Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. Today is a special episode. Our guest is also the cover star of Very Well Minds February Digital Magazine. I'm talking to Charlemagne the God. He's the host of the Breakfast Club, the biggest hip-hop and R&B radio show in America. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in the world, people like

Kanye West, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. He also just started hosting a late-night talk show on Comedy

Central called The God's Honest Truth. In 2018, he wrote a book called Shook One. In it, he

talked about his personal battle with anxiety. Since then, he's become a huge advocate for mental

health, even though that wasn't his original intention. Now he talks openly about going to therapy,

and he even started an organization to help other people be able to afford treatment. Some of the things he talks about on today's show are how we finally found the courage

to see a therapist, how he learned about his father's struggles with mental health later in life,

and the steps he's taking now to manage his mental health. And by the way, Charlemagne the

God isn't his real name. That's his stage name.

His real name is Leonard McKelvey. And you'll hear him talk about this persona that he created and how it

affected him. Make sure to stick around until the end of the episode for the therapist take.

It's the part of the show where I break down my guest strategies and share how you can apply

them to your own life. So here's Charlemagne the show where I break down my guest strategies and share how you can apply them to your own life.

So here's Charlemagne the God on how unpacking your emotional baggage can help you grow mentally stronger.

Charlemagne, welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast.

Thank you for having me very much, Amy. I appreciate you.

Well, we appreciate you being here. I, of course, knew about you for a long time, but I really didn't know about your anxiety or any of the other things that you talk about in terms of mental health until a few years ago. You wrote Shook One and you're on my good friend James Altucher's podcast. And I learned a lot about you then and I thought, wow, this is amazing. Here's this guy who is so open about talking about mental health.

Yeah, James is my guy. Me and James actually, we collaborated last year on a project called We've Got Answers on Audible.

Well, basically, you know, it's so funny, James. James is like one of those white friends who's not afraid to ask questions.

You know?

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