We were lucky to catch up with Alex Kades recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Instead of going the more common route applying for an entry level role right after college, I backed myself to create my own business. I had built a small network of kids I trained throughout college to make some extra cash, and figured I could utilize that infrastructure to start getting my name out. Eventually, through word of mouth as well as marketing via social media, I have been able to make a side hustle into a full-time business where I train kids each week.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I played soccer at The University of Pennsylvania. Even before playing in college, I always had a passion for coaching. Working with kids has always come naturally to me. Maybe being the oldest of three siblings has taught me the patience and care necessary to work with young kids. I don’t believe anyone can connect with kids the way I can. I may be working on becoming more knowledgeable as a coach, but my people skills have always been evident. I truly care about getting to know the kids I work with and creating a comfortable environment. I want to make an impact on them as people first, and on their soccer ability second. Once you trust someone as a mentor, the teaching becomes a lot easier. For the people that have followed my soccer journey, I want them to know that there have been ups and downs. Even now, I have built a social media platform and a training business but I still have doubts about the direction to go in.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Consistency. I have drawn a lot of similarities in life to going to the gym. If you go to the gym Monday-Friday you probably won’t see a difference. But you start stacking those weeks on top of each other, while getting to understand your body better and improving on each set, you’ll see growth. Social media works the same way, in that you will learn from each video and develop a better understanding of your strengths. The only way to do this, is post and review.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth. Social media was a great start to securing new clients. Once I had a group of clients, my retention rate has always been high, meaning my work is up to or above the parents standards. I try to connect with the parents as well as the kids I train. The parents love to refer me to friends who are looking for their kids to improve in soccer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: akfooty_
• Youtube: AKFooty_