Matt Hesse believes. He believes in the sacrifice that comes with service to the country, and he is willing to put his money where his heart is — a lot of money. Army veteran Hesse is founder and executive chairman of University of Health & Performance, which helps service members transition from the military to civilian opportunities ranging from health and wellness coaching to holistic health professions.
“The biggest challenge in leaving the military is the loss of identity and purpose, and for a young man or woman going into the military at 18, you have a clear understanding of what your mission set is and the people you’re going to stand with,” Hesse said. “There probably isn’t a job or a career you can go into where you feel more purpose than serving our country. It’s a gift that I didn’t know, at 18, was so valuable, but definitely, looking back on my career, I understand it clearly.”
UHP teaches modules for personal trainers, health coaches, nutritionists and, starting this year, entrepreneurs. With a 700-acre campus west of Gentry near the Oklahoma border and a satellite office in Bentonville, a team of 40 professionals works to upskill veterans into the workforce in a year or less.
“There’s a challenge in leaving the military and making the lonely walk out the gate. You’re leaving all of that structure, comradery, team and purpose behind. We’re trying to fill the gap between military service and civilian life,” Hesse said.
He added that he expects to see between 30 and 40 graduates from the UHP program in the first quarter of 2025 and up to 64 people in the second quarter. By the end of the year, expectations are to graduate 100 people per month.
Hesse created his “if you build it, they will come” vision from a blank sheet of paper, and he did it alone for the most part. After launching the sports nutrition brand Performix with his wife, Alex, and building a dedicated following, he sold the company and invested his energy and capital in UHP. There is now more than $20 million in infrastructure on the ground in Gentry, including 150 beds for attendees. Plans are to have 1,000 beds on-site by 2030. Since its inception two years ago, the program has boasted 2,000 graduates.
“I wrote a book a few years ago that’s not been published yet, but it’s the basis for all this work. It’s called The Purpose Blueprint, and the idea is this: If you take an accounting of all the things you’re passionate about, what you enjoy doing in your life, things you’re skilled at, this allows you to build a strategy to do that in your career,” Hesse said. “If you’re passionate about health and wellness and you love to train and work out, you love serving people in the military, then you might be a great person to transition into the coaching world, where you can impact lives every day. You can do it in a pretty short period of time in terms of how much education you need to do that job.”
University of Health & Performance is a recognized educational institution in the state of Arkansas, and veterans can use GI Bill benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs to enroll in the program. Being recognized by the state and the VA was a major hurdle to getting UHP off the ground, Hesse said.
The Nebraska native discovered northwest Arkansas in a conventional way: He sold products through Walmart. The connections he built in the region exposed him to Camp War Eagle in Rogers, a Christian sports, adventure and recreation summer camp for boys and girls from Benton, Washington, Carroll and Madison counties. He ran research pilots out of the camp and determined Arkansas was the right place to launch his venture.
“The real measure of success will be how significant are our outcomes as an institution, meaning, ‘How do we place people in organizations? How successful are those people?’ and really measuring outcomes,” said Hesse. “I would guess we’re ranked in the top 10 in the state relative to graduation rates. We’re really doing well there, but we want to be measuring everything — how fast we place our students, how much money were they making before they came to us, and what they’re making after they’ve completed the program. When we fast forward five years, the measure of our success will be how thriving our community of graduates is.”
Going from a standing start to thousands of graduates over only two years would seem to be an accomplishment in itself, but not for a guy whose phone is stuck to his ear from morning to night as he sells, proposes, compliments and cajoles. For him to build his vision, that is what it takes. He has already built a successful business once, but this time, he is bringing the veteran community along to enjoy what, for him, are the fruits of personal freedom and success.
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