COMING SOON...
The Character Code
Building Character, Leadership, and Purpose Beyond the Game
Most athletes spend years training their body while completely ignoring the thing that will ultimately shape their future most: their character.
Championships fade. Statistics get forgotten. Talent might get you noticed. Speed might earn you playing time. But long after the season ends, character is what determines the kind of teammate, leader, coach, parent, mentor, and person you become.
In The Character Code, former athlete, now coach, chaplain, and mentor Alex Holt shares powerful lessons forged through football, failure, discipline, mentorship, faith, and second chances. Through real stories from the practice fields, family struggles, and life beyond the game, Alex challenges athletes to build something deeper than performance.
Because championships fade. Statistics get forgotten. But who you become lasts.
Inside, you’ll discover:
✔ Why discipline off the field matters just as much as performance on it
✔ How attitude, accountability, and daily choices shape your future
✔ Why the people around you will influence the direction of your life
✔ How to recover from mistakes without letting failure define you
✔ What coaches, parents, and mentors can do to help develop strong leaders
✔ How to build character that holds up under pressure, adversity, and success
Written in a relatable, storydriven style, The Character Code is for anyone committed to shaping people of depth, discipline, and integrity. It speaks to athletes who want more than momentary wins, coaches who are building culture, parents and mentors guiding the next generation, and leaders who understand that true success lasts long after the scoreboard resets.
Whether you’re a competitor striving to grow, a coach developing a team, a parent nurturing character at home, or a leader influencing others, this book challenges you to rethink what matters most—and equips you to build a life and legacy that stand the test of time.
Because talent may open the door, but character determines what happens once you walk through it.
Does this sound familiar?
You know you’re capable of more, but frustration, distractions, bad habits, or the wrong circle of friends keep pulling you off track. You want to become more disciplined, focused, and respected, but nobody really teaches you how to build character when pressure, pride, and real life hit at the same time.
You’ve seen talented athletes lose opportunities because of attitude, poor decisions, lack of discipline, or the inability to handle adversity. Deep down, you know talent alone is never enough, but today’s culture rarely talks about the character side of sports anymore.
As a parent, coach, or mentor, you want to help develop more than just performance. You want to help shape athletes who can lead well, handle pressure, stay teachable, recover from failure, and carry themselves with integrity both on and off the field.
If any of this sounds like you, join the waitlist.
Meet the author
Alex M. Holt
Alex Holt was born and raised in Southern California, but his roots run deeper—to the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where family and faith laid the foundation for everything that would come later. Raised by a single mother and surrounded by a tightly knit extended family, he grew up in a home where love, accountability, and high expectations were the norm. His aunts, uncle, grandparents, and eventually his stepfather—who would become one of his most influential role models—helped shape his early sense of character and purpose.
Football became Alex’s outlet and, for a time, his path forward. A standout defensive back at Millikan High School, he continued playing at Long Beach City College before making the difficult decision to step away just before his final season. Though his playing career ended earlier than expected, his love for the game never did. He returned to the sport years later—not as a player, but as a coach at his alma mater. That return marked a turning point. Surrounded by mentors who had once coached him, Alex came to understand football as a vehicle not only for competition, but for character development, spiritual growth, and service.
In 2001, while watching the stage play of The Cross and the Switchblade, Alex experienced a moment of spiritual clarity that would reshape the trajectory of his life. He became a follower of Christ and began walking a path defined by purpose rather than performance. He went on to graduate from Cottonwood Leadership College in 2006 and later became a certified chaplain. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Today, Alex serves in a dual calling: as a chaplain and character coach for young athletes, and as a Safety Superintendent in the petrochemical industry—a field in which he’s worked for more than three decades. Whether mentoring student-athletes, guiding his team at work, or preaching from the pulpit, Alex approaches each role with the same core conviction: real leadership begins with character.
He and his wife, Lorena, live in the South Bay and are ordained pastors. Together, they lead a blended family of six kids and two grandkids, anchored by their family vision statement: “Together We Stand Tall, Blessed to Be a Blessing.” For Alex, The Character Code is more than a book—it’s a reflection of the people who poured into him, and a guide for those looking to live, lead, and serve with integrity.
