The Legacy of Leadership: From Jim Ingram to the Next Generation

In this special episode of IgniteCast, we gather around the table with members of the Ingram family to reflect on the life and legacy of Jim Ingram — a beloved leader, mentor, and the namesake of the Jim Ingram Community Leadership Institute. Nearly two decades after his passing, his words, values, and leadership style continue to shape meetings, decisions, and leaders across Tupelo and Lee County.

You’ll hear personal stories from his children and grandchildren about a man who showed up for his family and his community, who believed in giving people opportunities, and who treated everyone with respect, no matter their circumstances. From a humble childhood and a basketball scholarship at Ole Miss to becoming a general in the National Guard and a trusted community banker, Jim Ingram’s story is one of resilience, inclusion, and impact.

The conversation also explores how his legacy lives on today through leadership development, cross-generational training, and the reminder that great leaders listen, show up, and always give their best.

🎧 Tune in for an inspiring look at how one man’s influence continues to spark leadership across generations.

Big thanks to iHeartMedia—our Presenting Sponsor for the entire IgniteCast podcast and the powerhouse fueling this season’s episodes! 🔊🔥 

🎧 New episodes drop every other Thursday, packed with insight, inspiration, and actionable ideas to help you grow as a leader—right where you are.

Want to learn more about the Ignite Leadership Conference?
Visit 👉 www.igniteleadership.com

Transcript

Taylor Tutor: [00:00:00] Hey, Judd. 

Judd Wilson: Hey Taylor. 

Taylor Tutor: Do you know what's coming up? 

Judd Wilson: When? 

Taylor Tutor: On Thursday, January the 29th. 

Judd Wilson: The Ignite Leadership Conference. 

Taylor Tutor: That's right, Judd. And where is it? 

Judd Wilson: The Orchard. 

Taylor Tutor: That's right. Again. One more. Do you know where to get tickets? 

Judd Wilson: Ignite leadership.com. 

Taylor Tutor: And you're right. Again, for more information on Ignite, you can follow us on social media.

Judd Wilson: Look forward to seeing everybody at Ignite Ignite.

Taylor Tutor: Welcome to Ignite Where Ideas Spark Action brought. To you by the Community Development Foundation, your Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Engine for Tupelo and Lee County, thank you to our presenting [00:01:00] sponsor, iHeartMedia for powering this season of Ignite Cast. I'm Taylor. 

David Stillman: I'm Judd, 

Taylor Tutor: and welcome to Ignite Cast.

Judd Wilson: Taylor Taylor, we're here again for another episode of At Nightcast. Woo hoo. She's always excited when we have at Nightcast and Taylor. Lemme tell you why I'm excited. 

Taylor Tutor: Tell us, judge, 

Judd Wilson: we've never had this many people in the room and we're recording. 

Taylor Tutor: We have it. I feel like I'm 

Judd Wilson: like on the Today Show or something.

Judd Wilson: There's so many people in here. 

Taylor Tutor: It's. I think it's better than the Today Show. I think 

Judd Wilson: it's, it's much better than the Today Show. And we might even ask even more hard hitting questions. Ooh, no, we're not. We're just gonna have a conversation with, with a group of people that we just love having around here at CDF As you know, Taylor, um, we actually run along with the Create Foundation, the Jim Ingram Community Leadership Institute, which we've been doing since [00:02:00] 2001.

Judd Wilson: And so. We are actually here with Jim Ingram's family. How awesome is that? 

Taylor Tutor: It's incredible, really. So let's see who we have 

Judd Wilson: in the room. We'll start it out. We won't do it by age, but I guess we will. We, we might. Jim Ingram Jr. Welcome Jim. Thank you Jud. Glad to be here, sir. Yeah. And then we have your lovely sister, Ms.

Judd Wilson: Holly Rogers. Holly Ingram. Rogers. Welcome Holly. 

Judd Wilson: Thank you. I'm glad to be here also. 

