Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurick Ingram, Author of The Pro’s Playbook: A Benchwarmer’s Success Story
Laurick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey is how I became addicted to success stories. Learning from or helping people develop their dreams into real-life victories winds my crank. Starting with my mother who gave birth to nine children (not counting three miscarriages) after marrying a man who already had two children. Although she never made it past the fifth grade, her children would go from living in the government housing projects to serving in the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines.
All of them earned high school diplomas, and five graduated college. They became an airline worker, a teacher, a Ph.D., a pastor, a mayor, a police chief, an accountant, a yacht design school graduate, an international missionary, an interior decorator, postal workers, a janitor, a police officer, and an author. Arimentha Ingram mothered like a pro! I learned from her you are the sum of the thoughts and people you spend the most time with. Think great thoughts, meet great people, and great things will happen to and for you.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Over the arc of my life, my struggles began when my life began. I grew up on welfare in the James E. Scott Housing Projects. I was the last of 11 children (Go Mom!), failed the 10th grade, and started working (raking up behind Reverend Carswell) when I was ten years old. Being poor was tough and I had to work off and on while going to school. The saving grace in my life was there were always people who honored my mother and helped her and her children. From teachers giving her last year’s copy of the Encyclopedias, to Kenneth Pinder, the police officer up the street signing me up to be a police explorer. I was an inconsistent student that went from failing the tenth grade to making the honor roll my senior year; because despite not having good study skills, I enjoyed reading. Reading, then and now, expanded my view of the world.
In the context of this year, I can say this year did not turn out as I expected. Between the sickness caused by COVID, the sadness caused by George Floyd, and life’s normal curveballs, this year looked like nothing I ever imagined. My greatest challenge has been inspiring and encouraging myself and those I care about.
When I was a teenager, my brother Chick told me, “Laurick, whenever you’re sad, I want you to do pushups and learn something new. That way, every sadness will be an opportunity to grow stronger and smarter.” This year I have done thousands of pushups and learned new ways to inspire and encourage myself. I share those lessons in The Pro’s Playbook.
Where I found encouragement and inspiration was studying the strategies successful athletes use to go from bad to good, good to better, and better to best. Not just in their chosen sport, but outside of sports. Some of the neon examples of this are (my all-time hero) Muhammad Ali, Kristi Yamaguci, Venus Williams, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michael Jordan, James Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charles Barclay, and Kevin Plank.
There are many others who may not have their level of celebrity but have still used sports strategies to strive and succeed in other aspects of their lives. In the coming weeks, I will be interviewing them on my podcast and let them tell you in their own words, how they did it. So if you want to play sports, are playing sports, or are playing the game of life outside of sports, you will get some great advice from great people who are walking that walk.
We’d love to hear more about Give and Save 365.
My company is Give and Save 365 and it is all about adding value to your own life, which puts in a position to add value to the lives of others. My specialty is writing books that simplify complex ideas and drill them down to step-by-step processes.
My books are: he Easy Money Management Guide, the Easy Money Management Weekly Journal, Student Loan Exit Plan and his recent book, The Pro’s Playbook. As poor as my mother was, she still helped and fed others. I inherited that spirit of service from her.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
God; My wife Kim and my sons Joshua and Jawanza. My seven brothers Sonny, Bobby, Kelsey, Ronald, Is, Nog, and Chuck. My three sisters Betty, Toy, and Thyl. My brother Ronald for showing me what “faith with works,” look like. Sonny for being a father to me after daddy died; Bobby for showing me the value of study, and Toy for her unconditional love. My best friend Irving Thomas, for being there through the good times and the bad. My pastor Bishop Victor Curry, who looked at a rock on a vacant lot but saw the cathedral that exists there today.
Da-Venya L Armstrong, Sam Grant and the team at Armstrong Creative Consulting, Inc. who got my first book from out of my head and into the world. Roderick Harvey, C.P.A., C.V.A, for all his support. My friends, my followers, my readers, and anyone I know who dares to live life like a pro.
Contact Info:
- Address: Laurick Ingram
2114 N Flamingo Road #138
Pembroke Pines, Florida 33028 - Website: https://lllapro.com
- Phone: (954) 607-9255
- Email: livelifelikeapro1@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lllapro1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lllapro
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LLLaPro1
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