Fortune Among Shape’s 50 Hottest Trainers in America

Fortune Among Shape’s 50 Hottest Trainers in America

By Dan Silvia, Communication Manager

Earning his degree at Bellevue University has helped Chet Fortune become one of the hottest in his chosen field —a degree, and a few thousand crunches, dips, pull-ups, and assorted other exercises.

Fortune, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Business in 2009, has been named one of Shape magazine’s 50 Hottest Male Trainers in America 2014. The magazine is tracking facebook likes for each of the 50 to recognize the top trainer.

Fortune has already been profiled in the Omaha World-Herald on the heels of the Shape list. The result – business is booming at Warrior Fitness Center, the gym Fortune opened in June 2012 at 13239 Portal Drive in La Vista.

“My inbox - everything is just blowing up,” said Fortune, a Certified Professional Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. “I’ve even had people from out of town interested in the gym, interested in training and how I can coach them from a distance. It’s been a positive impact for sure.”

Fortune, a 2001 graduate of Bellevue West High School, started his college career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, but found himself sidetracked while working full-time jobs in the banking industry.

“I got out of school for a while and focused on management,” he said. “but other roles that I might have taken at the bank, I was at least going to need my degree. Bellevue was known for its online courses and the business department was respected. There were one or two courses that weren’t offered online, so the convenience of it being nice and close to my home was important for me too. That’s what got me going to Bellevue University.”

Marketing Essentials, taught by former adjunct John Thomas, was a class that stood out for Fortune.

“He just made it fun,” Fortune said. “I was going to Bellevue for the online aspect, but out of the classes that I had to attend that was the definitely one that I did not mind going to. We focused on social media a lot. That’s what we ended up talking about.”

While taking classes at Bellevue and in the years following graduation, Fortune began to develop an entrepreneurial spirit. He craved the opportunity to call his own shots.

“The first year I did a little bit of both, I ran the gym and managed the 89th and Dodge location of American National Bank,” he said. “I didn’t open this up to do both. I opened it up with the mindset that I wanted to be here full-time.”

Fortune did just that last June and isn’t looking back.