Judd Wilson: And then we have Jim Ingram's, grandson, CLI graduate. 

Kory Hunter: Grandson. Granddaughter. Granddaughter. I like that granddaughter. 

Judd Wilson: Look at that. Uh. We all got, got nervous there. Um, we got Corey Rogers Hunter right there. So Corey, welcome.

Kory Hunter: Thank you. Glad to be here. It's 

Judd Wilson: fun to be here. So here's my first question. Y'all can kind of all jump in or talk one at a time. Jim Inger. I've met him [00:03:00] before. Um, a lot of people know him and it's neat because I'll even be in a meeting today or. Throughout the time. And, and, and David Rumbar will quote your dad or your, your, uh, granddad, which is kind of cool that even this many year later, he'll, he'll do a Jim Ingram quote.

Judd Wilson: Um, so that's, that's kind of neat. And, and, and we kind of base that off leadership. Tell us a little bit about your dad and granddad add. 

Judd Wilson: Hmm. I think the first thought that comes to my mind is he was my hero. Wow. Um, he was always there. He was always present and with, you know, he was on every board and involved in absolutely everything in this town.

Judd Wilson: And, um, he always showed up for whatever we were doing and I don't know how he did it. You know, I still, to this day as an, as I've gotten older, I look back and wonder how in the world did he get everywhere and be [00:04:00] pleasant? And anyway, he was my hero. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: That's great. He was a good man, no doubt about it. And, uh, of course he was my father and, uh, son.

Jim Ingram Jr.: Father, you have different relationships. You have some low times and good times. Mm-hmm. But I will say this, Judd and, and make this clear, he, he loved this community. It meant a lot to him. He, his upbringing was, uh, he did not have a father. His father was killed in an accident when he was two years old. So he did not have a lot of money growing up.

Jim Ingram Jr.: He was very fortunate to get a football scholarship to Ole Miss, and that's the only way he was gonna go to college. 

Judd Wilson: Basketball. Yeah. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: Football. Yes. 

Judd Wilson: Basketball scholarship was a basketball, but he played I love it. I love it. We're refereeing. But he, he didn't play basketball? No, he went on the basketball scholarship and then Johnny.

Judd Wilson: Saw him and guide him. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: Okay, look at that. Hey, I'm learning stuff here. Anyway, this is great. 

Judd Wilson: This is great. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: Here's the point. I feel like I'm at Christmas dinner. You know, a lot of us are Ole Miss fans, [00:05:00] state fans, Sanford fans, Auburn fans, Alabama fans. But he loved Ole Miss because they gave him an opportunity, let me make this clear.

Jim Ingram Jr.: He would've never gone to college 'cause they could not afford it. So he had a love for the school and the university because he got the opportunity to go on that basketball scholarship. And play football. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. He didn't play football. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: He never forgot that. Uh, so his upbringing, uh, he made the most of his opportunities, got in the National Guard, became a football coach at Sardis, and then Amry, and then Tupelo.

Jim Ingram Jr.: Did that until 1960 and then the last 40 years of his career was at Community Federal here. Mm-hmm. In Tupelo. Man, I'm talking too much. Holly, go ahead and take over. No, 

Judd Wilson: go. Go. You're doing good. I'll correct you if you go ahead. Correct me. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: He also, again, was in the National Guard, we're very proud. He became a general, got out after his 25 years service in 1982, if I recall.

Jim Ingram Jr.: But, uh, we were very proud of him. Uh, I mean, they, he was a great father. [00:06:00] We didn't always agree on things, you know, father son relationship. Uh, but I love them dearly and I miss him. And he's been gone 19 years. Wow. Wow. Let's hear granddaughter's perspective, 

Judd Wilson: Corey. 

Kory Hunter: Well, that's what I was about to say. I have the, the honor of having the, you know, perspective of a grandchild.

Kory Hunter: There's four of us. And so, you know, he was the bigger than than life character. He was, he, we called him Beebo, so he went by beebo for the grandkids. Love that. I 

Judd Wilson: love a good grandparent name. 

