicagoland area. In 2019, 2020, 2020 and 2022, GCR&D was featured on the Inc. Magazine list of top 5,000 fastest growing companies in the United States.

I take great pride in providing valued feedback to beginners and less experienced entrepreneurs on what steps not to take or what steps to take sooner in growing a younger business.

Mark has been featured on:

• CNBC’s hit show The Deed Chicago
• Co-Host of Chicago’s #1 Investor Podcast - Straight Up Chicago Investor
• Co-Owner GC Realty & Development, LLC
• Nationwide Speaker
• Podcast Guest on: Bigger Pockets, The Real Estate Mogul Podcast, Joe Fairless, REI Diamonds, and the Real Estate Money School

Tom Shallcross

Tom Shallcross is a born and raised Chicagoan and the owner of Now Serving Properties. Tom has scaled a successful Chicago rental portfolio, while maintaining a full-time W2 job and being an active father of 4 children, all under the age of 8.

Tom and his business partner leverage several marketing strategies to acquire deals and then utilize our market knowledge to determine if the property is best suited for a long-term hold, or a profitable flip. In the last 2 years, Tom has networked to grow a substantial supporting team so he can focus on being on top of the business, not in the business, and utilize his experience in lending, remodeling, and sales to drive the company forward.

In 2019, Tom began to focus on private investors and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire and rehab properties in specific pockets of Chicago, transacting several million dollars worth of Real Estate.

Tom has been featured on numerous podcasts including as REI Diamond, REady2Scale with Ellie Pearlman, and the Holton-Wise show, and has had multiple articles published in Remodeling Magazine while also contributing several blogs to BiggerPockets.