From Coach to CEO: How Alex Kuhn Scaled a Leadership Empire
"Most entrepreneurs are solving for growth. But high-performing founders solve for safety first."
That belief-shifting quote from Alex Kuhn sets the tone for an episode rooted in both clarity and calling.
In a world that glorifies hustle, Alex built a high-impact coaching business by prioritizing alignment over adrenaline—and showing others how to do the same.
He’s no stranger to experimentation: 47 business ideas. Two exits. And now, a leadership platform that’s trained thousands of purpose-driven coaches to scale impact without burning out.
If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your gift for helping others into a true business—with systems, team, and scalable offers—this episode breaks it down with humility, faith, and tactical brilliance.
Let’s dive in.
Why Most Coaches Don’t Scale—and What to Do Instead
“Born leaders don’t chase tactics. They build from calling.”
Alex Kuhn was a college swim coach earning $20K a year before transitioning into entrepreneurship. After 15 business attempts, he found his stride in the health and mindset space, sold his first company, then built and exited a successful marketing agency. But none of those wins felt quite aligned.
In 2019, he took a year off to ask a bigger question: What kind of business do I want to build for the long haul?
The answer became Born to Lead, a coaching company for founders with a leadership-first operating system—not a sales script.
Alex works with coaches who feel like traditional tactics don’t fit. They’re not chasing funnels or hustle. They’re trying to lead well, serve deeply, and build a business that works because of who they are—not despite it.
The AI Freedom Method Applied: Coaching Business Edition
H2: Step 1 – Clarify Your Role in the Business
“Do you want to be the coach, the marketer, the CEO—or all three? You can’t scale if you won’t decide.”
Alex walks clients through a clear transition model based on three income milestones:
$20K–$50K/mo: solo operator + VA
$100K–$300K/mo: marketing, operations, and coaching all need to be delegated
$1M+ months: your brand must evolve to compete with agencies and media platforms
Instead of overwhelming them with all-in-one systems, he helps clients define their dream role—then build around it.
H3: Role Selection Exercise
Write down:
Your top 3 joy-filled tasks each week
Your top 3 draining responsibilities
Who needs you and who pretends to need you
The answers shape your org chart—and your next hire.
H2: Step 2 – Build a Team That Actually Works
“You don’t need all A-players. You need the right A-players in the right seats.”
Alex learned the hard way that hiring overqualified talent for every role leads to high turnover and frustration. Instead, he advises:
A-players for sales, operations, and key client-facing roles
B-players for SOPs, fulfillment, and consistency
Clear performance metrics + radical honesty culture (daily failure sharing)
His lean team includes:
Erica (sales lead)
Tina (operations)
Marissa (social media)
Plus a small crew of account reps and accountability coaches
He’s scaled to a 7-person team, running three live coaching calls per week, and a custom outreach system that still feels deeply human.
H2: Step 3 – Systemize Results, Not Just Tasks
“Most founders build tasks. High-performers build daily measurements.”
Alex doesn’t believe in abstract KPIs. Instead, he teaches a Personal PR System:
Daily tracking of outcome metrics (e.g., revenue, new leads)
Personalized success markers (e.g., client wins, content published)
Weekly 4P Review:
Progress
Pitfalls
Perspective
Personal declaration
He even runs the system with his wife and kids—because business is only part of the performance game.
H2: Step 4 – Leverage AI Without Losing Your Soul
“AI won’t replace coaches. But it will expose the ones who don’t evolve.”
Alex isn’t building an AI business. He’s building a human-first business with AI.
Here’s how:
Alex.AI – A private GPT trained on his thoughts, journals, and frameworks
Custom GPTs for each team member – used for SOPs, task execution, and client support
Client GPT Portals – Turning coaching programs into private AI assistants
SEO Optimization into AI – Feeding key info into tools like ChatGPT for future search
“Every coach should build an AI assistant behind their paywall. Courses will become commodities. What’s rare is a personalized client experience at scale.”
H2: Action Plan for Faith-Driven Coaches
5 things you can apply this week:
Audit your weekly tasks: What do you actually want to do? Build your team around that.
Hire your next best operator: Don’t outsource freedom. Build it with the right person.
Start your PR System: Track one outcome, one success marker, and do a 4P review on Sunday.
Create your AI sandbox: Journal into your own GPT. Reflect, evolve, automate.
Host a live coaching call (with guests): Treat prospects like clients. Let your delivery do the selling.
H2: Founder Wins + Metrics That Matter
“We went from $20K to $100K months by shifting one thing: treating marketing like relationship management, not sales funnels.”
Case study: After implementing the team structure and performance model from Alex’s framework, one client grew from $12K/mo to $78K/mo in six months—while reducing their weekly hours by 40%.
They started with one VA, added an operations lead, and now run 2x weekly coaching calls with 91% retention.
“I don’t talk about boundaries. I talk about covenants.”
Alex’s commitment to faith, family, and fitness isn’t just a value system. It’s a performance driver.
He shuts down Fridays at 3PM for golf
He tracks health metrics daily like business KPIs
He takes guilt-free vacations by planning around purpose, not burnout
Faith is foundational—but not performative.
“I’m not here to be judged on revenue. I’m judged on whether I lived out what I was created for.”
That’s the heart behind Born to Lead—and why his message resonates with Christian entrepreneurs who don’t want to choose between impact and income.
📚 Free Resources and Growth Tools
Grab Nathan’s free workshop on scaling your media and sales team here:
👉 https://linkin.bio/nathannewberry
Explore Alex Kuhn’s leadership-based coaching model on Instagram: @alexkuhn
If you’re a founder who knows you were born to lead—but your business doesn’t reflect that yet—this is your wake-up call.
You don’t need more tactics.
You need clarity. You need systems. You need the courage to lead the way you were wired to.
Don’t wait until burnout forces a pivot. Build the team, structure, and faith-filled mission now.
→ Book a call with Nathan to map your AI sales and business freedom plan.
“Nathan helped me double my monthly revenue and buy back 15+ hours a week—all in under 90 days.” — Client Testimonial
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About the Author
Nathan Newberry helps elite business owners implement AI in sales, marketing, systems, and models to build rapidly successful brands. He specializes in helping founders implement Sell By Chat strategy to buy back their time and double their revenue within 6 months using his Elite Sales Model.
