Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Rodriguez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alex, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I’ve been fortunate to have been surrounding by bad individuals through my childhood and through college. When I say “bad” it isn’t used in negative context. Bad in a meaning of dangerous, vicious, relentless and driven. My father was the first to imprint ‘work ethic’ into my daily habits. My dad has always been an early riser at like 4 in the morning. He would go on his runs and then come home. When I was around age 10 or 11, he decided to wake me up after his runs so I can begin working out in the garage before school at 5am (school began at 9:30).
I hated it. I never looked forward to my door being swung open and lights flicked on. My dad wouldn’t say anything, he would just walk away and towards the garage. So my workout lifestyle began those mornings with pushups, pull-ups and crunches.
As much as I hated it, naturally those workouts made me become more athletic and stand out a little more than my teammates. Over time, I didn’t have to have my father wake me up at 5am because I wanted to workout on my own anyway, whatever time it was.
Going into high school, I was under the head coach of Pat McQuaid. He is a Florida high School Hall of Fame coach that had (at the time) 40+ years of coaching under his belt. Nova High school was like a dog pound, a dog eat dog world. I didn’t play much my freshman and sophomore year. So that summer and fall season, friends of mine and myself decided to go “ham.” We stayed after school until 9pm at night in the cages, on the field doing speed workouts, etc. We were hungry and angry. Coach McQuaid acknowledged our work and begin starting us our junior year and throughout our senior year.
After high school, and a short stint at Florida International University, I transferred over to Webber International University in Lake Wales, FL. I didn’t know a soul there and going into a program blind. Automatically I was placed on the JV (reserve) team in the fall. Once again, starting from the bottom I had to work my way up. Along with 5:30am team workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I went to the gym Monday through Friday on my own. I got to the field an hour early before everyone else to hit in the cages. After practice, I went back to the cages and kept going.
In time and a little bit of luck, the head coaches needed an extra body on the main squad due to an injury and they asked me to be on the team. From there I stayed on the main team through my remaining time at Webber.
So, work ethic was built from adversity in my sporting life. Work ethic was grown on me by anger and hunger. I just didn’t do it to do it. There was always a purpose. I wasn’t born with work ethic, I simply adopted it through time. Now, that work ethic didn’t only apply to sports but to my everyday life as well and continues to this day.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Hot Korner began as an idea. We didn’t have a building or business to build off of. It came from nowhere.
I didn’t grow up in Pinellas County, go to high school in Pinellas County or college either. Hot Korner wasn’t a previous name of another facility. We started from scratch.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, my dad and I decided to open a facility in St. Pete. We decided to settle in Pinellas Park because of its proximity to everything in the county. After setting the place up with its equipment and online presence, we had to build. Again, I’m not from Pinellas County, don’t have family here or previous teammates. We had to build Hot Korner from the ground up.
Luckily, I was already working with 4 kids at baseball fields previous to opening HK and they jump started the process of getting kids in our doors. We did everything possible to put the word out. We had summer workouts for high school kids, tunnel rentals, memberships, BOGO’s, etc. Just to simply get people coming through the doors.
I felt like once I had an athlete in, I could get him to stay because were “different.” The energy we coach with, the passion we express and the intensity of each hour in intoxicating and addicting. We wanted players and parents to leave with “wow” sensation of no other place in the area coaches like that. We still continue to have that standard of coaching and I feel like that’s why we continue to keep growing.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’m not a business mogul or anything, but after having 2 years of experience I can give some advice on starting up.
1.) Social media is your best friend. Without social media marketing, I have no idea where Hot Korner will be. The power of social media is amazing. Whether it’s via instagram, facebook or twitter. Find a way to get out there with social media.
2.) Be genuine. Yes, you are running a business. Yes, you want to make a living but if you prioritize that then customers will sniff you out quick. People aren’t dumb, they can tell if someone is passing time to collect a paycheck or not. I made sure that myself and the coaches gave it all their effort as a coach to each kid that stepped foot between our doors. We’ve had to get rid of some coaches because they got comfortable and the customers experience wasn’t to our standards. Someone told me once that money follows passion. If you’re passionate about what you do, and show real enthusiasm for your clients, the money will follow.
3.) Be consistent. Like any business, there are high and lows. In the beginning there are a lot more lows than highs sometimes. But have a mentality of keep climbing. If you see progressive growth even if it’s an inch, that’s ok. If you get set back a little, don’t freak out and change things, keep it going. If you see something is working, be consistent with it. Keep pushing and keep creating.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
Oh, I like this question.
We have a word in Hot Korner that describes a non-deal client: “Twinkie.” A Twinkie is a soft cream filled dessert that will probably kill you if you ate one everyday. So we use that as a metaphor for soft, weak, undisciplined, quitters, excuse makers, complainers, etc.
So following that, the ideal client is anything but Twinkie. Not every athlete that comes into Hot Korner is an automatic anti-Twinkie. We’ve had Twinkies come in and turned into absolute dawgs overtime if they were consistent with coming in. The energy and style of Hot Korner will change a player fast. Our mindset and approach to sports and life is intense but it’s what will help the athletes.
Our ideal client is this:
1.) Someone who is open to change and criticism.
2.) Someone who like to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
3.) Someone who can push their limit, physically and mentally.
4.) Someone who is humble but hungry for intensity.
5.) Someone who understands the process is long and is willing to go down for the ride.
6.) Someone who is a good person, inside and outside of sports.
7.) Lastly, someone who is discipline in all aspects of their life.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.hotkornertraining.com
- Instagram: Hotkornerllc
- Facebook: Hot Korner Training Facility
