Explore Alex Pursglove's journey in the Coaching Industry

Absolutely. I’m happy to be here.

When I think of ‘rootless’, I think about the process of individuating from your family, from the worldview you grew up in, and from your belief systems. It’s a journey of explorin What do I actually believe? Who am I? This doesn’t mean that you discard everything from your childhood, but it’s about finding out who your most authentic self is and I think we become rootless when we’re forging our own way.

I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh called Moon Township, near the international airport. I lived with my mother, father, and two older sisters in a middle-class suburban community. As a child, I fell in love with acting and filmmaking, and I had dreams of moving to New York or L.A. because I wanted to be in the film industry and tell inspirational stories. In middle school and early high school, I was shy and experienced some bullying, which made me want to encourage other young girls who felt they didn’t fit in. I remember writing an Academy Award acceptance speech that I would practice in front of a mirror. I also wrote screenplays, created behind-the-scenes content, and envisioned a career where I could inspire others by sharing stories of hope and resilience.

Yes, I did. After college, I followed my older sister and attended the University of Pittsburgh, staying close to home. But I eventually made the radical decision to move to L.A. without many contacts. I started by picking up the phone, calling people in the film industry, and asking if I could take them to coffee or lunch to learn about their journey. This approach helped me find my way into a few film sets, where I had fun experiences. I worked on movies like Twilight and Inception, as well as a few commercials. However, I realized that the film industry wasn’t for me.

TThey were definitely concerned. My mom and dad were nervous because I had few contacts in L.A. They cried when they dropped me off at the airport, out of sadness and concern, but they also knew it had been my dream since childhood. They also knew that this had been a dream of mine since I was little. tend to be someone who, when I set my mind to something, I pursue it relentlessly. So I know they were rooting for me.Although some family members said success in film is only for the exceptionally talented or lucky, my parents supported me. So there definitely weren’t a lot of people believing in good opportunities or that or the good things would happen. There was a lot of concern.

To clarify, I pursued more behind-the-scenes work than acting. I did a little bit of acting and got one or two auditions, but I was primarily focused on the producing route. When I received the call with an offer to work on Inception, I was thrilled. As a huge Titanic fan when I was younger and a Batman Begins fan, the chance to work on a Christopher Nolan film was incredibly exciting, especially with Leonardo DiCaprio, who I had a crush on when I was little. I remember thinking that ten-year-old Alex would be so thrilled and surprised to be here. It was a moment when I thought that I really did this, I made it happen. One of my first days on set, I remember a production manager saying, ‘You’re the only PA who isn’t related to someone who works on set. How did you get this job?’, I told them I had called a few people, took them to lunch, told them I wanted to be in film, and they called and referred me to someone who offered me the position. I was really proud that I made it happen on my own, without any connections.

Well, when I was a few months shy of my 25th birthday, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with a tumor in my pancreas with cancerous tissue. It was a shock and absolutely rocked my world. It forced me to take a long, hard look at my life and ask, ‘Am I really happy?’, Most 24-year-olds aren’t considering the long-term significance of their lives or their impact, but this diagnosis made me reflect on my happiness. I realized I felt very misaligned with the film industry’s culture, at least in the parts where I was working. At the time, I was also in a really toxic relationship, and my self-worth was at an all-time low. I thought I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted more love in my life, and I wanted to make a more significant impact. Although I enjoyed some aspects of working in film and had some fun experiences, I felt like I wasn’t living up to my potential. I was a PA a lot of the time, running errands and doing tasks that didn’t feel impactful. The experience with the tumor made me realize it was time to shift. Fortunately, my tumor turned out to be incredibly rare and non-aggressive—not the typical kind of pancreatic cancer you hear about. I was very lucky that surgery could cure it. So, I left my relationship, I left the film industry, and I moved back to Pittsburgh to pursue a career in nonprofit work for a while. From there, I was on a quest to find what truly lit me up and where I could use my gifts to help other people.

It was challenging. Anyone who’s listening who can relate to any part of this story, it’s okay for it to be hard and you have to meet yourself with complete understanding and compassion and also look at what you really desire and give yourself permission to say what I really want matters who I am, matters what I want matters. And for me, it was actually the day I got diagnosed. I went home to my boyfriend’s house and he was working late and I was alone and I fell to my knees on the bathroom floor sobbing. And I really just opened myself up to receiving divine guidance. And I was just so scared. I just completely surrendered and said, What do I do? I’m a spiritual person and I felt like God Higher Power met me there on my floor and just said, I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay. Just keep taking one step forward. Just keep taking the next step forward. And it was at that moment I made a vow to myself that I was going to use this for good. I was going to use this to change my life. And so even though it took a couple of months after my surgery, it took a few months before I left my relationship but it was hard. My whole life was there. It’s not always easy. I remember the vow I made to myself is that I’m not going to let this become a bad story. This is going to be a story that serves me and helps me move forward. So it was then that I really said, I’m starting this quest, but I believe I’m still on today. This quest to live my most fully expressed life. And I went into a nonprofit. That’s the next place I explored because I thought, what better place to be serving than profits?

