From drug dealing to fitness training, the Team Chizel story

The best thing to happen to Dontae Thomas? Getting sent to federal prison for 10 years.

“It was a blessing,” he told me. “If I didn’t get arrested, there’s no telling where I’d be today. I’d either be on the top of the mountain or, more probably, six feet under. The middle is a better place to be. More comfortable. Freer. No worries, outside of regular life worries as a responsible adult.”

Thomas, 37, is a certified personal trainer and the owner of Team Chizel Fitness, which he runs out of Primal Gym in Hamilton. How he got to this point in life, however, isn’t your typical story.

Born and raised in Trenton, Thomas said he was brought up the right way by two hardworking parents.

“They taught me values, discipline, right from wrong,” Thomas said. “But it so happens I wiggled my way into the streets.”

Thomas started “messing with weed” in high school. And although he graduated and eventually took a job with the state’s Division of Taxation, the lure of the street - and easy money - was too much for Thomas.

“I got by in high school without educating myself, without digging my head into books like I should’ve been,” he said. “I went to Mercer for a semester. Then my daughter was born. I was still working at Taxation, but as time rolled on, I got bigger and bigger in the streets. Four years later, I caught my first charge.”

He got probation, but his mindset didn’t change. He was now selling cocaine and crack, and vowed to be more careful. He got busted a second time, went through drug court. His mindset didn’t change. Again, figured he’d be more careful. He didn’t want to give up the lure of the fast money.

“When I got caught the first two times, I figured they got me this way, so I won’t do that again. I can beat them,” Thomas said. “So it was basically insanity, thinking I’d never get caught again.”

Then the feds got him, and he was facing 25 years as a “career” criminal, but he had never done state time, so his lawyer got it down to 10 years. It was then when it hit him, what he had done, how he had squandered a good portion of his life.

“No more,” he said. “I wasn’t going back. In July of 2008, I got to prison, started working out, trying to relieve my mind. I met an older guy from Virginia, invited me to work out with him and some other guys. They were extreme. I ended up throwing up and running to the bathroom the first time.”

But he stuck with it. Years pass, and Thomas ends up running classes in prison. Then he meets another inmate (Lynch Hunt, who himself has become an author and motivational speaker since his release) who encouraged him to take it further, getting his certifications while in prison. Which Thomas did, getting certified in both nutrition and personal training.

By this time, Thomas was up and in the yard at 6 a.m. every day no matter the weather, leading his classes. Then he’d spend the vast majority of the rest of the day reading and studying anything to make his mind, body, and spirit stronger.

Late 2017, Thomas is released from prison. He worked a few jobs, even took a few jobs at gyms. But he wanted more. A natural leader - as a point guard on the basketball courts, as a drug dealer on the streets, as an inmate in prison - Thomas wanted to go his own way. So he started Team Chizel - and started driving a cab (which he still does) to make extra money.

But it’s Team Chizel that’s Thomas’ future.

“In five years, I want Team Chizel on a bigger scale,” he said. “I will have my own gym and I’ll really give back to my community.”

It’s the “giving back” part that is a prime motivator for Thomas.

“It’s tough being back sometimes, seeing the drugs and violence in the streets,” Thomas said. “I realize I helped tear it down. Young kids saw me and wanted to be like me. Now I try to help change the situation. I see kids, I pull them aside and speak to them. I’ve been there. I understand what they’re going through. Some of them are coming from real poverty. I understand, but I tell them they don’t have to do this. There’s another way. When I speak it, I’m walking it. Back then I’d say the same thing, but I was on the corner. But now I’m walking it. I’m genuine.”

Interested in joining Team Chizel? You can find Dontae Thomas on Facebook, on Instagram as @Team_Chizel_llc, and by reaching out at 609883-2809.

Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@ trentonian.com, facebook. com/jeffreyedelstein and @ jeffedelstein on Twitter.