Doak Turner- Identity Theft

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Go to NikitaKolov.com and get registered today for the Holy Land Tour. Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. A pleasure whenever I can get someone in studio and today I have a long time friend in studio with me, the legend himself, man no other than Doke Turner. Doke, welcome to the Man Up show. Hello Nikita, it's great to see you again my friend. God, we go back a lot of years.

Well, a lot of years. Well, we're going to talk about that today and we'll cover some of the history on how we met and of course, but what I'd like to do first, Doke, is for our listeners out there in the listening world, who's Doke Turner? Tell them who Doke Turner is. Where do you hail from? Where did you grow up? Just a little snippet of who Doke Turner is.

All right, thank you Nikita. I was born in Charleston, West Virginia area. Grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia.

Like I say, just outside of Charleston. I was blessed with a good family. I have a great mother and as a small child, had a great family with a grandmother and my Aunt Barb and Uncle Butch. My mom helped and raised me. So, raised by a single mom? Yeah, single mom in our family, yeah.

Okay, so raised by a single mom. Yeah, aunt, uncle, grandmother. Okay, no brothers and sisters? Not at the time, not at that time, no.

Okay, okay. And then life moved on. Mom and I got our own place when I was in the fifth grade and she married a wonderful man named Jerry when I was 12. Then a year later, my brother came along and and my sister. So siblings 12 and 13, I think 13 and 14 years younger. Okay, so you had siblings but a bit younger. We have some relatability there, actually. When you moved in the fifth grade, you said?

Yeah. So my mom, also raised by a single mom, right? You know some of my story. And moved out to the suburbs from Minneapolis, the hub of Minneapolis in the fifth grade.

Mm-hmm. I don't know if you knew that part, but yeah, we moved out. So the change of life for me in the fifth grade as well. So you got these young siblings that come along. What was that like? Let me just ask you, what was that like to be a much older sibling and have much younger siblings? Did you feel like you were kind of one of the parents at times? Or how did that feel? That was just such a blessing.

The family always wanted Nikita. And I just took their roles as a big brother to kind of protect them and help them in life and encourage them. And I got to share some really neat adventures because of what ended up happening in my career. I got to share some good fun times with my brother and sister growing up and my parents. So even though there was an age gap there, you were still, would you say, relatively close to your brother and sister?

Yeah, yes, we were. Yes. Okay.

Just, oh no, I was so proud of them. And that's just the family I'd always wanted. Okay. To have parents and a brother and a sister and things like that. Yeah. Have a dad.

Yeah. Have someone in my life. Some relatability there only flipped because my, I'm the baby of the family. Whereas where you're the eldest sibling, I'm the baby of the family. And my sister is five years older than me, a brother seven years older, and then a brother 12 years older. So I'm on the opposite end of that spectrum.

Yes. So it was fun, you know, as they came along, coaching them in little league and all of that good stuff and, you know, encouraging them. I didn't go to be a coach. I just went down to get them signed up for an old joke.

Remember when you played, we need a coach. One thing led to another. You were thrust into volunteering to go.

But how fun though to coach a sibling? It was. It was. It was a lot of fun. And it took my mind, the time I was, when I started coaching some, I was in the midst of a radio sales career and that's all I thought about.

But that time on the field made the world go away. Okay. It was good fun times and able to share some things with them. So we grew up in what some might know is, I guess when some think of West Virginia, the first thing that comes to my mind anyway is coal mining. Right. Okay. That's more, is that mostly what West Virginia is kind of known for is its coal mining?

It is at Southern West Virginia, but we were in Charleston, more populated area. Okay. So we, the Canal Valley, which you may remember, Union Carbide and the plants and so forth. Okay. But I did not work in the plant. My family did. Jerry, my stepdad, was an architect.

Okay. And my mother raised us and later ended up working for him, went and substituted for someone that left the office and I'm just going to be there a quiet time. And she ended up working like 15 or 20 years.

Wow. So you have a radio background. What prompted you or what led you to want to get into radio?

I grew up, always loved music. Always went to hundreds of concerts, you know, and Donna Summer changed my life one day. Donna Summer, like a hot summer, was it a hot summer's night or something? Hot stuff and all of that, no. Oh, hot stuff. That's it.

Hot stuff, hot stuff. I actually, finger on the trigger, changed my life. I was listening to radio station driving, working another job.

I was working between 100 and 105 on a dial. I'm twisted. We used to have knobs on our radio, believe it or not.

Yeah. For you younger, those of you younger out the odd, just Google that, okay? And it was going from between 100 and 105 and right in the middle, 102.7 going across, Donna Summer came on the radio and it's finger on the trigger. And I start singing and dancing like, oh man, we got a disco station at the end of that song. We're super 102, WVSR. We're a new radio station. We're looking for salespeople.