I was 26 years old. I didn’t know for sure if nonprofit work was my calling, but I knew I wanted to explore different paths and find where I fit best, where I could use my skills, and where I could make the biggest impact. So I started by exploring nonprofit work, which turned out to be an area where I could make a difference. Eventually, I became the Director of Strategic Planning and Implementation and began producing events for the nonprofit. We partnered with the head coach from the Pittsburgh Steelers to produce a men’s conference, where I was the event producer for around 1,400 men a year. We even took it to Charlotte for a few years. I realized that I loved producing transformative experiences, coordinating and developing teams, and mentoring people. It made me see that I was good at helping people grow, improve, and progress to the next level, and that’s how I eventually found my way to coaching.

OOne major skill was personal confidence and empowerment. When I first started at the nonprofit, I was the executive assistant to the director, but over two years, I became the Director of Strategic Planning. During that time, I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities. I had always wondered if I could transition from film to an office environment, since my background was in film and acting, which is a completely different industry. So I really questioned if I could transfer those skills to another industry and saw I was learning in film how to coordinate people, how to manage details, how to organize things, and then that was just developed even further at the nonprofit. So I came to see that I have a lot of skills that are transferable. I’m really good with detail, with seeing the big picture, with figuring out how to take this project from A to Z. then I also came to see that I was really good at mentoring. So, as I became a director and then I started having direct reports, I started studying myself. The nonprofit didn’t really give me leadership courses, but I knew I wanted to be a good leader. I wanted to make the biggest impact possible. So that’s when I started reading books and taking courses and studying leadership and realized I’m coaching people, mentoring people. I had a high emotional intelligence (EQ), which contributed to my ability to run my own business.

I co-founded my company in 2016 with my sister. We both got certified in Jack Canfield’s success principles. Then I ended up getting a few more certifications and executive coaching and culture consulting. AI ran the company on the side for about two years. By the end of 2018, I decided to take the leap. Although I enjoyed working in the nonprofit sector, I felt like I had reached a ceiling. There were also certain value misalignments that indicated it was time to move on. It was scary to take the leap. I had just gotten married a few years ago, my husband and I were starting fresh. He was an Army veteran and he was actually going back to school. So, I was the breadwinner. But I was determined to take the leap, remembering the commitment I made to myself on the bathroom floor, that I was going to live my most expressive life, make an impact on my dreams and what matters to me versus letting fear and doubt stop me. Ultimately, I made the leap and decided to go for it. I left the nonprofit to focus on coaching full-time.

Having people who believed in me made a huge difference. I often reflected on the commitment I made on the bathroom floor that night. I would always ask myself, ‘What if this was your last year? What if you got sick again? Would you want to spend it in doubt and worry, regretting what you didn’t do? Or would you rather be excited to have gone for it?’, So I always chose to go for it instead of letting fear win. That doesn’t mean fear didn’t weigh me down at times or make me second-guess myself. We all go through that. But it was the combination of my commitment and the decision to face my fears consciously, even when they were there, that kept me going. Every entrepreneur has doubts; I’m sure you can relate. We all have doubts. The key is to keep moving forward despite them, letting them exist without letting them drag you down or take you out. I also surrounded myself with people who believed in me, encouraged me, and supported me. My husband was incredibly supportive, and I’m so grateful for that. He actually gave me my first investment. When I went to get certified with Jack Canfield, he gave me $3,000, even though we were just dating at the time. Knowing I had his support was invaluable. I also worked with mentors and cultivated a community of like-minded people who believed in possibilities and focused on opportunities instead of reasons why you can’t. There were times when I wasn’t believing in myself, but I chose to rely on their belief in me, and that helped me get through.

That’s a great question, Greta. I think we often slow ourselves down by letting our ego try to have it all figured out. The ego feels like we need to have everything mapped out and see the entire path ahead. It’s a fear of the unknown, so we try to control everything to avoid uncertainty. I’ve definitely been through that, and I didn’t know exactly what I would offer when I went full-time. My initial vision was to be a coach for Millennial employees, helping companies understand and work with their Millennial workforce. But I soon realized that wasn’t quite the right fit for me, so I shifted to executive coaching, which I enjoyed, but it still didn’t feel like enough. Then I moved into business and success coaching, which is what I do now. This journey showed me that it’s okay to evolve and adjust as you find what truly aligns with you.

