Uplift: Interview emphasizes the importance of self-care, emotional support, and recognizing mental health signals before they escalate.
Strawberry Letter
iHeartPodcasts
4.5 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed D. Renee Smith.
A transformational life coach and mental wellness advocate:
🎯 Purpose of the Interview
To raise awareness about mental health, especially among professional women, and to promote proactive wellness strategies in personal life and the workplace. The conversation emphasizes the importance of self-care, emotional support, and recognizing mental health signals before they escalate.
🗝️ Key Takeaways 1. Mental Health Is Like Physical Health
- Mental wellness requires daily attention, just like physical fitness.
- It involves monitoring thoughts, emotional responses, and what you consume mentally.
2. Women Often Lose Themselves in Roles
- Many women become consumed by titles—mother, wife, caregiver—and lose sight of their personal identity and dreams.
- Rediscovery is essential after life changes like divorce, loss, or children leaving home.
3. Self-Care Is Not Selfish
- Women must prioritize their own well-being.
- Harmony—not balance—is the goal, where all aspects of life work together positively.
4. Recognizing Mental Health Warning Signs
- Changes in behavior, withdrawal, or loss of interest can signal deeper issues.
- Friends and family should check in and not accept “I’m okay” at face value.
5. Workplace Stress Is Real
- Lack of promotion, recognition, or support can lead to burnout and mental strain.
- Employers should observe behavioral patterns and offer sincere support—not just reactive solutions.
6. Proactive Mental Wellness in the Workplace
- De Rene’s company offers coaching to help employees manage stress and improve performance.
- Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are underutilized and often insufficient.
💬 Notable Quotes
- “Self-care is not selfish.” – De Rene Smith
- “Don’t judge people by the choices they make because you don’t know what they had to choose from.” – D. Renee Smith
- “I’d rather make someone mad at me than regret not checking in.” – Rashawn McDonald
- “Harmony—not balance—is the goal.” – D. Renee Smith
🌐 Connect with D. Renee Smith
- Business: Transformational Living Coaching & Consulting
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:04.6 | Hi, I'm Roshan McDonnell. |
| 0:06.4 | I host a weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. |
| 0:09.4 | The interviews and information that this show provides are for everyone. |
| 0:12.9 | It's time to stop reading other people's success stories and start living your own. |
| 0:17.4 | If you want to be a guest on my show, please visit our website, Moneymakingconversations.com, |
| 0:23.5 | and click the be a guest button. Press submit and the information will come directly to me. |
| 0:28.7 | Now let's get this show started. My next guest, you know, I like to call her a transformational life |
| 0:33.9 | coach. She's called a transformation specialist. She supports a professional women by |
| 0:38.9 | rediscovering who they are after losing themselves in life, love, a loss. They provide proactive |
| 0:45.4 | mental health and wellness solutions to corporations and small businesses. Their service is about |
| 0:50.6 | you and the mental health and how you feel I always I always remember one of my |
| 0:55.8 | stories I always like to repeat sometimes I live such a life a stressful life because my |
| 1:01.5 | wife always asked how do you just keep going how do you get up you know because I I just get |
| 1:06.0 | up and keep moving I don't know if that's healthy all I know know is it's just been, that's my model. |
| 1:11.1 | That's my motto. It may not be good for you. It might not be good for me. But I've learned how to deal with stress and I'm willing to understand that it exists. A lot of people don't want to acknowledge that it exists. Well, my next guest is here to help us acknowledge it and also show us ways that we can overcome it. Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass, D. Renee Smith. |
| 1:11.1 | How you doing, Ms. Renee? I am Greg, Rashan. How are you? Well, you know, your face may look familiar because you're on TV a lot, but you're on radio this time. Because I remember she said, Rashan, can I come down to the studio? I said, hey, you just call in? This isn't not TV. |
| 1:45.4 | I know you used to doing TV, Ms. Smith, but, you know, this is radio show. |
| 1:49.0 | What exactly is mental health? |
| 1:51.6 | What are we striving for in your profession when you say mental health awareness |
| 1:58.6 | or mental health, um, |
| 2:00.9 | um, |
... |
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