If you had told Kim Richardson as a little girl that she would one day become the head of a school, she probably would not have believed you.
Long before Richardson became head of school at the Waldorf School of Baltimore, long before she started a business and long before her MBA from Trevecca, her journey in education began just outside Memphis at the home of her grandmother, Berdia Patterson-Johnson.
Most summers were spent at Grandma Berdia’s house where playing went from outside to inside when the Tennessee heat became too much (which was often). Thankfully, Grandma Berdia, a kindergarten teacher who spent 39 years in the classroom, always had plenty there to keep Richardson occupied.
“She would get out all the kindergarten toys for me, and I would just play with them,” Richardson said. “I would sit at her feet and she would tell me different stories.”
Among the toys were Fisher-Price schoolhouses with tiny peg dolls and lots of books. But despite growing up surrounded by education, Richardson never pictured herself becoming a teacher.
“I never played school at her house or anything like that,” she said.
What did stick with her was Grandma Berdia’s belief in education.
“I came to learn from her that reading was super important, and if you could read well, you could know anything you wanted to know,” Richardson said. “Education could really liberate you in so many ways.”
Grandma Berdia had her own connection to Trevecca, pursuing a Master of Education with a focus in administration and supervision around the early 1990s. She traveled from the Memphis area to Nashville with a group of fellow teachers to attend classes at Trevecca.
“She would tell me about that, and how they would all go together,” Richardson said. “She really loved it.”
Years later, when Richardson was undecided about her own future, her grandmother suggested education. “The world needs more teachers,’” Richardson recalled Grandma Berdia saying.
Richardson took her advice, earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Memphis in 2009.
She began her career in education, eventually teaching first and second grade after moving to Nashville. But as Richardson gained experience, she began realizing that her greatest passion was not necessarily standing at the front of a classroom. Instead, she was increasingly interested in everything happening around it.
“I really cared about children growing up to be healthy, whole human beings,” Richardson said. “And I really cared about how families operated.”
This led her into a family and community coordinator role, where she worked with teachers and administrators as well as families. And from there, Richardson kept asking more questions. Why did different kinds of schools operate the way they did? Who were they serving? How did the systems behind education actually work?
“I realized I needed to go into business to figure out the industry of school,” Richardson said. “I was looking for a program specifically where I could study education through the lens of business.”
Once again, Trevecca entered the picture. Richardson enrolled in Trevecca’s MBA program, where she was able to study the business principles she was learning through the context of her own career.
“It gave me a holistic view of education,” Richardson said. “And that has been the secret sauce to my work today as head of school.”
Grandma Berdia was still there to encourage her granddaughter toward the University she had loved decades earlier.
“She was always telling me about how fun it was to go there,” Richardson said. “She was really spiritual so she appreciated the Nazarene quality of the school.”
Richardson completed her MBA at Trevecca in 2019, 10 years after earning her undergraduate degree. At the time, Richardson was already working and raising her daughter. Her MBA cohort met on Thursday evenings, often from 6 to 10 p.m., while her mother watched her daughter.
“Everything was a family affair,” Richardson said.
She was pleasantly surprised to find a similar kind of family in the classroom.
“The teachers were very supportive and would pray for you and just huddle around you,” she said.
During an especially difficult stretch, Richardson remembers feeling overwhelmed after her car was broken into. Her professors made an impression simply by being present.
“They were with me, and it was clear that they were for me and wanted to see me succeed,” said Richardson. “I think being at Trevecca was really the spark that made me believe that I could make real change in an area that I really cared about.”
Richardson returned to Linden Waldorf School in Nashville as director of administration while finishing her MBA. She eventually became head of school there and began serving within the broader Waldorf education network.
“Having an MBA made me feel more confident, and like I could be in the conversation about business and about strategy and about my industry,” she said. “I was more successful at my work because I had the skill set to actually get the job done.”
In 2026, Richardson became head of school at the Waldorf School of Baltimore. Her work in education has also extended beyond a single school.
During a sabbatical year, Richardson launched Embodied Collaborative, where she supports schools and nonprofits through coaching and professional development. The name itself connects back to what Richardson experienced at Trevecca.
“The ‘embody’ part is definitely a spark that came to life at Trevecca because they saw you as a whole person,” Richardson said. “I always was a person in a career. I was always a mom and had a family.”
She said she still keeps in touch with members of her MBA cohort.
“We still remember one another on our birthdays,” she said. “It was just a great place. It was a good experience. Ten out of ten.”
Grandma Berdia passed away in 2023 after living what her granddaughter called “a beautiful life.” Grandma Berdia’s influence has carried on in the work Richardson continues today.
The little girl playing at Grandma’s feet is now leading a school and supporting other educational leaders. She carries forward a belief that her grandmother taught her years ago: when you have a problem or you don’t know what comes next in life, learn something new.
Richardson offers similar advice to anyone considering taking another step in their own education.
“Just take the next step,” she said. “It’s not as scary as you think. It’s not as overwhelming as you think. Take the next step and you will keep going.”