Known throughout the skip tracing industry as the “Skip Guru,” Alex has spent 41 years developing his craft and sharing what he has learned with others. Today, as Director of Training and Development at LocateSmarter, teaching is at the heart of what he does.
But for someone who has spent much of his career at the front of the class, Alex is quick to point out that he is still a student himself.
His life’s greatest lessons have come from a high school principal, a drill sergeant, early bosses, industry colleagues, pastors, friends, and mentors. Some were part of his life for decades. Others arrived for only a season.
Together, they shaped the person and teacher he is today.
“If you look at Alex Price, I am only the sum total of the people over 64 years that saw something in me at that time in my life that was lacking, that I needed, and they filled that hole,” Alex shared.
That perspective has given Alex a simple responsibility: pass it on.
One of Alex’s most influential mentors is Chris Hadnagy, founder of the Innocent Lives Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works alongside law enforcement to help protect children from online predators.
Their professional connection grew into a friendship and mentorship, and Alex later became an ambassador for the organization, helping raise awareness and support its fundraising efforts.
Through Chris, Alex began thinking differently about empathy and approaching people without judgment.
“All empathy is is trying to see something through somebody else’s eyes, not just yours,” explained Alex.
The lesson changed the way Alex communicates and teaches. In an industry where success often depends on conversations with people in difficult circumstances, he learned how quickly trust can disappear when someone feels judged.
For Alex, caring about people sometimes means being willing to reconsider your own perspective first.
Alex also believes mentorship requires honesty, with someone willing to point out when something needs to be reconsidered. Alex has found that same quality in other important relationships throughout his life, including with LocateSmarter President Jonathan Brooks.
“It’s real good in life to have people that will check you,” Alex emphasized.
Remaining open to that kind of feedback is part of Alex’s approach to learning. Experience may bring knowledge, but it does not mean there is nothing left to learn.
That lesson has followed him professionally, personally and through his faith.
Years ago, a conversation with Pastor Aaron Fruh challenged Alex to reconsider a painful experience that had kept him away from church for decades. Their relationship eventually brought Alex back and opened another chapter of mentorship in his life.
Pastor Fruh established The Ugly Mug, a youth outreach program in Mobile, Alabama designed to create a place for young people who did not always feel they belonged elsewhere.
Alex was asked to help.
What began as an effort to provide structure quickly became something deeper. Alex talked with the kids, counseled them and built relationships that continued long after the program ended.
Years later, some still recognize him in stores or at the movies and stop to tell him what his presence meant to them. Many are now adults with spouses, careers and children of their own.
“Some of them that were the most lost are the ones that now have made the most out of their lives.”
Some still come to Alex when they are considering marriage, choosing a career or thinking about joining the military.
For Alex, that is what caring can look like: being available, sharing experience and helping someone think through the next step in their life.
That same philosophy defines Alex’s role at LocateSmarter.
After more than 40 years in the industry, he has accumulated knowledge through trial and error, success, failure and countless people who were willing to teach him. Now he sees value in making sure those lessons continue.
At LocateSmarter, Alex invests time in colleagues who want to learn. He sees mentoring as both a privilege and a responsibility, especially when someone is eager to understand the industries and customers we serve. “There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that,” he shared.
He imagines someone he mentored years from now, further along in a successful career, remembering something he once taught them. For Alex, sharing knowledge is ultimately about legacy.
Of all the lessons Alex has collected, one of the simplest has stayed with him most.
At a Human Behavior Conference, Chris shared a motto: “Make them better for having met you.”
It captures much of what “We Care” means in practice.
Caring does not always require a grand gesture. Sometimes it means teaching someone what experience has taught you. Sometimes it means challenging someone because you want them to grow. Sometimes it means listening when a young person needs guidance.
Alex has spent a lifetime on both sides of that relationship. He has been shaped by mentors who invested in him, and he continues returning that investment through the people he teaches, supports and encourages today.
That is the cycle behind We Care: people helping people grow, then carrying what they have learned forward to someone else.
“We Care” is LocateSmarter’s mission and promise to serve our community. This guiding principle shapes every client interaction and extends into the daily lives of our team members. The We Care Blog Series highlights the many ways this principle comes to life through our people.
