Alan attended David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tennessee, before transferring to the University of Illinois and receiving a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Missouri. He has served on several for-profit and not-for-profit boards including heading the Salvation Army Midland Division and Christian Family Services boards in St. Louis, Missouri. He and his wife Angela reside in Franklin, Tennessee, and are the parents of three sons and the grandparents to seven grandchildren. They attend Otter Creek Church of Christ in Brentwood, Tennessee.