Kathryn Holt Richardson

I attribute my success first and foremost to God. I feel like he or she has blessed me. I also credit a transformative retreat I did 20 years ago with a woman named Sierra Bender, who is all about personal empowerment for women. It was life-changing, and I literally never went back after that retreat. I gave notice of my job in the parking lot and never went back to work for anybody else. She really helped me through a lot of work around physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being, and it was transformative. My mom was wildly encouraging and encouraged me to go to law school, which turned out to be a good decision even though I'm a non-practicing lawyer. And my dad, who is getting ready to turn 90 and did 3 tours of Vietnam and was raised in the segregated South, always taught me about integrity, respect, and treating every human being with dignity. He didn't tell me these things, he showed me. He showed me integrity, respect, and that every human being deserves to be treated with dignity.

I've received several pieces of career advice that have shaped my journey. First, don't put the no before the yes. Don't just say no, take the time to learn about an opportunity. Second, chemistry before math. When you hear about an opportunity or you're considering one, think about the work and the people you would work with, not just how much money you would make. Third, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Fourth, you can do anything, but you can't do everything, so it's important to delegate, outsource, and delete things that are overwhelming you. And finally, in a world where you can be anything, be kind.

The challenges I face include the cyclical nature of the business. When the market is down and people decide they don't want to hire lawyers, that can be challenging because that's what I do. I am starting to do more mergers, which is helping because everybody, in good times and bad, is thinking about how they can join forces. Other challenges include deep betrayals I've experienced. I don't like to talk about it a lot, but it weighs on my spirit and almost on my soul. How can somebody smile on your face and then betray you? It hasn't happened a lot, thank goodness, but when it does, I'm always shocked because I give so much. I've never been the person that's like, oh, it's just business. To me, for better or worse, if you promise me that you're gonna work with me exclusively, or if you promise me that if I send you a qualified candidate and you hire them, then you're gonna pay me, then I expect that. I've never been involved in a lawsuit, ever. In the course of my 20 years in business, I've had exactly 2 clients not pay the full amount of the fee. One in particular was right after my son passed away, and that was just devastating.

The values that are most important to me are community, excellence, kindness, honesty, and integrity. I work with lawyers, so I'm gonna say honesty and integrity a couple ways, just in case! I love words and the power of words that you can speak over people's lives and your own life. Encouragement is also important to me, I don't know if that's a value, but just how important it is to encourage people, and including myself. I've started kind of putting myself into the mix. I give myself space and grace, and try to do that with others.