that not only am I trained and able to do this , but also that this is something that I want to do and that I truly do have a heart for .”
That heart and inspiration come from three places in her world . First , her upbringing : her mom and dad , Cynthia and Timothy , are her backbone and they raised her , her sister , brothers and god sister to be strong and determined . “ My goal in life is to make them proud .”
Second is her wife Kiara and her children : Kiara is a “ home engineer ,” a stellar housewife and stay-at-home mom , and they have four children . Montrice is Dr . Richardson ’ s daughter from a previous relationship and is currently navigating college . The other three are still in the house – Aubryee , 13 , Ashtyn , 9 , and Britten , 18 months . Britten recently stole the “ man of the house ” title from their 5-yearold toy poodle Bentley , but the dog still thinks he rules their home .
“ My family is so important to me . They are my world ,” she said . “ I want my children to know that they can do whatever they put their mind to . And for my daughters , there is no male field , there is no male job . If they can do it , you can do it . And if you want to do it , I will support you and push you in that direction .”
The third group that keeps her focused are those she sees at work , in her day-to-day life – the patients , the colleagues , the someday-doctors who have never seen someone who looks like them in a role of power .
“ I realize that my career choice may be time consuming and
challenging and may take a lot of effort , but I know that there are so many people who would switch places with me without even thinking about it . I understand the position I ’ m in and I understand how rare it is , and I understand that it ’ s a position of power , so I don ’ t take that for granted .”
During the off season or a bye week when she has some down time , Dr . Richardson can relax watching reality TV with her wife , or catching up on the newest documentary . She ’ s also gotten really into grilling and smoking meats and like a true Kentuckian , she has started a bourbon collection with about 200 bottles - and counting . They also love to host friends at their house and hang out with good company .
In the near future , they plan to expand their family by one to give Britten a brother to grow up with . But professionally , she ’ s not sure what to expect . She does know that she wants to continue to build relationships and practice medicine with her heart first . Right now , she ’ s perfectly happy with exactly how things are .
“ If anyone would ’ ve asked me during residency what I wanted to do with my life , it would be absolutely what I ’ m doing right now . When you have your dream job , it ’ s hard to even think about what changes you foresee when you feel like you ’ ve already gotten it all .”
Kathryn Vance is the Communication Specialist at the Greater Louisville Medical Society .