Kory Hunter: Yes. My, my brother is the oldest and he deemed that name to him, so Bebo and he, he was 

Judd Wilson: supposed, he wanted to be called Big Jim, but Kyle, our son.

Judd Wilson: I couldn't say it, so it was bebo turned into 

Kory Hunter: bebo. So, but yeah, no, he was kind of like my mom and, and Jimmy said he was, um, 

Judd Wilson: he was, we got the Jimmy in there by, sorry, 

Kory Hunter: er, when we 

Judd Wilson: heard about Jimmy, that's Jim Ingram, Jr. I've been called, worst, 

Kory Hunter: I've called him Jimmy my whole life. But he, um, kind of like mom said, he was always our hero.

Kory Hunter: And even still to this day, 19 years later, after he's [00:07:00] passed, the things that I do today. The leadership, I try to feel the things that I volunteer my time for. A lot of it goes back to him. I think about what, what did he do for this community? What do I wanna do for this community? So he was my absolute favorite person on the planet.

Kory Hunter: So. 

Judd Wilson: I tell you, um, leadership, I mean, we, we had the Jim Minger Community Leadership Institute, and, and I did not know that about his past of, uh, you know, his father being killed at such a young age, and then, you know, having this opportunity to get a basketball scholarship, I didn't wanna say football, Jimmy.

Judd Wilson: And, and 

Judd Wilson: he did, he ended up playing football, but 

Judd Wilson: yes. But I mean, how do you think that shaped his leadership? 

Judd Wilson: I think going back to his growing up years and it was not good. Um, I mean he had lots of support, but there was a, a man in his community that took notice of him and he had a connection to Ole [00:08:00] Miss and that's how that connection was made.

Judd Wilson: And I think to him, he saw that if you give someone a chance, an opportunity, sorry. Um. So I think that's why he always believed you should give people chances, give them opportunities. 

Judd Wilson: Absolutely. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: I think, and Holly makes a good point there, but because of his upbringing and coming from a, and let's be honest, a lower class economic situation, he wanted to be inclusive with everybody.

Judd Wilson: Yes. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: No one was better than anybody. He, he treated everybody with respect. I always hear stories of. Community, federal, whoever walked in the door, black, white, low income, high income, he got out of his chair, went over there and said hello to him and met him. So he wanted the community to be inclusive and he loved Tupelo, but he loved the Lee County, northeast Mississippi.

Jim Ingram Jr.: He wanted to include everybody. So he was very inclusive. No matter what your. Situation wasn't life. 

Judd Wilson: Right. Right. Um, Corey, you're in banking, and I've heard this [00:09:00] before too, 'cause I, I, I, I don't remember the person that told me this, but they, they had mentioned before that when they were starting out, they walked into community federal and they knew it was gonna get done because Jim Inger was gonna make it happen.

Judd Wilson: It, I know banking has changed in relationships and how you do different things, but do you kind of. Use that leadership style today a little bit too. Yep, 

Kory Hunter: a hundred percent. So yes, banking has changed and I have had more individuals come up to me and say, I banked with your grandfather. And I shook his hand and told him I was gonna pay that loan back.

Kory Hunter: And he pretty much signed the dotted line at that moment, and that's how it was. And he and he trusted those. So today I look at that from a perspective of having a great relationship with my customers. Banking has changed. I would love for it to kind of be that handshake like it used to be. But if I can be inclusive and grow great relationships with my customers and treat them, you know, with respect and trust and it goes, it goes both ways.

Kory Hunter: So, yes, I, a lot of my banking skills and my [00:10:00] professional skills come from him as well. He was a, he was a great example. Good. 

Taylor Tutor: You talking about him and him being your granddad. My granddad had an incredible influence on me as well. I think. 

Judd Wilson: Let's get his name. 

Taylor Tutor: Peppa 

Judd Wilson: Pep. 

