The Zone, a mental wellness platform focused on athletes, announced today an agreement with leading global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley. The firm’s Global Sports & Entertainment division will provide its financial tools and resources to integrate within The Zone’s app allowing educational, interactive content and programming across the digital platform. This will enable The Zone’s current and future member-athletes and institutions to obtain premier access to Morgan Stanley’s financial education curriculum.
Elements of the collaboration will feature mobile-friendly, bite-sized content and programming, alongside push notifications that will seek to engage athletes and address with them the link between financial education, mental wellness and peak performance; fundamentals of personal finance; tips and approaches to help conceptualize and achieve financial wellness; and maintain frequent interaction with them to allow for close monitoring of their wellness and communication with counselors, as needed.
“We are very excited to work alongside Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment in this innovative partnership to ensure that our athletes are equipped with the tools and resources necessary to manage and improve every aspect of their total wellness” said Ivan Tchatchouwo, The Zone’s CEO & Co-Founder. “Financial education is a cornerstone of a truly holistic wellness experience, and we look forward to implementing this important component with Morgan Stanley to help us continue providing our community of athletes with the best possible solution.”
Tchatchouwo and Erik Poldroo, two former student-athletes whose own journeys included bouts with mental wellness, founded The Zone with the vision of fostering an environment where athletes can feel comfortable seeking help and guidance for their mental health and wellness, just as they would for any physical injury or academic issue – and an ecosystem where athletes clearly understand where to go for and how to seek counsel.
As it relates to holistic wellness, studies show that financial constraints are a leading source of stress, above all other factors, indicating that there is an undoubtable link between financial stress and poor individual performance and productivity, which translates from anywhere to the workplace, classroom or lines of competition in a given sport. “Our objective in partnering with The Zone is to enhance the comprehensive wellness experience of athletes nationwide, by arming them with the education on how to best manage and approach their personal finances as they strive for their financial goals – and by applying these learnings to help them create pathways towards success,” said Sandra Richards, Head of Global Sports & Entertainment and Segment Sales & Engagement at Morgan Stanley. “With the added pressure and commitments on today’s athletes, perhaps being greater now than ever before, we couldn’t think of a more important way to address this issue and help break the stigma around mental health and wellness.”
The Zone currently provides wellness to several NCAA Division I athletic programs and non-profit organizations and is poised to announce a series of upcoming activations heading into 2022.
For more information about The Zone, please visit https://www.itsthezone.com/.
For more information about Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment, please visit https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/global-sports-entertainment.