I think the most important thing is to open yourself up and actively seek people who have done what you want to do. Reach out to people. This was actually a lesson I learned in the film industry. I made probably hundreds of calls, and only a handful actually called me back, answered the phone, or gave me an opportunity. But the few who did gave me the chance to work on projects like The Pacific, Twilight, and Inception. The 95 ‘no’s’ didn’t matter because the few who said ‘yes’ made all the difference. I applied the same philosophy to my business. I started reaching out and asking people to mentor me. At a Jack Canfield conference, I approached one of his partners, Kathleen Seeley, and said, ‘Hey, can I sit with you? Can I have lunch? I’d love to learn from you.’ I admired her career, and we ended up having lunch. She offered to mentor me for a couple of years, and she continued to believe in me. If you don’t have a community already, you can consciously create one by seeking people who share your goals and mindset. I was fortunate that my husband was supportive, but not everyone has that. I work with a lot of women entrepreneurs, and sometimes their husbands or families aren’t as supportive. The key is to put yourself out there, find people who have done what you want to do, and reach out to them. If you’re willing to make that effort, you can build a supportive community.

‘Ecstasy’ is the word that comes to mind. To me, ecstasy means feeling completely alive in the present moment, feeling joyful, excited, ecstatic. When I started working with women entrepreneurs, who are the people I work with most often, and saw them embrace their own beauty, discover their confidence, find their sweet spots, and feel good about who they are right here and now—while achieving results they once thought were out of reach—it was a profound moment. Seeing these women produce results they thought were beyond their capabilities made me think, ‘I’m finally here. I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’m in my zone of genius.’ It took a lot of trial and error to get there, but once I found it, it set my soul on fire.

Let me focus on the key aspects because it’s a huge topic. One important point is to detach from specific outcomes and avoid assigning too much meaning to them. What I mean is, when you prioritize the journey and your growth—who you’re becoming—over specific results, you avoid thinking, ‘I must achieve this result by this time, or else it reflects negatively on me.’ When we believe we failed, it’s easy to treat failure as a final verdict. But failure isn’t final; I don’t even like the term ‘failure.’ I see it as an experience: either you learn from it and use it to move forward, or you let it stop you. So, by detaching from needing to have it all figured out or achieving every goal, and focusing on personal growth, you build confidence from the inside out. Another critical point, particularly with women entrepreneurs, is overcoming the tendency to be people pleasers. A recent YouGov survey showed that over half of Americans identify as people pleasers, with women 56% more likely than men to prioritize others’ needs over their own. The problem with people pleasing is that it sends a subconscious message that your needs matter less than those of others—that it’s more important for people to respond favorably to you than for you to assert what you want. The more you can express your truth and let it be seen and heard, the more confidence you will find, again, from the inside out. By focusing on your own growth and truth, you build a foundation for genuine confidence.

It’s a process. I’m still a recovering people pleaser, and I say that all the time. In personal growth, there’s no final destination where all doubts and fears disappear, where you never feel fear or people please again. It’s all about the journey and who you’re becoming along the way. So it’s definitely a task that requires time, intentionality, and consistency. Regarding how long it takes to really shed people pleasing, I’d say even though I’m still a recovering people pleaser, it used to consume about 95% of my life, and now it’s maybe 5%. This transformation took probably a couple of years, but I was very intentional and dedicated a lot of time and energy to it. So, the speed and depth of your progress depend on how much effort and commitment you’re willing to invest.

Being a people pleaser meant everything from saying yes to invitations I didn’t really want to accept, to tolerating situations that made me uncomfortable. For example, at networking events, if someone suggested meeting for coffee, I would say yes even if I didn’t feel inspired by the connection or didn’t see a real opportunity. I didn’t want to seem rude or uncooperative, so I agreed to meetings that felt more transactional than genuine. People-pleasing showed up in business, too. I’d let clients push the boundaries of our agreements, allowing scope creep without setting clear limits. I was afraid to say no, so I had no boundaries. In my family relationships, I would engage in conversations I wasn’t interested in—like when discussions turned political or argumentative—because I didn’t want to upset anyone. I also avoided sharing my true feelings with my husband, especially about personal matters, like what I preferred in the bedroom. People-pleasing runs deep, and it took a transformation in my life to realize the power of speaking up and stating what you really want. You don’t have to be rude or arrogant to be honest; it’s about finding the courage to be your unapologetic self and share your truth, even when it’s uncomfortable.