Taylor Tutor: Peppa had an incredible influence on me.

Taylor Tutor: His name was Charles Stone and he worked at ICC, and he was very much the inclusive type. He came from nothing, but he built himself up and everyone around him and made sure that I understood how to do that and to make sure I included people as well. And so even. Years later and generations later, I hope to pass that on to even my kids and then my kids to their kids and that kind of thing.

Taylor Tutor: And just keep that legacy going. 

Kory Hunter: Absolutely. I've got two young boys, um, that did not get to meet him, but they both know his name. We talk about him a lot. They know what he meant to me and like we talk about him, like they all, they both knew him. So he had a great influence and I hope [00:11:00] that I have a great influence on my boys to where they can have some of the characteristics of him.

Judd Wilson: I, I think it's important to do that. I mean, my, my two kids never knew Granny. That's what we called Martha Ann's grandmother. I mean, actually Cole was born two weeks after, um, granny passed away. But it's the same thing. They talk about Granny, and I forget that they weren't around her. Yeah. But it's, it is that kind of, that woven, uh, stories and, and, and things.

Judd Wilson: What do you hear from people in community when they talk about your dad? Jimmy, what are some of the things, or, or Holly. 

Judd Wilson: Respect, um, just, just I guess mainly respect and, you know, just, you know, give me a hug and say, I miss your dad. He was a great man. Uh, he, I wouldn't have been able to make it if he hadn't have gone out on a limb for me.

Judd Wilson: No one else would. Someone to believe in him. Yes. Yeah. Right. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: I'll echo what Holly says. We, we, [00:12:00] uh. Go to the same church and my mother and dad went in First Presbyterian Church and we, I still run into people and. Or mention something when your dad did this as an elder and said, and look at me and say, how long has he been gone?

Jim Ingram Jr.: You know, like seven or eight years. I said, no, it's been 19 years. Wow. It's hard to believe the years has passed that quickly. But yes, a lot of respect in the community, a lot of respect at church in different areas. And it's hard to live up to, to be honest. A little bit of pressure, but, uh, big shoes. Yes.

Jim Ingram Jr.: Big shoes. No, he, he was a good man. We miss him. And, um. Very honored, uh, as I know they are honored to be his son. 

GROUP: Yeah. Yeah. 

Judd Wilson: And I'll run into people, uh, and they'll have come out of a meeting and they'll say, well, we used the Jim Mingle rule in our meeting today. And, and, uh, I hear people say that quite often.

Judd Wilson: You know, he believed if you were having a meeting, you went prepared. We weren't gonna talk back and forth about stuff. You should have talked about. Prior to the meeting, you come in, you do the meeting, and it's over in an hour. 

Kory Hunter: It should never be over. It should never go over an hour, [00:13:00] a meeting 

Judd Wilson: in Jim Ingram.

Judd Wilson: But isn't it neat that 19, he's been gone 19 years? Correct. And I mean, we hear that in meetings that today y'all even hear it and it's just kind of neat. And it goes back, Cory, about like you said, I mean your two boys, it's, it's like they've been around them because they have, because yeah. It keeps, it keeps going.

Judd Wilson: You know, and what's 

Kory Hunter: interesting about my grandfather is when I think about him, I think about he, he was a simple man. Yes. But that's what the best thing about him is that he was simple, he was trustworthy, he was loyal, he was a good friend to everybody. And it's so simple things that you learn at a very early age in life that we all get too busy or grow up too fast.

Kory Hunter: And he kept those steady morals his entire life. And I think that's why people respected him. 

Judd Wilson: We do this at every at night cast, um, because we are the official podcast. I don't know if there's an unofficial podcast when it be me, if we found the one, somebody who's done doing something unofficial. But, um, it all kind of draws back to the at night leadership conference that we do every year.

Judd Wilson: So one of the [00:14:00] things that we like to do. Is, uh, listen to clips from speakers in the past. Um, and we're actually gonna hear from a, a speaker, David Stillman, who actually was with us at our very first at night conference in 2018. Um, and he's gonna talk about different generations and why that's important.

