My name is Mark Collantes. Consider me lucky and ordinary at the same time. I live in Chicago by the Lake and near Wrigley Field. I own a small business and have background in finance, trading, flying and writing. Work required me to have Series 3, 7, 63 and 55 licenses. I spend my professional life either trying to raise money for people or watching the flow of money for people. Before this latest iteration, I was a former floor trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and electronic proprietary trader in both futures and equities.
  
I have a MS in Financial Markets and Trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, I started by getting my commercial pilot's license and certified flight and instrument instructor ratings from the Institute of Aviation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  

I graduated from the Aviation program at Culver Military Academy. My novel, The Academy, was based on this experience there and published by Creative Arts Books in Berkeley, California and released in August 2000.  

As an avocation, I lead training groups for CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association). I have completed 11 marathons: LaSalle Bank/Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2005 and 2007, 2008, Marine Corp Marathon Washington DC, 2006 and 2009, Devine Los Angeles Marathon 2007, Grand Rapids Marathon 2007, Bataan Memorial Death March White Sands New Mexico, 2008 and 2009, Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2008, Disney Marathon Orlando 2009, Air Force Marathon Dayton 2009.

My friends will tell you that I am serious, intense, shake your head in disbelief chatty, funny, sometimes too sensitive, always loyal and with a good memory. There are times when I am short tempered, times when I appear thoughtful and times when people are afraid of what I will say. I can say almost anything to anyone and never get in trouble. A lot of my friends have the same ability.  I have been to over a 100 weddings, been witness to history both world and personal. People are more than their work, family, friends or hobbies, their stories are a greater sum of all their lives.

If you want, tell me your story, any other questions, drop me a line.