Q&A with Koloff #46

Nothing says Christmas like a water buffalo. For a poor family in Asia, getting a water buffalo is like getting a farm tractor to pull a plow, or getting a milk truck full of delicious milk, or getting a stand at the market to sell cheese. A water buffalo opens the door for work, food, and income. More importantly, it opens the door to talk about Jesus.

And nothing says Christmas better than that. Hi, this is Joanne Vigner with the podcast It's Storytime Meemaw, an answered prayer for stories that point children to God. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Nikita Koloff here, questions and answers, Q&A with Koloff, The Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back, your host, Nikita Koloff, The Devil's Nightmare. Hey, I'm here today with a dear, dear friend, Donny Ingram, and so excited to have Donny on the show. Donny, let me first just welcome you to the man up show. Thank you, Nikita. I'm proud to be here. Well, it's great to have you. Donny, just for our listeners, I'm going to give just a quick background on you.

I did a little research, not that I might have needed to, but it's helpful because we've known each other for quite a few years now. But I like what you've got on your website. Choice not chance determines success. Choice not chance determines success. And for all the listeners out there, Donny is not only, as you might gather just even from that introduction, a speaker, but an author, a life performance coach, founder of Ingram Management Group. And, man, you've got such a diversified background, Donny. For over 20 years, you've trained and coached people in all backgrounds, from sales to sales management to customer service, personal development, and even personal life coaching. What a background you've got, Donny.

Man, that's amazing. I've been around the country, so I've met a lot of folks, and we've had a great career doing it. 22 years in the Air Force, spent a lot of that time in the Middle East working with people, and traveled different countries, lived in different countries.

And I have found that everybody's actually the same thing, and it all boils down to the choices that they make as to where they go in life. Well, let me just do a quick pause and say thank you for your service to our country and your service in the military, too. Thank you for that. Thank you.

Always appreciate those who put on the uniform and really give us the freedom that we're able to experience today, and so can't thank you enough for that as well. And as you mentioned, I know you say you've traveled around the world, around the country, but you've traveled around the world, and as you said, you've gained so much experience in all of your travels. And I want to talk more specifically about some of the things that you've done and some of the things that you're, we'll get to some of the things that you're currently doing. I know you and I are a part of a dear friend, Al Argo, a couple years ago put together a monthly call that you and I and Tracy Jones from up in Pennsylvania, Frank Shelton over in Maryland, of course Al for many years has been a missionary to the Philippines, currently back in the United States, and you're in Alabama, right? That's your home? I am. That's my home. My home is in Alabama.

I'm in Virginia today. We're kicking off, this is launch day for a new book that we put out. Well, and we're traveling and promoting the book.

Yeah, and that's one of the reasons I'm glad it worked out to have you on the show. We're going to talk about that. And what part of Alabama do you reside? I reside in a little town right outside of Birmingham called Oneonta. Oneonta. Okay.

Just like Oneonta, New York. Gotcha, okay. Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and you're near the Birmingham area. I know this can go, I've got a 50-50 shot here on this, but I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to say you're a Roll Tide fan? I am actually an Auburn Tiger fan. Oh no, I just, oh man, you're still going to do the rest of the interview for me, aren't you? Yeah. I know the folks down there, man.

It's like, okay, I either bleed, you know, I bleed one color or the other. You guys take it, hey, you guys take it pretty serious down there, the whole Auburn. Oh, I'm telling you, they take it extremely serious.

When I was told before I ever, when I retired from the Air Force, where I went to interviewing at some of the companies down there, you need to research your boss and find out which team he's for and that's who you're for. She won't get a job. No way, like for real? Yeah. Well, oh my gosh. Well, I know my youngest daughter, Colby, years ago is actually back when we were recording Preacher's Daughters, a reality show for Lifetime Network. And it was back in Colby's teenage days and she was dating a guy and she had told me, Donny, she told me, she goes, now Dad, because we're, in fact, we did a segment for the Preacher's Daughters show. We did a segment where I had the two of them out to dinner and I was going to, you know, kind of grill the guy, right?

You know, Dad protecting his daughter, right? And she's like, I'm like, honey, give me, you know, give me some things to talk about and, you know, obviously it's for television, so we want it, you know, want it to be interesting, right? She goes, well, he's an Auburn Tiger fan and his mom actually was like, what do they call him, like the Cornace, the queen or something, or what do they call, you know, for the homecoming thing?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, she was like a homecoming queen or something, right, or whatever. So we're at dinner and the cameras are rolling and we're filming, right? And so I'm just making small talk, I forget the guy's name, but I go, hey, I go and I'm totally serious and I go, so I understand from Colby, like, so you're a Roll Tide fan?