Judd Wilson: So let's listen to that and we'll get some feedback from that clip. 

David Stillman: I mean, ignite gets it. We're all here, lot of boomers. They understand the need to trade Boomer leadership, and I want you to take their philosophy back and understand if the number one reason. They stick around as to make an impact. Make sure you show that they're gonna make an impact here too.

David Stillman: Not just in the community, but you're gonna invest in them, train them, still give them those stretch assignments so that they don't go somewhere else. We have a lot of baby boomers in this community who are, I'm sure, looking at retiring, moving on extras to step into that point of leadership. And the way Xers will stick around this community and support this community is that they see they have a future in this community.

David Stillman: And if we get to know them, then we can embrace all the generation's traits and truly keep Tupelo to be the community that it is. [00:15:00] 

Judd Wilson: So different generations. Corey, I'm not gonna talk about the two boomers you're sitting between right now, but um, why do you think it's important that we train every generation and every generation feels involved in what we do in the community?

Kory Hunter: Well, and I don't know if this is exactly what you're asking. You know, somebody's gotta pick up the baton. So, as we've kind of talked about here today, we've had some fantastic leaders in the community, including my grandfather, but you know, at some point they're gonna be gone or, and so somebody like myself and those that are younger than us have gotta pick up the baton and continue to do the good work in this community.

Kory Hunter: So we've gotta train 'em up. Things like the Ignite Conference, things that you do with your employer. Um, it can't be the same people, so we've gotta continue to, to train others to, to pick up the baton and do again, not to repeat myself. The good work that's been going on for a really long time in Tupelo Lee County, uh, we live in a fantastic place and so there's a lot of good work to be done.

Kory Hunter: Yeah. 

Judd Wilson: He always said, um, if you wanna have a good community, you have to [00:16:00] invest in it, and you have to put yourself out there. And be willing to do the work. 

Taylor Tutor: Right? You can't just sit around right waiting on someone else to do what needs to be done. Just go do it. Yes. Figure out how you can go and do it. And so I think it's good.

Taylor Tutor: I think we have really great leaders in this community. Even in, in my. I don't really, I can't remember how long I've been working, but since I've been working, I've had lots of people pour into me. And it's because they, they see that they, they're investing in the future of their community. Yes. And you know, at the college as well, and I, I, I love that about our community, that people here want to invest here because the future, you know, depends on those younger than them.

Judd Wilson: And he was very hands on and he went. Drag, not drag us, but he would take us with him so that we would be aware and see and get us involved. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: And judge, let me brag on you and C, D, F, you know the CLI announced 24 years, is that correct? Yeah, we started in oh one. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Okay. For jiming [00:17:00] or Community Leadership Institute, before then the boomers were, remember this, it was called Leadership Lead.

Judd Wilson: That's right. Transitioned it over. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: But I appreciate you keeping our family involved. You know, I've met a lot of people that's been through the class, a lot of people from outside of Tupelo. And like I said, my dad was inclusive. It's just not Tupelo. It's Northeast Mississippi. Right. Yeah. But also, I've had a lot of people come up to me and say, thank you, Mr.

Jim Ingram Jr.: Ingram, for doing this class. I said the whole, I said, not Jimmy. I said, no, that was my father, but thank you very much. And everybody says, Hey, I've learned so much. It's been great. I, I've enjoyed the two years in the class. We, I've learned, you know, it's great networking also. 'cause a lot of people get to meet different people.

Jim Ingram Jr.: It's just been a very successful class. 

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. Um, let me ask this because I didn't know his background as a coach and I'm gonna, I'm talking to the voice of the ED Community College. I know you're listening to this podcast and saying, man, Jimmy. Looks like, I mean, that, I know that voice. 'cause you hear it When [00:18:00] you, when you, uh, listen to those ICC football games, tell us a little bit about, uh, maybe some leadership skills.

