Our Family

Chris Prefontaine

FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN

Chris Prefontaine is the Chairman and Founder of Smart Real Estate Coach®, a 4x best-selling author. He is a Forbes Business Council Member and a 3-time Inc 5000 Honoree for Fastest Growing Company. Wicked Smart Community operates all over North America and has successfully completed hundreds of transactions, assisting students in doing the same. Alongside his achievements, Chris hosts the Smart Real Estate Coach® Podcast, which ranks in the top 0.5% globally.

Having navigated through challenges such as the crash of 2008, 9/11, a near-death experience with his son, and the impact of COVID, Chris reengineered his entire business to weather all storms and economic cycles. Understanding these challenges, he helps students navigate the constantly changing real estate waters.

Chris, his family, and his team's mission focus on transforming dedicated individuals into Wicked Smart real estate investors.

Chris and his wife Kim have been married for 37 years, and their adult children Nick and Kayla participate in the family business while also pursuing their own entrepreneurial ventures.

Zachary Beach

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PARTNER

Zachary went from a bartender to a Real Estate Expert, Coach, and 3x bestselling author of Real Estate on Your Terms, The New Rules of Real Estate Investing, and Sell With Authority for Real Estate Investors. He’s the CEO of Smart Real Estate Coach, a partner in multiple 7-figure businesses, and co-host of the Smart Real Estate Coach and Not Just A Transaction podcasts.

At the age of 25, Zach decided to leave the world of bartending and personal training and jump into the family business. It was one of the first big risks that he took in his life, as nothing was guaranteed. Plus, he knew absolutely nothing about real estate. Through hard work, in-house training, and implementation, Zach has now completed over 100 deals and, on top of that, he coaches students around the country on how to buy and sell property just like his family still does. Now, as a group, they buy and sell 25-30 properties a month with a predictable and scalable system, controlling between $60-$80 million of real estate at any one time with little to no money in the deal and no banks involved.

Zach has over 6 years of experience and now runs all operations of Smart Real Estate Coach, on top continuing to coach his students and Associates. He has an amazing wife Kayla and two small children, his son Remi and his daughter Bellamy. He is a prime example of how to be successful both in business and at home.

Nick Prefontaine

BUYER'S COACH, PARTNER

In 2003, Nick was in a snowboarding accident that left him in a coma for over 3 weeks. The doctors told his parents that he probably wouldn’t walk, talk, or eat on his own again. Less than 3 months later, he was running out of Franciscan Children’s hospital. Now a Certified Infinite Possibilities Trainer, Nick speaks to groups that benefit from his message of overcoming adversity.

Nick grew up in the real estate industry and got started on his own at an early age. Most notably, he was knocking on Pre-Foreclosure doors at 16 and 17, doing up to 50 doors a day. This experience helped shape Nick’s real estate career.

Now, Nick specializes in working with lease purchasers to get them into a home and on the path to home ownership. Regardless of a buyer’s credit situation, he looks at their complete financial picture and comes up with a plan to get them into a home.

Peter Taunton

PARTNER, WICKED SMART® LLC

Peter Taunton founded one of the largest wellness brands in the world with over 6,000 franchises or licenses across 3 brands in 28 countries — LIFT Brands. He was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Peter is a Forbes School Knowledge Innovation Center instructor. His business accomplishments have been well-recognized by the business community. His companies have been featured in many business and industry publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur 500, Inc 5000, Top Global, and Franchise 500.

Peter also wrote a #1 best-selling book called “Impossible Hill” which shares 30 years of real life stories laying out the mindset that helped Peter build his business empire.

Peter is ever-committed to coaching and inspiring people in both their business and personal lives as they navigate through life striving to light the fire within and make their impossible dreams… possible!

Kelsie Deppen

COMMUNITY DIRECTOR

Kelsie was born and raised in Southern Illinois. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University where she earned a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counseling and Business Administration. After graduating, she relocated to California. Kelsie has many years of experience in a variety of service provisions, including therapy, program evaluation, and teaching. Kelsie is very passionate about working in business administration. As our Community Director, she is dedicated to creating a supportive environment and quality experience for our associates during their journey within the Wicked Smart® Community.

Kelsie is involved in her local community by helping the homeless population in Los Angeles. She also frequently volunteers with local animal rescue groups and shelters. She enjoys spending time with her dog, Gigi, and cat, Blu.

Peter Ghormley

SALES COORDINATOR

Pete was born and raised in the Great Pacific Northwest, where he grew up in a large soccer family. He also loved to ski (until his knees couldn't handle it anymore) and marveled at the magnificent PNW landscape as a hiker, and he still does! Peter pivoted in life and joined the US Army during Desert Shield. During his brief stint at Fort Hood, Texas, he met his wife Sharon, an outdoors enthusiast and currently works in veterinarian medicine. They have a wonderful daughter Hannah who has completed her nursing program and is currently working as a health practitioner. The philosophy he brings to his work is to provide value to those he serves.

Why I joined SREC and later the Sales Team:
After orbiting the SREC community for a while, I began to gravitate more and more towards their message, mission and coaching. I finally made a definitive decision with as much unwavering faith as I could muster to immerse myself into their community, and that I did. I went through the QLS home study, listened to as many podcasts as I could, watched their content on youtube, attended all the WSSDs, attended all the live events, watched the Motivational Monday & Deal Structure Sunday videos, and eventually I became better known to the community and vice versa. I saw students doing deals with the help of their coaches and were on the way to becoming transactional engineers. They were where I wanted to be. I joined 90 DJS and after a month or so I answered the call from Zach Beach to join their team. I soon jumped up to a Starter Associate and I'm finally finding that I'm on the path I was intended to be on. The biblical verse of “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find” truly applies here.