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This is Chris Hughes with the Christian Perspective Podcast with Chris Hughes, where we encourage our listeners to engage the culture with Jesus Christ. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

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It's time to man up. Welcome back, your host, Nikita Kolov, 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. And Donny, just for our listeners, I'm going to give just a quick background on you.

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 coachings. What a background you've got, Donny.

Man, that's amazing. I've been around the country, so I 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. Well, I always appreciate those who put on the uniform and really give us the freedom that we're able to experience today.

And I can't thank you enough for that as well. And as you mentioned, 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 of 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. Outside of...

It's like Oneonta, New York. Gotcha. Okay. And 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'm just...

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

When I was told before I ever... Well, 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 if you want that job. Well, I know my youngest daughter, Colby, years ago is actually back. We're 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, Don, and she told me, she goes, now, Dad... 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 grill the guy, right?

Dad protecting his daughter, right? And she's like... I'm like, honey, give me some things to talk about.

And obviously, it's for television, so we 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 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... And I'm totally serious. And I go, so I understand from Colby. So you're a Roll Tide fan?

You're an Alabama fan? And oh my gosh, Donnie, 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 looked right at Colby like, did you really tell him that? And he's like, my mom was like homecoming queen.

And it could have been more perfect for television. Anyway, so let's talk about Donnie a little bit. We've been a part of this monthly call with... And it's kind of all authors and speakers, men and women in ministry, but also out in corporate America. And some of the names I mentioned, I should say, tremendous Tracy Jones, right? Her dad, Charlie Jones, had a tremendous, about a 50-year career traveling the world, and just encouraging people in his own right.

And then his daughter, Tracy, took over. And those calls, just for the record, I don't know, they've been so valuable and so rich for me as we glean from one another, we give each other different ideas. And what have those calls been for you? Anything special that you could... Oh, the times that we spend, the things I've learned, number one, from everyone, the advice that we get... The mentoring aspect has been valuable for me, as well as tagging each other in prayer and holding each other up with where we're going and what we're trying to accomplish. It's just been invaluable. You can't find that anywhere. Yeah, it's not, I would say, typical, right?

It's not typical. And each and every one in their own right has had so much success from writing, to speaking, to even areas of ministry. I know Tracy kind of focuses on women's ministry. I focus on men's ministry. Al, as a missionary, has the ability.

Well, I would say with Al, he's put out a lot of children's books. And then I know you have centered and focused on marriage ministry in the past, as well as other things. What would you say, Donny, is there one area that you might target and say is a strength for you in the terms of ministry?

In terms of ministry? In terms of ministry, we have centered really everything on success in the home. Our marriage ministry and couples ministry, Charlotte and I have done that for years. We've done couples coaching, we call it, and then sitting down with couples. And we've been able to help couples to understand. Most couples that we have found, they really don't communicate very well with each other about each other's expectations, number one.

And Charlotte used to be really good at that, at bringing those expectations out, because we had different expectations. And how we express love to each other. That's been one of our keys, one of our strengths, is helping people understand how to relate to each other, which has really spilled over into everything that we do, especially in this book that we just wrote with all of our sons and daughter-in-laws.

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, of course, all 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, 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, married couples, they just don't know how to communicate well today. Yeah, 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, right? Exactly, exactly.

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

That's a fact, that's a fact. And you know, it all starts in our home, you know, I mean, how your kids communicate with each other, with you, with the parent, you know, and a lot of that, I mean, as the parents, we've got to be the example. And 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 has, you know, has really, you know, blossomed in the past five or six years. Right, just needing that counsel, needing that wisdom and insight from others who've had success with it. And for our listeners, and so they understand, you mentioned your wife Charlotte, she's recently had passed, and of course, you know, once again, you know, our condolences as you're continuing to, you know, because you guys were together for how long, Donny? A little over 46 years. 46 years, which that in itself is, makes a statement, and is a milestone in and of itself, and I know when you were together, you did so much ministry together, and helped so many couples, whether it was in the area of communication, or just understanding one another.

And the book, you mentioned, because you guys had wrote how many books together at one, or how many books together? We so appreciate our listeners. If you will support this program with a financial gift of any amount, I will send you a personalized copy of my latest book, Nikita, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption. Go to colof.net. That's colof.net. colof.net, colof.net, and make your contribution today.

on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem. Be sure to check them out today at wsmcthenumberone.com, because you are number one. We wrote a couple together, and you know, as far as, you know, co-authoring with each other, we wrote Success in the Home, which has been our biggest, you know, seller, and biggest portion. For years, we taught a lot of, you know, we just pulled together a lot of different things, and then we decided in, I guess it was about 2011, that 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 asset to our ministry, especially in helping people, because it is basically, you know, walks them through. It's 14 chapters. The first seven is God's principles, and the last seven is how those principles should be played out in your life.

Man, 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, which seven's a good number, isn't it?

Number of completion there. They're the guidelines. There's a guideline. God's principles. God's principles, and so, and what I'm, so here's what I'm hearing from that. So you lay out God's principles, but then in the last seven, the way I would view it, the last seven chapters is then the call to action. Would that summarize it correctly?

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

Yeah. Yep, we try. Yeah, well, you're very good at what you do, and so anyone listening out there, whether it's reading one of your books, whether it's this particular one about Success in the Home, or even outside of that, we're going to get to the very, here shortly, the very new one that you're launching, and is your ability to speak into the lives of others, and again, for me, like being on those monthly calls with you and Al, Tracy, and Frank has been invaluable for me, as well. It's just gleaning 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 value, but I say that to say this, too, that it's one thing to give out a bunch of knowledge, right? I do these in the man-up conferences, in the man camps 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 learning or what you're hearing, right?

