The Bob Elliott Show Ep. 18 - Ken Alexander

**SPEAKER_1** (0:03)
The Live The Dream Media Network is proud to host an Arizona legend. His remarkable journey spans college and pro basketball, business excellence, and community leadership at the highest level. Get ready for insightful conversations, expert analysis, and a unique perspective that only one man can deliver. This is The Bob Elliott Show, exclusively on the Live The Dream Media Network.

**Bob Elliott** (0:40)
Welcome to The Bob Elliott Show. As you know, we love to have fun and educate. We will emphasize leaders in our community and what they do, and we do that on a weekly basis. Today, our guest is Ken Alexander. He's the author of The Successful Man. Ken, welcome to The Bob Elliott Show.

**Ken Alexander** (0:58)
Thank you so much, Bob. It's a pleasure to be here.

**Bob Elliott** (1:01)
I'm glad to have you here and to be able to talk about your book. But before we get into the book, let's find out about Ken. You know, one of the things we try to do on this show is to let people learn about that person as a person. So let's do a quick oral history, where you were born, siblings, parents, school memories, etc.

**Ken Alexander** (1:22)
Yeah, yeah. So I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and I'm one of seven kids. My mom, she was a single parent most of her life. And I grew up, I'm number three.
I mean, it's far back as I can remember. I mean, it's far back as I can remember. I remember my mom and I remember my grandfather and grandmother, I called them mom and daddy. And then my mom, because they helped my mom a lot as we grew up. But, and then I first met my older brothers two and three years old of me, and I was in the first grade. And my mom, she went and got them, but that's a whole different story.

**Bob Elliott** (2:05)
Right, right, right.

**Ken Alexander** (2:06)
Yeah, but-

**Bob Elliott** (2:07)
I kind of heard that.

**Ken Alexander** (2:08)
Yeah. So we had, so it was seven of us. And my mom divorced when I was in the fourth grade.

**Bob Elliott** (2:19)
Okay.

**Ken Alexander** (2:19)
And from that time on, it was her supporting six boys.

**Bob Elliott** (2:23)
Wow.

**Ken Alexander** (2:23)
And one girl.

**Bob Elliott** (2:25)
I bet y'all tore up a whole lot in that house.

**Ken Alexander** (2:27)
Well, we did. But you know, the thing is that my mom, you know, she kind of ruled with a pretty firm hand.

**Bob Elliott** (2:35)
Okay.

**Ken Alexander** (2:35)
And so we had a great time. Louisville, we lived in the West End, and it's a metropolitan area, really. You say Kentucky, people think rural, but it's not rural. And we grew up in an all-black neighborhood.

**Bob Elliott** (2:50)
Right.

**Ken Alexander** (2:51)
From the, we played, we ran. You know, at that time, there were a lot of kids in the neighborhood. A lot of kids, people had a lot of kids.

**Bob Elliott** (2:59)
Yes.

**Ken Alexander** (2:59)
And we were always out, you know, had to come home when the streetlights came on.

**Bob Elliott** (3:04)
Oh, yeah, automatic. Streetlights came on and...

**Ken Alexander** (3:06)
Streetlights came on, and then we had to be in the house, and we were always down at the park. And our house was where we lived, from the second grade on until I graduated, was pretty close to Shawnee Park, which bordered the river.

**Bob Elliott** (3:23)
Okay.

**Ken Alexander** (3:23)
And we would go down, exploring young kids. We were doing stuff down at that river that if my mom knew about it, we'd be in really big trouble, you know? And my older brother just kind of led the crew, led the group. And so we played hard, we played sports, we did all those things.
My mom, my grandfather was a big influence in my mom's life, and she kind of used his rules as to how you raise six boys, is how a single mom raises six boys, and he had his own terms, he had his own way of doing things, and she kind of followed those. And she made sure, at points we went to church, we did that, we had to have all our shoes on the steps, polished and stuff, before Sunday. Even when we didn't have a car, she found a way to get us all to church and that kind of stuff. But my mom is really, when I look back, is like role model hero for all the stuff she did then and that she does now at 86 years old. But, you know, coming up, and as I approached, you know, I watched, my grandfather told my mom, and one of the rules was that, one is that, you know, you got all these boys, and if any of them ever raises a hand on them, up to you, he said, you kill them, cause if you don't kill them, I will. No, the police will.