And earlier that year, that was 1982 in September. Earlier that year, I'd got into, I remember a friend got me into Amway, which turned me on to all of the positive books. Zig Ziglar, Think and Grow Rich, How to Win Friends, Influence, all of this. Carnegie, yeah.

Carnegie, yeah. So like, okay, you got to have a goal. I didn't have a goal.

I didn't have a passion. And I called and I got that appointment and went through the sales manager. And at the end of that conversation, I said, so the only close that I knew was, do I start next Tuesday or Wednesday? I love it. That's awesome.

You got to come and talk to the general manager tomorrow that morning or afternoon. And I closed it. And the next week I went to work selling radio advertising and a very fun and successful career. And it changed my life totally. I think that's how, in fact, Stu Epperson, founder of Truth Radio, essentially, I think that's how he got started before he launched Truth Radio Network. Of course, his dad, Stu Senior, owner of Salem Radio Network, a large radio network. Now Salem Media, they've gotten into television, all that. And if I remember Stu's story, his dad was like, go to work, go learn to sell.

And Stu wanted to go work for someone else, not his dad, who really cut his teeth and did that, I believe. And then through that success, eventually launched Truth Radio Network. But okay, so now you've got a vision for your life and some goals. And you're in radio sales. And so how long were you involved there?

How many years roughly did you do that? I was in sales in Charleston from 82 to the end of 86. Then I moved to Charlotte with a company, Beasley Broadcast, bought a station in Charlotte, which I had fallen in love with Charlotte on the way to many trips to Myrtle Beach and going past Lake Norman.

And I want to live on that lake someday. And I just started setting those goals, and I wanted to move to Charlotte. We ended up buying a station here. And the general manager and about half a dozen of us moved to Charlotte. Charlotte, North Carolina. Yeah.

North Cackalacky is what it's called. Yeah. So other dreams started happening that I'd said. That opened other doors for you?

It did. Of opportunity? Oh yeah, a lot of doors. Like what? Well, just working in a bigger city, people from all over the country, working, growing the culture, more to do.

And bigger goals. I said, hey, I want to live on Lake Norman. I was living in South Charlotte and moved up to Lake Norman, which was a goal, to live on the water that eventually happened. But if you go back, it's all of the work that goes into it, like in Charleston.

Going back to Charleston and just saying, I want to call on the Charleston Civic Center. I want to learn the promoters and how that all changed my life, getting to know the promoters, which led me to... We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that. Oh, teaser, teaser. Don't want to be the spoiler alert here. Okay.

Can I say anything? Move it to Charlotte. Yeah. A bigger city, more challenges. So let me just stop you there for a moment. So for those of you listening out there, as you're listening to Doak's story, you're an illustration, Doak, of... I'm reminded, like you've mentioned goals. You just mentioned the word bigger challenges. There might be somebody out there listening and they might hear this program a year from now or six months from now.

It doesn't matter when they hear it. The things you're sharing right now, anyone can listen to at any given time. And I could ask the question, hey, as you're listening, do you have goals for your own life? Do you have a vision for your own life?

What challenges are you faced with, or what challenges are you looking forward to in growing as a person, growing as an individual? And so you bring up some... You lead me to bring up some interesting questions for the listener out there to contemplate or think about, even for their own life, as they're listening to your story and things that you've accomplished in your lifetime. And so I just want to interject that just real quick. And so, okay. So back to your story. So you're in Charlotte, you got bigger plans now, bigger challenges, but more success coming down the road.

Let me ask you that. Let's just backtrack just for a moment here, Charleston, West Virginia, because that's where we first met. Correct? Charleston, West Virginia.

You're absolutely right. Backstage. Backstage wrestling. So let me ask you this about wrestling. Did you grow up being a wrestling fan, wrestling fan, or did you get introduced to wrestling through the radio and sales and all of that? My earliest memories are like watching Johnny Weaver, Rip Hawk, Sweet Hanson.

Some legendary names, by the way. Yes. Watching those, The Infernos, all of those guys.

I remember watching them as a kid a little bit. Okay. Then we move on to the 80s.

Because wrestling was big in West Virginia. Yeah. Huge.

Okay. So you move on to the 80s. Johnny, Nelson Royal, all those guys. Fast forward to the 80s, I'm selling radio advertising. I'm calling on the Charleston and Huntington Civic Center.

Wrestling is coming. Crockett, I find out the number called Crockett in Charlotte. Jim Crockett Promotions, for those who don't know. I was told Sandy Scott handles the Charleston and Huntington, and we got on the phone. I ended up selling him on our radio station and we could help improve just ticket sales. Wow.

And we'll get behind it and do promotions. And then the next step I took is always wanted to build relationships. I'm just trying to sell you, but how can I help you? Sandy, what time do you guys come on Friday?

