Welcome to Fortune Academy
Since 1995
Fortune Academy has educated South Carolina's
Realtors
With 15
locations throughout SC, Fortune
Academy now trains 50%
of S.C.
Realtors. Named a Realty U 2005 National School,
Fortune Academy serves up the
best course fare in the state.
Fortune Academy also offers a wide range of
Appraisal courses. Home Inspection, a growing industry in the
Tri-County area, is also available. Fortune
combines expertise, experience, and an
excellent working relationship with state
LLR commissions to offer the best of everything.
Fortune
Academy stands
on education's
cutting edge providing
additional courses that will enhance your career. Thus
far, in 2006, Fortune is offering two new Real
Estate designations: Luxury Home Specialist and
Certified Seller's Agent. Fortune
now offers Appraisal Continuing Education courses. Our course material,
bound into a loose-leaf notebook format, allows us
to update our materials as state law changes. Our
experts have distilled the course material into the
most essential facts you need to know in order to
pass your state exams
and maintain your professional standards through
Continuing Education. Fortune
also offers on-site Continuing Education for Real
Estate companies where we send a Fortune Instructor
to teach agents all at one time.
At Fortune Academy, our
goal is to train and maintain the South
Carolina's best Realtors,
Appraisers, Property Managers, and Home Inspectors through
offering excellence in education and instruction.
GREAT SCHEDULES
GREAT COURSES GREAT
INSTRUCTORS GREAT
SUCCESS
|
 |
Arlene
Samuels,
Co-Founder
has an extensive background in
public relations, administration, and
writing. She has owned three businesses
and served with an international
humanitarian organization-Mercy Ships
and Israel Always. Arlene and Paul have
three children and a wonderful
daughter-in-law and are proud to say
they've been married for 32 years. Ask
her why she feels better now that she's
taking AgelessXtra nutritional
supplements.
arlene618@gmail.com |
|
 |
Paul
Samuels, President, ABR, AREP, BIC,
Realtor Broker
Licensed
South Carolina Real Estate Broker since
1980, Paul
is a specialist in sales
training, marketing and fund raising. He
is an Accredited Buyer Representative
(ABR) and Broker-in-Charge (BIC) of @Home
Realty, Inc. In addition,
Paul has worked in an executive and
entrepreneurial capacity with
several premier
international missions
organizations involved in humanitarian
aid. Mercy Ships, YWAM, and the MJAA. Paul is an avid fan of talk radio
and you might hear him call in to WTMA
or WSC to offer his opinions on many
topics. |
|
 |
Denise
Stanton, Vice
President, Operations
Denise brings a wealth of administrative
talent and friendliness to the Fortune
Academy team. Born in Manhattan and
later moving to the south with her
husband and two sons, she was a
government travel agent for 16 years for
the South Carolina National Guard prior
to joining
Fortune
Academy. Denise is the friendly,
helpful voice you first hear when you
call Fortune Academy. During football
season, she can quote all the stats for
her favorite team, the New York Giants. |
|
 |
Richard
E. Barham
With 32 years in the Real Estate
Business and 17 years of teaching,
Dick shares from his many years of
experience to help students remember the
finer points of the course.
During his career, he has been President
of the Richmond, Va Board of Realtors as
well as Realtor of the Year. He has
served on numerous Realtor Committees at
a local, state and national level. Dick
is known for his great sense of humor
and his real estate "war stories" which
help students recall key concepts. |
|
 |
Susan Early
Susan
loves teaching! She spent seventeen
years teaching middle and high school
students in Orangeburg County schools
before moving to the Charleston area
in 2002. She began her Real Estate
career in Greenville, SC. Susan is
applying her love of teaching and her
Real Estate experience to teaching
adults now at Fortune Academy. When
she's not preparing our students for
their state exams, she spends time as
a semi-professional photographer
taking wedding photos for friends.
Always involved with people, Susan was
a great asset to her band director
husband throughout his 30 year career.
She loves gardening so ask her about
her favorite flowers. |
|
|
 |
John
Hassell
John Hassell, a native of Charleston,
brings 21years of Real Estate experience
and a love of the low country to his
teaching. He graduated from the College
of Charleston and became a Realtor in
1985 specializing in commercial real
estate. He has held committee positions
at Charleston Trident Area Realtors. In
addition, he is involved in civic
affairs including the Exchange Club of
Metropolitan Charleston and The
Fellowship Society of Charleston. He
belongs to the Carolina Yacht Club and
the Downtown Athletic Club. John enjoys
fly-fishing and, if you are fortunate,
you may one day partake of his culinary
skill as a chef extraordinaire. Each
summer, he volunteers his culinary
talent to cook for a weeklong summer
camp-Happy Days and Special Times-where
he serves as a member of their
development board.
|
|
 |
Pam
Hays
Licensed
since1992 as a Real Estate Broker, Pam
is a multi-million dollar producer. Pam is originally from Indiana, where
she was a
proprietor of her own real estate
company. Pam moved from
Washington DC. and is licensed in Indiana,
Virginia, Greater DC and
now South Carolina. Pam offers a wealth
of experience and training in diverse
areas of real estate.
