Uplift: He highlights the importance of mental health and wellness, in elite sports, and entrepreneurial spaces.
Strawberry Letter
iHeartPodcasts
4.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning!
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Kurt Jones.
Purpose of the Interview
The conversation aims to highlight the importance of mental health and wellness, particularly in the Black community, elite sports, and entrepreneurial spaces. It focuses on mental resilience, confidence building, and strategies for handling stress and setbacks, while introducing Dr. Jones’ methodology and his mission through Play 21 Wellness Academy.
Key Takeaways
-
Mental Health in the Black Community
- Historically stigmatized; seen as weakness or negativity.
- Today, awareness is improving, but significant work remains.
-
Customized Approach
- Dr. Jones does individualized analysis and treatment plans for athletes and business professionals.
- Rejects “cookie-cutter” solutions—tailors strategies to personal circumstances.
-
The Shelving Method
- A mental organization system with four shelves:
- Immediate Shelf: Urgent tasks within 24 hours.
- Active Shelf: Important but less urgent tasks.
- Holding Shelf: Items to revisit later.
- Elimination Shelf: Thoughts/tasks to discard permanently.
- Helps clients focus on the present and avoid dwelling on past mistakes.
- A mental organization system with four shelves:
-
Confidence & Setbacks
- Confidence can collapse after major losses or failures.
- Strategy: Remind clients of their greatness, review past successes, and rebuild momentum.
- Consistency and adaptability are key to sustaining success.
-
Play 21 Wellness Academy
- Founded in memory of Ben Wilson, a top basketball player and Dr. Jones’ best friend.
- Mission: Support youth athletes, address issues like parent/teacher abuse, and provide mental health resources.
- Operates as both a nonprofit and for-profit entity.
-
Broader Client Base
- Works with elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and high-level professionals.
- Mental clarity and emotional control are critical for success in any field.
-
Health & Balance
- Encourages regular medical checkups, stress management, and work-life balance.
- Advocates for self-reward and stepping out of comfort zones while maintaining wellness.
-
Upcoming Projects
- Book: Chi-Town Blueprints (personal story and mental resilience).
- Workbook on the Shelving Method for schools, universities, and professionals.
Notable Quotes
-
On Mental Health Stigma:
“When people talked about mental health, the first thought was negative.” -
On Focus:
“You can’t take the last play to the next play.” -
On Success:
“Mental thinking is a huge part of success.” -
On Confidence:
“Remind yourself of what got you to the point where you were winning.” -
On Consistency:
“You’ve never seen a Brinks truck behind a funeral car—the graveyard is the richest place because people die with million-dollar dreams.” -
On Purpose:
“Walk in your purpose. When you walk in your purpose, there’s no stopping you.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST #AMI
Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.5 | Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Yo, yo, yo, yo. Can we get Thanksgiving first? I'm hungry. What's up, y'all? It's Kadeen. And DeVal, the host of the Ellis Ever After podcast. This holiday season, tune out the noise and tune in to Ellis Ever After. On Ellis Ever After, we get real with our crew about family, love and marriage. |
| 0:23.8 | And everything else. season. Tune out the noise and tune in to Ellis Ever After. On Ellis Ever After, we get real with our crew about family, love and marriage, and |
| 0:24.0 | everything else in between. |
| 0:25.8 | Listen to Ellis Ever After on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. |
| 0:29.9 | Follow Ellis Ever After and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. |
| 0:34.5 | Hi, I'm Rashan MacDonald. |
| 0:35.7 | I host this weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. |
| 0:39.1 | The interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop |
| 0:43.2 | reading other people's success stories and start living your own. I'm talking about you. Now, |
| 0:48.2 | if you want to be a guest on my show, Money Making Conversations Masterclass, please visit our website, |
| 0:53.7 | moneymakingconversations.com, and click |
| 0:56.8 | the Be a Guest button if you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, |
| 1:02.0 | influencer, or nonprofit. |
| 1:03.7 | Now, let's get started. |
| 1:05.5 | My guest is a sports psychologist. |
| 1:07.9 | He's a specialist, former professional basketball player and co-founder of Play 21 Wellness |
| 1:13.2 | Academy in Duluth, Georgia. That's right outside of Atlanta. He is widely recognized for his work |
| 1:19.3 | with elite and professional athletes, including world champions, NFL standouts, and top collegiate |
| 1:25.2 | performers, helping them improve through mental clarity, |
| 1:29.6 | emotional control, and peak performance under pressure. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