Exactly, exactly. And so you've got those books, and I know you've got, 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 one. My first one was Winning the Battle, and that just talks about, actually, it's God's principles in layman's terms, so we don't give chapter and verse, but it's how you actually achieve success in your life, because everything is a battle today, and for most people, they battle it continuously. And we want to help folks navigate, that's why we wrote the book, to help them navigate, and I wrote this basics for the corporate world. I had started traveling and training on that with the financial services group, and they just took it to heart and sent me around the country talking to bankers and financial experts about winning the battle, you know, how to deal with customers, how to communicate to them, you know, how to build and maintain the right attitude, and those kind of, I mean, it's simple stuff that people just did not understand and did not grasp it to the level that we tried to teach it. Okay, because we talked about your military career and your worldwide travels. Were there some things you learned, Donnie, through your military career and those travels that have really kind of led to, you know, not only authoring these books and traveling and speaking, but things that you share with the listener or things that the reader will learn from experiences that you had specifically from your military career?

Yes, you know, a lot of it, I relate back to my 22 years in the Air Force and then working and living in different countries. As I said before, you know, people are all after the same thing, but, you know, the thing that people grasp is how my experience goes, you know, people relate to stories. And 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 employ that in their life.

So that's what we, you know, that's the one thing that has kind of set my ministry apart and my training actually apart from other folks is to using because of, you know, 22 years in Air Force, 20 years in the financial industry, you know, and teaching financial experts around the country, that has helped me, you know, to understand and actually to relay to people exactly how this should be employed. You know, 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, it's interesting because 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 plethora of countries, that even though people speak a different language, 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, you know, it's interesting too, you mentioned, you know, you mentioned attitude, right? One of the things, of course, you know, I try to put out every day on social media and just out to, I've got a, I don't know, probably a hundred plus on group texting that I just try to do my best, and I know you do too, to just, if it's just one little nugget 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 appreciate it. And again, that's where we learn from one another, right? I learned from you. You're learning from me. We're just gleaning. It almost makes me, it almost reminds me of a scripture, believe it or not.

Proverbs 2717, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the countenance of his friend, right? That's it. That's it. Well, tell us about the new book that you launched. Tell us about that. Well, the new book comes from a different aspect. A lot of the, you know, the same principles, but, you know, I've been working on trying to produce this book for a couple of years. And then after my wife passed, I was sitting in the living room with my middle son, and he and I were sitting there. We were just kind of contemplating and praying and thinking about, you know, where you want us to go from here, God. And God showed us right then how to write the book, that I wasn't supposed to be the only author. The three boys and their wives was to 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 they got so excited about it. So we put it together in a short amount of time, really, basically four months from the time that they have to publication until it's, you know, it's out there today. So, you know, that book has, you know, we call it Real Freedom. And basically, what we're talking about is, you know, just kingdom principles, actually, is what it consists of. And it's just kingdom principles that lead you to a life, you know, of 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 the listeners out there. So a book that you've collaborated together. So it's not just you writing the book this time. You've collaborated together with your sons and their wives, all bringing a different perspective, I'm guessing, to the table that for the reader will get, will then, so it could perhaps speak volumes 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, 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, you know, experiences you're going to have and the greater success you're going to have in this life.

Man, that's good. I just, I like the whole format of it and the whole thought process behind it, bringing everyone's, you know, bringing different perspectives in there that can teach. And right, at the end of the day, I mean, the freedom, wholeness, health, healing, right, can, you know, all factor into that joy and that peace that we can all walk in. And so I think that's an incredible perspective. And then you factor in, I like what you said at the end, you factor in the legacy of love that your bride of 46 years, not only instilled in within the boundaries of your family, but that I'm sure anyone who came in touch or crossed a path with her. Oh, I tell you, Nikita, 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 because she had such a bad home life. And she said, I just want out of it. And she said, Ms. Charlotte found me. And, 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 of who she impacted. And you bring up an interesting point here. We got just a couple of minutes left on it, but you bring up an interesting point here that not only can our lives impact people while we're living, but how much greater of an impact, and especially as an author who, you know, cause you know, we pass this life onto the next, 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 one thing, Nikita, I want to, I want folks to understand, you know, there's the information's out there and sometimes, sometimes people don't grasp it fast enough or don't grasp it wholly. And Charlotte and I made a decision in the early 19th.

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

Okay. And that just leads right into, into, uh, before we wrap up the show here, just, uh, 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?

Tell, tell them how they can get it. 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, and you have, you have a website, Donnie, like somebody wanted to do corporate want 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.

It's 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 it's time to man up. Thanks for tuning in to the man up show. God bless.

So see you next time. Men, I would like to challenge each of you to consider spending five days with Lex Luger and I at man camp, pursuing the heart of God. Ladies, if you're listening, we'll send your men home better equipped to be men of God, Godly husbands and Godly fathers that appeals to you. Give them your blessing and encourage them to sign up today at man camp.info.

Pastors, if you would like to bring Koloff for Christ ministries and man up conference to your community, go to koloff.org and email me, remember this it's time to man up. Now key to Koloff, the Russian nightmare here for Crescent Automotive. If buying a car is a nightmare for you, my friends, Brian and Jamie Johnson at Crescent Automotive make it simple to find your pre-owned dream car with no hassle, affordable windshield pricing. No matter where you live, they will get your Mac and dream car to you baby. Drivecrescent.com is all you need to know. Their whole inventory is right there with the right price. Everybody drives a Crescent.

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