A talented singer and entertainer, Pam teaches with a fun and exciting
approach to the course material. Next
time you attend a River Dogs game, look
closely. Pam often sings the National
Anthem to open the games. |
|
|
 |
Brian
R. Rains
Brian has experience in
many different professional service
industries including Banking, Insurance,
Financial Advisory, and now Real
Estate. After becoming successful
personally as a real estate agent, Brian
moved on to become the founder of Five
Star Real Estate in Charleston, SC. He
currently holds a Broker-In-Charge
license and practices real estate on a
regular basis. In addition, he has
founded Five Star Enterprises containing
other subsidiary companies that tap into
the real estate industry. With the
business knowledge, expertise, and
dedication to succeed, Brian brings to
the classroom a higher level of
teaching. |
|
|
|
 |
Kimber
Smith
Kimber Smith is a 25 year veteran of the
Real Estate industry as a Broker,
managing Real Estate offices, and
teaching RE courses. He holds GRI and
CRB designations. He's a proud Alumnus
of Middlebury College in Vermont. For
four years he plied the waters of the
Atlantic on his 37 foot sailboat between
Maine and Johns Island's Bohicket Marina
keeping in touch with family and his
love of the water. He finally settled on
Seabrook Island. |
|
|
 |
Susan
Smits
Susan Smits brings ten years of Property
Management knowledge to her Property
Management course instruction at Fortune
Academy. Her past and present
experiences as a Property Manager along
with her knowledge of the essentials in
Property Management make her an
excellent resource for our Fortune
Academy students. Susan is also a
licensed Real Estate agent. Outside of
her PM profession and classroom, she
enjoys being a wife and mother and is an
active volunteer with Big Brothers-Big
Sisters. She's lived in Charleston for
16 years. |
|
 |
Gail Strunk
Gail, Fortune’s Appraisal Instructor,
is a certified residential appraiser. In
2005, she attained the prestigious USPAP
Certification, only one of 14 in South
Carolina and 500 in the USA. She
began her career in Ohio in 1982 as a
real estate agent. She obtained her
Appraisal license in 1992, then found her
forte in teaching at Malone and Hondros
Colleges in Ohio. She has been an
Appraiser for a major lending
institution and as well as a fee
Appraiser. Gail brings a wealth of
experience and enthusiasm to her
students. She's also a renaissance woman
who can sew, drive a semi truck, and fix
an electrical outlet...and that's with
one hand tied behind her back! |
|
|
 |
Randy
Poole
Randy is a Real Estate Broker within the
Charleston area. Specializing in Buyer
and Seller Representation, He is a
graduate of Realtor Institute,
Accredited Buyers Representative,
Certified Real Estate Consultant,
Certified Real Estate Instructor, and on
the Board of Directors for Charleston
Trident Realtor Association’s Multiple
Listing Service (MLS). Born and raised
in the upstate, Greenville area, He has
lived in Charleston since 1989. Before
joining Weichert Realtors Palmetto
Coast, Randy owned a property holding
company for 7 years which remodeled
residential and commercial properties. |
|
 Hugh
Ryall
Hugh is the instructor for
the various Designations courses offered
at Fortune Academy-Charleston. Hugh
teaches a variety of designation
courses: Accredited Buyer
Representative, Accredited Seller
Representative, Seller Representative
Specialist, Accredited Luxury Home
Specialist, Senior Real Estate
Specialist, and more! Long recognized as
a pioneer of the Buyers' Agent movement,
Hugh Ryall was one of the first twelve
members to be honored with induction
into the National Association of
REALTORS® Buyers Agents' Hall of Fame.
He is a lifetime member of the Greater
Columbia Association of REALTORS® Circle
of Excellence and has served extensively
at the state and local levels for the SC
Real Estate Commission, the Greater
Columbia Association of REALTORS® and
the SC Association of REALTORS®. Twice
named by Agency Law Quarterly as one of
the top 50 agency instructors in the
country, he has been a featured speaker
at the Real Estate Educators National
Convention. You may visit Hugh’s website
at:
www.hughryallseminars.com |
Mount Pleasant
537 Long Point Road
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 |
West Ashley
2090 Executive Hall Road
Charleston, SC 29407 |
(843) 881-2341
fortuneacademy@gmail.com
|