You're an Alabama fan? And oh my gosh, Donny, if I hadn't been so big, I think he would have come across the table at me, right? And he's like, no, no, sir, Mr. Koloff, I am an Auburn Tiger fan. And he, I mean, he looked right at Colby, like, did you really tell him that? And he's like, my mom was like homecoming queen and, oh, it could have been more perfect for television, like for real, right? I got such a natural reaction out of the kid. It was hilarious, right? I love it.

I love it. Because I knew, I knew how serious the fans are there at Alabama. So, well, that's okay.

I have other friends who are Auburn Tiger fans and I don't hold that against any of them. So just for the record. Anyway, anyway, so, but well, so let's, I mean, let's talk about Donny a little bit.

I mean, and again, I kind of got off on a rabbit trail there. But so we're part, we've been a part of this, this monthly call with, with, and it's kind of all authors and speakers, men and women in ministry and, but also out in corporate America. And, you know, some of the names I mentioned, I should say, tremendous Tracy Jones, right? Her dad, Charlie Jones, was, had a, had a tremendous, about a 50-year career traveling the world and just encouraging people, right, in his own right. And then his daughter, Tracy took over and, and those calls just for the record, I don't know, they've been so valuable and so rich for me as we, as we glean from one another, we give each other different ideas and what have those calls been for you? Anything special that you can, Oh, you know, the, the, the times that we spend, the things I've learned, number one from everyone, uh, the advice that we get, uh, and you know, the mentoring aspect has been valuable for me, you know, uh, as well as, uh, you know, tagging each other in prayer and holding each other up, you know, with, uh, where we're going and then what we're trying to accomplish. It's just been invaluable.

You know, you can't find that anywhere. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's not, it's not, I would say typical, right?

It's not typical. And, and each, each and every one, uh, in, in their own right has, has had so much, so much success from, from, from writing to speaking to even areas of, of ministry. Uh, I know, you know, Tracy kind of focuses on women's ministry. I focus on men's ministry. Uh, Al, you know, as a missionary, uh, has, uh, has the ability. Well, I would say without, you know, he's put, put out a lot of children's books and then, you know, I know you have, you have centered and focused on, uh, on, on marriage ministry in the past as well as, as well as other things.

What would you say, Donnie, is there one area that, that you might target to say is, is a strength for you in the terms of ministry, in terms of ministry? In, in terms of ministry, uh, you know, the, we have centered really everything on success in the home. Uh, you know, our marriage ministry and couples ministry. Uh, Charlotte and I have done that for years. Uh, we've done couples coaching, we call it, uh, in, in sitting down with couples and we've been able to help couples, you know, uh, to understand, you know, most people, most couples that we have found, uh, they, they, they really don't communicate very well, uh, with each other about each other's expectations, number one. And, uh, Charlotte used to be really good at that and bringing those expectations out because we had different expectations and, and how we express love to each other.

And, you know, that, that's been one of our keys is, uh, you know, as one of our strengths is helping people understand how to relate to each other, you know, which is really spilled over into everything that we do. Uh, you know, especially in this book that we're, and we just wrote with all of our, our sons and daughter-in-laws, it is, uh, it's, you know, it's, it's evident that people out there don't talk to each other, especially today. We were in just a short story. We were in a restaurant last night and we were waiting to be served. And there was a, you know, of course, all my, my sons and my daughter-in-laws and grandchildren and sister-in-laws there. So we were waiting for our big table.

And I looked over the counter, you know, just looking down the restaurant and 90% of the people were on their phones. They weren't talking to each other. Wow. It speaks volumes. I mean, you know, married couples, they just don't know how to communicate well today. Yeah.

And, and, or if they do, they're sending a text message to each other and they're in the same house under the same roof. Exactly. Exactly.

I mean, our times have changed, haven't they? And, and, uh, I mean, communication, as you and I know, has always been the key in the catalyst, uh, you know, the really kind of the foundation of any relationship, right? It is. So when the communication is lacking, there's, there's no, it shouldn't be any wonder why, why a relationship is suffering if communication is lacking, right? That's, that's a fact.

That's a fact. And, uh, you know, you know, it all, it all starts in our home, you know, how your kids communicate with each other, with you, with the parent, you know, and a lot of that, I mean, uh, as the parents, we've got to be the example and, uh, we're failing there today. That's why we have kids who don't know what they want to do, don't know where they want to go. They don't know what the success principles are.

