It took Shannon Sutton-Syed a couple of years to start pursuing real estate full-time, but she has no regrets. “My past life was in the magazine ad industry,” says Sutton-Syed, now a five-year veteran. “I was intrigued by real estate — specifically, the potential to craft my own business, exercise my creativity and consult with clients who genuinely wanted my help. Still, it took two years after my licensure to finally rip off the Band-Aid and quit my advertising job. I’ve never looked back.”

Specializing in buyer education and coaching, as well as home-design consultation, Sutton-Syed serves Chicago’s North Side, with an expanding market in the suburbs, where she will soon be a resident herself. Her approach to real estate mixes fun with a professional, data-driven process. “My clients value my thoughtful market analysis from multiple angles,” she shares. “They also appreciate my fun and lighthearted approach to shopping for a home. I like to make people laugh, and I try to put them at ease from start to finish. I use my Mary Poppins bag of past experiences to reassure them that it will all be OK, no matter what bumps we encounter along the way.”

Leveraging her technological know-how, Sutton-Syed uses a multifaceted approach to marketing, as well as for keeping in touch with clients, which has propelled her business to the next level. “Last year was by far my largest leap in volume,” she says. “As I’m approaching that same volume for 2023 by summertime, it’s finally convincing me that my success is not a fluke — I am able to consistently generate business by taking good care of people and continuing to provide value for them long after they close.”

As a design enthusiast, Sutton-Syed relishes the time she spends on her new home in Clarendon Hills. “It’s one of my most rewarding hobbies,” she says of the hours she spends refining her home plans. “You’ll often find me deep in the wormhole of my little design Powerpoint, and my computer desktop is exploding with screenshots of coffee tables.”