Judd Wilson: You think that he was able to transition from being a coach? To a leader and then, and, and kind of explain that'll, we'll, we'll listen to that from the voice of the eyes. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: I'll just give you a little bit. Role tribe, by the way, being coach again, he was kind of an underdog. You know, he got one of the last basketball scholarships.

Jim Ingram Jr.: There we go. Football. Holly was okay, but, uh, he was inclusive. He had, you know, he never gave up. I think, of course I was very young when he was coaching, but he had some good teams. He never gave up on any player. He, he required you to show up and give a hundred percent and play your best and have good sportsmanship.

Jim Ingram Jr.: And I think that was part of his life traits also. But as a coach, I think he required those four things. 

Judd Wilson: I've had lots of, um, his former players, um, say to me, I [00:19:00] would've ended up in prison if your dad had not gotten ahold of me. You know, and that's kind of a. A cool thing, I guess. It 

Judd Wilson: makes you feel good.

Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And, and we gotta talk about sports. Um, Corey kind of tell us about your famous tennis career. Oh, gosh. 

Kory Hunter: I do this to her every year at the ball class. Every, he brings this up every time, you know, that was a long time ago, Judd. But I used to play a whole lot of tennis and did okay in my day.

Kory Hunter: But, you know, talking about, uh, bebo. I think I, some of the love of tennis came directly from him. He played tennis and talked what mom said at the beginning, you know, he showed and he 

Judd Wilson: coached tennis for a little while. That's right. 

Kory Hunter: He coached it. But talking about how he always showed up for everything. I played a lot of tennis, a lot of tennis matches, and my, my cousins, Jennifer and Jamie could say the same thing.

Kory Hunter: And my brother, could I maybe remember him not showing up for maybe two matches. Wow. And he was the president of community Federal at that point. So kind of going back to what she said from a family perspective, I don't know how he got everywhere, but it was important and he prioritized it. And [00:20:00] so, um, but yes, played a little tennis in my day.

Judd Wilson: Taylor, your the favorite question you always like ask and what is it? 

Taylor Tutor: Yes. My favorite question that we ask every on every podcast is, what's the best leadership tip you've ever been given? 

Judd Wilson: And we can even preface this with what's the best leadership tip your dad and granddad gave? 

Kory Hunter: I, I think being a good leader means listening.

Kory Hunter: Um, to, to be able to lead people well. Um, I think you've gotta listen to their needs, their wants, make it a collaborative effort. So I think a leader has to step back sometime and just be a good listener. 

Judd Wilson: That's a good answer. That is a good answer. And I'll. 

Jim Ingram Jr.: Go ahead, Holly. I'm sorry. And just 

Judd Wilson: show up. Just be present and like she said, listen and give a hundred percent.

Jim Ingram Jr.: That was what I was gonna say is give your best. Always give your best. If you give your best, you've done everything you can. That's right. That's, that's powerful. 

Taylor Tutor: [00:21:00] Pep always said 110%. 

Judd Wilson: I love. Bebo and Pop Papa. That is awesome. That is awesome. You don't know how much it means to us that the Ingram family's here with us.

Judd Wilson: Thank y'all so much for what you do in the community and keeping his spirit alive and, and and us at CDF. Like I said, with the partnership with Create that we do with the Leadership Institute. It is a, it's an honor that we don't take lightly and we are so happy that it's called the Jim Ingram Community Leadership Institute.

Judd Wilson: And we thank you for what y'all do and we thank y'all so much for being with us today on at Nightcast Taylor. Was it fun? 

Taylor Tutor: It was fun. I love hearing from leaders. 

Judd Wilson: Yes. 

Taylor Tutor: Thank y'all. 

Judd Wilson: Thank y'all for being here. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. Yes.

Taylor Tutor: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ignite Cast, presented by iHeartMedia. For more leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit subscribe. And if you enjoyed today's [00:22:00] episode, we'd love for you to leave a review and remember, go for and do good things.