They don't know how to live life today. That's where life coaching is, you know, has really blossomed in the, in the past five or six years. Right. Just, just needing that counsel, needing that wisdom and insight from others who've had success with it and for our listeners, uh, and, uh, so they understand and you, you're, you mentioned your wife, Charlotte, she's recently had passed and, and of course, uh, you know, uh, once again, you know, uh, our condolences as, as you're continuing to, you know, cause you guys were, you guys were together for, for how long, Donnie? A little over 46 years.

46 years, which that in itself is, it makes a statement and is a milestone in and of itself. And, and I know when, when you were together, you did so much ministry together and helped so many couples, uh, whether it was in the area of communication or, or, or just the understanding one another. And, and the book that you mentioned, uh, cause you guys had wrote how many books together at one or how many books together? We, we wrote a couple together, uh, and, uh, you know, as far as, you know, co-authoring with each other, we wrote success in the home, which has been our, our, our biggest, you know, seller and, and biggest portion. For years, we taught a lot of, you know, we just pulled together a lot of different things. And then, uh, we decided in, uh, I guess it was about 2011 that we're, we need to write our own book of how it works for us.

So we did that and published it in 2012. And that's been a really big, uh, asset, uh, to our ministry, especially in helping people. And because that it is, it is basically, you know, walks them through this 14 chapters. The first seven is God's principles. And the last seven is how those principles should be played out in your life.

Hmm. Man, that's, that, that, that's good. And that's the one called success in the home success in the home. So 14 chapters, let me just, okay. So for 14 chapters, the first seven, uh, which seven is a good number.

Isn't that a number of completion there? They're the, they're, they're the guidelines. There's a guy like God's principles, God's principles. And so, and what I'm, so here's what I'm hearing from that. So, so you lay out God's principles, but then in the last seven, the way I would view it, the last seven chapters is, uh, then the call to action with that, with that summarize it correctly.

That's exactly right. I mean, because you and I know in all the seminars and conferences and, and, and you're not only involved in me, I mean, you do a lot of corporate speaking and corporate training and, and, and I know you do online, online coaching, life coaching, as well as face to face. And you, you do it all. I mean, you're amazing. Yeah.

Um, yeah. Well, you're very good at what you do. And, and so anyone listening out there, whether it's reading one of your books, uh, whether it's this particular one about success in the home or, or even outside of that, we're going to get to the very, uh, here shortly in the very new one that, that you're launching, um, in, uh, and, uh, is, is your ability to, to speak into the lives of others.

And again, for me, like being on those monthly calls with, with, with you and, and Al Tracy and Frank has been invaluable for me as well. It's just gleaning from, from your knowledge and your wisdom. So anyone who connects with you or sits in one of your seminars is going to walk away with, with value. But I say that to say this too, that it's one thing to give a bunch of, give out a bunch of knowledge, right? I do these in the man up conferences and the man camps that, that Lex Luger and I facilitate is we want to give you information. We want to give you knowledge, but we also want to give you a call to action, right?

You can't just sit, you don't just want to sit and absorb. You want to go out and take action with what you're, what you're learning or what you're hearing, right? Exactly.

Exactly. And, and so, so you, you've, so you've got those books and I know you've got, um, let's go ahead and let's talk about some of the other books leading up to the most recent launch. Tell us about a couple of the other books that you've done or some of the other books. Well, we did, uh, we did one, uh, my first one was winning the battle and, uh, you know, that just talks about, uh, uh, actually it's, uh, it's God's principles in, in, uh, layman's terms. So we don't give chapter and verse, but it's, it's how you actually achieve success in your life. And because, you know, everything's a battle today and for most people, you know, they battle it continuously and, uh, you know, we want to help folks navigate. That's why we wrote the book to help them navigate. And I wrote this basics for the, for the corporate world. I had, uh, I started traveling and training on that with the financial services group and they, uh, they just took it to heart and sent me around the country, uh, talking to bankers and financial, uh, experts about winning the battle, you know, how to deal with customers, how to communicate to them, you know, what, how to build and maintain the right attitude and those kinds of, I mean, it's simple stuff that, uh, you know, people just did not understand and did not grasp it to the, to the, to the level that we tried to teach it.