We land at like 3.15 on flight 314 from Charlotte. I said, I'll pick you up. Try to go a little bit further for your clients.

A little bit extra. Yeah. Pick Sandy up and go have dinner. It's right beside the hotel, across from the Charleston Civic Center. We build this rapport. I go to the matches that night, just hanging out with Sandy. I'm not there as a fan. I am there as, this is work. What can I learn?

How can I help Crockett Promotions sell more tickets as a client? You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Koloff here, and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?

Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Anyway, Facebook, go look up my new fan page, Nikita Koloff Fans, and like it and follow today. If you would like to support Koloff for Christ Ministries for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs, Adoration and Declaration. For a gift of $50, Nikita will include his book, Wrestling with Success. And for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption.

Go to www.koloff.net and donate today. The next time he comes into town, Flight 314, 315, I'll pick him up. I think Dusty and Magnum may be in the car with us.

We're taking them down. And then- Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA. That's right. I'm speaking to, like we may have some listeners who may or may not be wrestling fans, but- There you go. See, anyway, Sandy and I walk and says, you know, next time, Doke, I need a, we need a new ring announcer here. And I thought back, something I'd learned years earlier from my stepdad, is do this, do that.

What you do down the road, what you learn back, you know, what you learned helps you down the road. I thought, I used to announce baseball at a baseball park where I lived, you know, now batting in the second baseman. Hey, I could do that. I could be a ring announcer.

Yeah, that was crazy. And so the next time Sandy comes to town, I'll pick him up. I have my tuxedo on. Come on.

I have to, I'm ready. I got the tux, man. I had a client that sold tuxedos. And I said, I'm going to do it right. Yeah. And that's how I became a ring announcer.

And I just studied it and taught it. And that's where we met. So we met in, when you were over in the eighties, in the 1980s. Yeah, mid eighties. I would always hang around afterwards, talk to you guys.

What else can I do? Nikita and these guys were looking for, always looking for rides to the airport. They would put you on taxis like, man, who needs a ride? I'll take you up there. So you and JJ got in the car and I took you to Charleston.

JJ Dillon. Yep. Next month, you come in, you come right up and shake my hand. I was really impressed. Doke, thank you for the ride last month.

I'm like, how does Nikita remember that? That just kind of, we started building from there. Yeah. And we've built this relationship that fast forward to today, here in 2023, from the 1980s. Here we are. And of course, and I want to steer this conversation because, so we've built this friendship and rapport over all these years. Fast forward to here we are today, but let's digress slightly too, for our listeners out there.

So we'll digress, but fast forward at the same time, in this sense. So you're in Charlotte, working in Charlotte. You eventually get into music. You eventually, you said at a young age, Donna Summers got you into radio and into music, but at one point you moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the home of music for many. And you eventually got into music. So, well, tell us real quick about that transition from working in radio and doing all that, to getting into music and what you've done since then, your time in Nashville before you ultimately fulfilled the dream of living on Lake Norman. So fill in that gap for us just real quick.

Okay. Summer of 89, I was burned out. I just took off from radio. I start strumming the guitar and these lyrics start coming. I started writing songs.

Oh boy, the next adventure, the next crazy dream. I'm going to be a songwriter. I love the lyrics.

I've always read the lyrics on the you know, read the lyrics on the albums and so forth. I started writing, got back into radio for a couple of years. That ended in 91, when one station start taking over the other stations called a local marketing agreement radio, as we knew it ended. I eventually got into working for a NASCAR radio show here called NASCAR country. And that led me to a convention in Nashville country radio seminar, which is a big DJ convention, which led me to fall in love with Nashville and to meet some of these artists that meet some of these big songwriters. Then I found out about an association there called Nashville songwriters association.

They had local workshops. I started one in Charlotte and ran out for six years, making trips back and forth to Charlotte. 2002 sold my condo and I moved to Charlotte for that next crazy dream of we're going to be a hit songwriter. And I wrote songs.

I ended up hosting events at my house for a hundred songwriters that would come like over a hundred. This is Charlotte or Nashville? Nashville.

I moved in 2002. Okay. To Nashville. Yeah. So yeah.

Gotcha. So I got really immersed in the community, started hosting events and writing and, and help build a community and help others on their journeys through a couple of websites I'd set up and so forth and a hosting events and had these big dreams. I said, okay, that's, what's going to happen. I'm going to God.

I'm going to be a big hit songwriter. I think God kind of laughed, but I go, He does have a sense of humor. Like, but, but he kept sending people on our journey. God sends people on our journey is, you know, right. Keep us on it. Right.