What a great question! When I start working with clients, I focus on identifying what’s out of alignment, which can manifest in many different ways. My approach is highly customized and delves deep because I enjoy helping people achieve significant transformations. It’s unique for each individual, but I usually begin by examining what’s aligned and what’s misaligned in their life. This involves identifying where they might be sticking to certain practices out of a sense of obligation, people-pleasing, or doubt, as opposed to engaging in what genuinely excites them, what truly falls within their zone of genius, what energizes them, and what yields tangible results. In entrepreneurship, for instance, we often do a lot of things that don’t necessarily move us forward, driven by a sense of obligation rather than genuine passion. This concept is in line with the 80/20 rule, where only a small fraction of our efforts produce the most significant results. So, exploring these tendencies is crucial. Additionally, it’s important to consider where you might be stifling your true expression. Where might you be holding back from owning your authentic voice, your most aligned messaging? What prevents you from showing the world who you truly are? To let the world see your true self, you must first understand yourself deeply. That’s why we explore your own identity, embracing both your beauty and flaws, and moving toward radical self-acceptance. By doing so, you can better bring out the aspects of yourself where you feel you can contribute most powerfully and operate at your fullest potential.

I’m certainly not against goals if they work for you. I used to focus heavily on goal-setting, starting with clients by defining where they wanted to be in a year and then creating a strategic plan to get there. However, in my current work and in my personal journey, I’ve moved away from goal-setting. The reason for this is that I used to have a harsh inner critic, leading to a mindset of “It’s not enough yet.” This is something I know many high-achieving women can relate to. Sometimes when you set goals, these tendencies can turn them into tools of self-criticism. If you don’t meet the target at the exact time you expect, it’s easy to beat yourself up. I’ve also seen a lot of women fall into what I call the unhealthy masculine approach of grinding, striving, and not stopping until they hit the goal. What I’ve found is that this approach often comes at the expense of your own well-being. I personally believe what’s most important is you being supported, you giving yourself unconditional love, acceptance, support, you being filled out because when you’re filled up, when you’re not trained, when you’re energized, you can actually serve at the highest level. You can give to others from a place of abundance and overflow. If your cup is full, you can’t push for an empty cup. So I tend to work with high achieving women with those tendencies, I instead like to set intentions and focus on your experience over your outcomes. I love having visions and ideas and I have big things I want to accomplish. So, yes, we focus on those but what matters first is how do you want to experience the journey? How do you want to feel every day? What’s most important to you in terms of what you want to create? So I like to focus on creating more from our hearts and letting things unfold rather than just setting a goal and making it all about the achievement, the destination.

It varies, but here’s a typical weekday for me: I wake up and spend a little quiet time. That got shortened when I had my daughter, but I still try to enjoy some peace before getting her up. We usually cuddle in the mornings, have breakfast together, and then I take her to daycare. After that, I can really get some quiet time back. I like to start my mornings focusing on gratitude, inspiration, and creativity. Then it’s on to client calls, connection calls, writing, working on talks, marketing, and connecting with my team. The day’s schedule can be varied. Since moving to Austin a couple of months ago, I’ve been ending my workday earlier, which I’m thrilled about because it’s something I’ve struggled with for a while. Now, I pick up my daughter, and I completely shut down work, focusing on my family in the evening. My husband and I either spend time together at home or go to jujitsu. After our daughter goes to bed, it’s time for me and my husband, Adam, to relax before we go to sleep. So yeah, when you prioritize family time, work can wait. It’s great to focus on what’s important, and I love having that dedicated time with my daughter and my husband.

I do. Yeah. And I actually spoke to one a little bit, which is more getting away from that extreme like hustle culture and the like grind it out until you hit your goals because I believe in the importance of wellness. But since we already covered that, I’ll say the other thing that drives me nuts is when I see coaches promote buying their course so you can have a $1,000,000 business and live on a beach and not pay attention to your business, Work 3 hours a week and make millions in your sleep just like I did from buying this course. that drives me crazy because I think it’s speaking to people that are looking for the solution, who really want the fix. They want to know how to do this and so they’re trying to find it. I believe courses and certifications are so powerful and impactful. it takes intentionality, it takes time, it takes investment. I just don’t believe in the magical land where your business runs without you and you don’t ever think about it or that you only spend 3 hours a week on it. Now, can you get your business to a point where it’s running and operating without you being hands on in it? Absolutely. But that takes a journey to build, right It takes time to get there. That’s an evolution. So I think people like that are selling something that’s just not factual.