Uh, how, how would you, what would you say? Okay. Cause we talked about your military career and your worldwide travels, um, where there's some, some from that career where there's some things you learned Donnie through, through your military career and those travels, um, that have, uh, really kind of led to, you know, not only authoring these books and, and traveling and speaking, but things that you share with the listener or, or things that the reader will, uh, will, will learn from, from experiences that you had from specifically from your military career.

Yes. Uh, you know, a lot of it, I relate back to my, my 22 years in the air force and, and then working and living in different countries. Uh, as I said before, you know, people are all after the same thing, but you know, the, the, the thing that people grasp is how that my experience, cause you know, people relate to stories and, uh, I'm a, I like to tell stories, especially, you know, real stories that happened to me that actually brings out the principle because people can relate to that. They can put themselves in that picture. And when you do that, they're more likely to walk away and use that principle, you know, and, and, and employ that in their life.

So that's what we, you know, that's the one thing that has, it has kind of set my, uh, ministry apart and my training actually apart from other folks is to using because I've had, you know, 22 years in air force, 20 years within the financial industry, you know, and, and teaching financial, uh, uh, experts around the country. Uh, that, that has helped me, you know, to understand and actually to relay to people exactly how this should be employed. You know, we, we talk about a simple thing like attitude. People don't grasp the power behind attitude and it is extremely powerful.

It is, isn't it? In fact, um, uh, it's interesting cause what I'm hearing is, is even though, you know, I think about the 30 countries I've traveled to and you've been to a, a plethora of countries that, that even though people speak a different language and in, in some cases at the core, I guess you and I could probably both say at the core people are kind of all have the same needs, don't they? Exactly.

Exactly. And, and you know, it's interesting too. You mentioned, you know, you mentioned attitude, right? Um, you know, one of the things, uh, of course, you know, I try to put out every day and on social media and, uh, and just out to, I've got a, uh, I don't know, probably a hundred plus on, on, on group texting that I, I just try to do my best. And I know you do too, to just, if it's just one little nugget that, that may make a difference. What I posted today was one small positive thought can change the direction of the whole day, right? Yep. Yep.

It can. I shared that today with all my listeners, all my followers. And I, and I, I appreciate it. And again, that's where we, we learned from one another, right? I learned from you, you, you're, you're learning from me.

We're, we're, we're just gleaning. It almost makes me, it almost reminds me of a, of a scripture, believe it or not. Proverbs 27, 17 is iron sharpens iron.

So one man sharpens the countenance of his friend, right? That's it. That's it. Well, well tell us, tell us about the, tell us about the new book that you launched. Tell us about that. Well, the new book is, is, uh, comes from a different aspect. A lot of the, you know, the same principles, but, uh, you know, I've been working on trying to produce this book for a couple of years.

And then after my wife passed, my, I was sitting in the living room with my middle son and he and I were, were sitting there and we were just kind of contemplating and praying and then thinking about, you know, what, what, where do you want us to go from here, God? And, uh, God showed us right then how to write the book that I wasn't supposed to be the only author, that the three boys and their wives was to, uh, write a chapter. They were to take a principle out of God's word, explain that principle, and then use Charlotte's life to show how that principle is lived out. And so that's what they did. I contacted them all.

They all jumped on board and, uh, they, they got so excited about it. So we put it together in a short amount of time, really, uh, basically four months from the time that they have to, to publication until it's, you know, it's out there today. So, uh, you know, that, that book has, uh, you know, we call it real freedom. Uh, and basically what we're talking about is, uh, you know, just kingdom principles actually is, is, is, is what it consists of. But you've, so you, it's just, it's just kingdom principles that lead you to a life, uh, you know, joy and fulfillment and eternal success.

And as my wife showed a legacy of love, a legacy of love. And so interesting. So here's an interesting perspective. So for all, all, all the listeners out there, so, so a book that you've collaborated together, uh, so it's not just you writing the book this time. Uh, you've collaborated together with your sons and, and their wives, all bringing a, a, a different perspective, I'm guessing to the table that for the reader will get well then it, so it could, it could perhaps speak volumes to, to many different. Is there an age range or a target that you think people that could benefit from this newest book?

Not really. I think, uh, uh, late teens to grandparents, you know, I don't think it's too, it's never too late in order to do the right thing. You know, as you and I have, you know, we know that really well. I just think the earlier that you can get grasping and earlier that you can employ those principles in your life, the greater, uh, you know, uh, experiences you're going to have and the greater success you're going to have in this life.