And divine appointments and crosses our path. Yeah. It was there 15 years. Yeah. Had some people cut some songs. Didn't get the big one. Never got the big one, but you've had a lot of success over the years who are not to interrupt you, but I'm going to interrupt you. Who, who are some of the, who are some of the, for our listeners out there, some of the songwriters you might've worked with names that they might, might recognize. Okay. I got to work with some and write with some big legendary hit songwriters like Byron Hill. Who's from right here in the Winston-Salem area. I got to write with Kim Williams. It wrote a bunch of the Garth Brooks songs. Okay.

They've got to hang out with, you know, in the music community with a lot of the big artists and so forth from different genres, just different genres, all different genres, country, Western, Christian, lots of different, different markets. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Got to know some of the best Christian writers and performers, a lot of the country artists.

And you're hanging out with them, Nashville, the music community, if you're in it, you're a writer, you're going to different parties. Sure. Celebrations.

You can, so you can rub elbows with, with a Garth Brooks or whoever. Yeah. He did that a lot.

Different people like that. Yes. So, yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously 15 years in Nashville.

Yeah. Hey, if you've never been to Nashville, I can assure you, you're going to cross paths with, with, with some very famous music artists. You just are right. And, and, or now celebrities and sense that we're athletes, you know, with the Titans there and, and others.

And they've got to work a lot of the CMA awards, CMT awards, helping with seat fillers, you know, helping with rehearsals, things like that. So surrounded right in the middle of it. Okay. And, and that goes to you, you start thinking that's who you are, the identity. Yeah. So you eventually do.

So, so you had 15 years that experience in Nashville. And I know before we came on air, we were talking about that you're putting all of these six life experiences and all these adventures into a book. Is that right? Yes. Yes.

We'll put you on the spot here. There you go. Okay. No pressure.

Okay. So you, and you'd put it on the, on the shelf for a while, they'll put it up, but you've pulled it back off and now you're heading into the editing phase and just put in the, is it, will it be kind of your life story? Is that, it's sort of the life story, but it's the opportunity to work with a lot of artists, get to meet a lot of my, the people you used to look up to on stage. You get, got to meet a lot of them, became friends with some of them, the stories, but how it happened, how I'll tell the story of meeting this person or working with them from NASCAR to, you know, I got to meet a lot of the tennis people in the late eighties, got involved with that organization, a lot of things that I've been able to do, but with their, every story, there's a takeaway.

How did this happen? I built relationships. I went, you know, did beyond a hundred percent, you know, you just, again, building relationships, taking chances in life, moving to another market, helping others that all led to working and being on this journey and how it happened. And then in the middle of that is the testimony, because I got all caught up at all of this. You start thinking that's who I am. Would you want me to go into the identity part now or wait or what? Come on.

No, just, yeah, we got a few minutes left. So yeah. So, so you bring up another interesting identity. A lot of people get wrapped up, their identity becomes in, it gets wrapped up in what they do and they kind of lose focus of who they are, right? Is what you're referring to. And so your identity became all about, oh, I'm a music writer and I'm going to superstar in that or whatever.

Right? So, yeah, it all gets, I call, I'm the guy that gets to do this. I've always got to be around all of the entertainment people. And you know, that's who I am. I get to do all of this and I'm going to be a hit songwriter, but I am a writer. I am this, I am that. And it's wrong, but that was my identity.

It's good when you, things are going good. As we all know, when things are bad, I start thinking I'm a failure. I failed my life. I let others down, let my family down, my friends, those, because I didn't get that big hit song.

And that's what I was going to do. And I wanted my friends to hear these songs on the radio. And I wanted to be the guy out there in the concert, they're singing my song. And it didn't happen on a big scale, but I've had an incredible journey, but it all changed.

I moved back five years ago to the Carolinas. And Kathy, my girlfriend, incredible woman, gave me this book to read. It was called Your Beloved by Bobby Shuler, because I was at my lowest. I just, man, I failed. I wasted.

I don't have anything to show, which is not right. But anyway, I read this book and I had the identity statement and it changed my life. It gave me a purpose again.

It gave me, okay, it says identity. I'm not what I do. I'm not what I have. I'm not what others say about me.

I am a beloved child of God. I will not hurry. I will not worry. Darrell Bock Doc, before we run out of time, how could people find out, how will they be able to find out when this book is completed and finished and be able to get that and or some of your music, or is there a website or something that people could find out more about you?

Donur Drnur.com, D-O-A-K-T-U-R-N-E-R.com. I don't mind. I give you my email, doc.doc at Gmail, D-O-A-K, D-O-A-K at Gmail. Darrell Bock Thank you for tuning in to the Man Up show today and I look forward to bringing you just another great interview. Doc Turner, God bless you, my brother. Thanks for being in the studio today. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to koloff.net and donate today.

Hi, Nikita Koloff. Be sure to check out the Man Up show, now available on television, broadcast, and podcast. Go to MorningStarTV.com or the Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. If you are enjoying the Man Up show, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe, and leave a comment. Nikita Koloff here.

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