Mmm, man, that's, that's good. I just, I like the four, uh, the whole format of it and the whole thought process behind it, bringing everyone's, you know, bringing different perspectives in there that, that can teach. And it, right, at the end of the day, I mean, the freedom, wholeness, health, healing, uh, right, you know, all, all factor into that joy and that peace that we can all, all walk in.

And, um, and so I think that's, that's an incredible perspective. And then you factor in, I like what you said at the end, you factor in, uh, the legacy of love that, that your bride of 46 years, um, and not only instilled in, in, within the, the boundaries of your family, but, but that I'm sure anyone who, who came in, in, in touch or, or crossed a path with her. Oh, I'll tell you Nikita, the, and the things that we have learned since she passed, I think her death had more effect on people than her life did.

Although she touched thousands and thousands of people, we have found out and gotten stories that we knew nothing about. I got a call from a young lady in California who said, I would not be here today if it had not been for Ms. Charlotte when I was in high school. And then today she's 42 years old and she said, I was going to commit suicide cause she had such a bad home life. And she said, I just want to out of it. And she said, Ms. Charlotte found me and, uh, you know, because she was friends with one of my sons and she said, she talked me out of it and I have had a fabulous career and a wonderful life.

And I would not have had that had it not been for her. Wow. That's just one of them.

Go ahead. Yeah. One of many.

Yeah. So I was going to say, it sounds like one of many, many stories and, uh, of, uh, of, of who she's impact, who she impacted. And, and you bring up a, an interesting point here. We got just a, a couple of minutes left on it, but you bring up an interesting point here that not only can our, can our lives impact people while we're living, but how much greater of an impact. And especially as, as an author who, you know, cause you know, we pass this life onto the next, um, you know, the books that we've written, you know, they, those stay behind, but they can continue.

And those stories can continue to impact lives for generations. Right? Yeah. Yeah. You're right.

You're right. Well, that's, that's. You know, one, one, one thing, Nikita, I want to, I want folks to understand, you know, there's the information's out there and some, sometimes people don't grasp it fast enough or don't grasp it wholly.

And Charlotte and I made a decision, uh, in the early 19, well, right after we came back and in 2020, January of 2020, we made a decision to give success in the home away. So anybody who wants that book, uh, they'll just email me at Donnie and that's Donnie with a Y at Donnie ingram.com. I will send them a down, a free download of that book.

Okay. And that just leads right into, into, uh, before we wrap up the show here, just how, how can people get the, get this newest book? How can they get your other books? And is there, is it on Amazon is on websites to tell, tell them how they can get, they can get it on Amazon.

Uh, most of the books are on Amazon. They can get it, especially this new book today that it launched this morning at six. Uh, you can get it for a dollar 99 and it is, it also has a free book inside of it called, uh, titled, uh, leading with purpose that they can get. But this, uh, it's a dollar 99. Uh, they can get this, this book today. Well, actually for that today and tomorrow, it will be a dollar 99.

Then it's going to go up. So, uh, you know, I'm hoping that everybody will get it. We want to, I'd like for it to be, you know, make a, become a bestseller. But the real key is we want to get it out there to touch people's lives.

We want it to change them. That's awesome. And, and, and, and you have, you have a website, Donnie, like somebody wanted to do corporate one to come in for you to speak. What's your website?

Yeah. Donnie at Donnie ingram.com. Donnie at Donnie ingram.com. Now is that an email or your website?

That's well, that's the website is Donnie ingram.com. I'm sorry. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I just want to make sure they can go and that's Donnie with a Y D O N N Y. Yep. That's it.

Donnie ingram.com. And then, and then of course the other was your email address. Well, but listen, it has been such a pleasure and, and we're just going to be praying about the success of that book and such a pleasure to have. I appreciate you taking, setting some time aside on, on your, on your launch. And, and I know that that book's going to impact a lot of people's lives as well as all the other books that you've written.

So. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Well, Donnie Ingram, and thanks for tuning in today to, to it's time to man up Donnie Ingram, a man's man and, and a life who he and his, his late wife, Charlotte, who have impacted many people's lives. Hey, I want you to consider that if you've never given your life to Jesus, I want to, I want you to consider doing that today. I want you to consider surrendering, submitting your life to Jesus.

And, and I'm telling you is you can probably even hear in Donnie's voice and from some of his stories and how he and his family are, are changing and impacting lives that your life can be impacted starting with your submission, your surrender to Jesus Christ. And so make that decision today. Don't wait another day. There's no promise of tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in to The Man Up Show. God bless. See you next time. This is the Truth Network.