Meet Keeshma Richardson

We were lucky to catch up with Keeshma Richardson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Keeshma, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I believe that my purpose continues to evolve as the years pass so there is so much about my purpose that is still to be discovered; as I lean more into what I do know, I grow deeper into my purpose. What I do know presently about my purpose is that I am a healer by way of clinical psychology, spiritual practices, and eastern medicine modalities.

Two things that I have loved since I was a child and I know now is about of my true essence is fashion and helping others. I can remember at the different phases of childhood, I wanted to do something with my life that would allow me to help those who could not help themselves and that involved the joy and excitement of adornment through fashion. In middle school, we were given an assignment to read an autobiography of someone that was in the career field that we aspired to work in. I picked the autobiography of Diane Von Furstenberg. I did not know who she was at the time but I felt so inspired by her creativity in the fashion world and in life. I decided then that I wanted to be a fashion designer. After trial and error, I decided fashion designing was not for me but that then I started to learn about the other roles in the fashion industry and a fashion buyer started to call to me after taking a fashion merchandising course in high school. That started my mission of becoming a fashion buyer. I graduated from High School and started my major in Fashion Marketing at American Intercontinental University. There was a lot of twist and turns upon receiving my college degree and the years following. I was not living in the city to support the type of employment and experience I was searching for and started to explore other career paths because the fashion thing felt so impossible.

Life had led me to join the Peace Corps and as I was serving in Botswana, Africa I had a lot of time to reflect and make decisions. During my service, I decided that I truly wanted to give fashion another try. So when I returned home, I started working full time as a fashion merchandising. It was enjoyable and exciting and that excitement led me to try living in New York where there was an abundance of fashion buyer opportunities. I quickly found an entry level position as a merchandise coordinator for a large retail chain. I felt like I was living out my life long childhood dream. As a year passed, I was asked to interview for the assistant buyer position and even though I was not offered a position, I was determined to keep trying. Later, I was asked to interview again, taking the feedback that was offered from the first interview I printed off my work, I made a PowerPoint, I picked the perfect outfit. I was not offered the position again. This time I was told that my interview was too overpowering. I was hurt and confused because I knew I had the skills and knowledge. I started to look for other positions and I kept getting rejections and I did not understand exactly why.

At the age of 30, I ordered a tarot reading for my birthday for a tarot reader/mental health therapist I followed on YouTube. I wanted to know about love or something but she the reading was about my life path; which now I know was divine timing. She told me that she saw me helping and healing people as well as teaching but not as a formal teacher. She shared other major messages about my purpose. I left the reading confused because that did not feel like the path that I was on. As time passed, my spirit was crushed by current role as a merchandise coordinator. I was training new assistant buyers in their role; the role I felt I should have had. I quit the role and started working at a local arts theater. During that time, I was having a conversation with a friend about the direction of my life. The friend offered to pull some cards for me and the reading was very similar to the reader I received for my 30th birthday. As I talked to my friend more about my vision in my heart, I knew that I wanted to doing something with healing which led me to explore degrees, which led me to counseling.

Even when I started the program, I was unsure in some many ways. I felt I was too hold to be starting a new career; I felt behind my peers; I felt like I was not smart even to be a mental health therapist; I was scared of another failed career attempt. I decided that I would give the program everything I had and see what happened. It was not until a year in the program where I did my in-person practicum that I truly felt that I was on my path. I started to reflect back to my childhood self and remembered that in addition to playing dress up and creating these fashion boards; there was also this presence of me wanting to help others and wanting to learn about human behaviors. Unlike most children, when my mother would take me and my brothers to the library, I would go straight to the science and psychology section. I remember gravitating to books about why humans do the things we do. There is one book in particular I remember reading about diseases and how these diseases can be connected to emotional experiences. This was also about of my essence all along.

As I stated in the beginning, I continue to go deeper in my purpose with the passing years. I am also open to the possibility of multiple purposes being present for me on this life journey. Being a licensed clinical mental health therapist, I have never felt more aligned with who I truly am and what I was meant to do here. Anybody that feels lost or unsure about their purpose I would say connect back to your essence. Our early childhood self is a great indicator of our true essence. What we enjoyed reading, what we enjoyed thinking about, what made us light up, what came naturally to us.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a Licensed Clinical Holistic Mental Health Therapist and Sound Healer. I believe when it comes to mental health treatment, that it should involve the entire being; the mind, the body, and the spirit. Therefore, in my work with clients I incorporate holistic and integrative modalities along with talk therapy. I teach client to not only be present with their thoughts and emotions but guide them to connect to what they are experiencing in their body, what is the body trying to communicate to them, how to balance their chakras, how to nurture their spiritual bodies, how to transform their lives on an energetic level.
I currently offer my services through a group practice and intensive outpatient treatment program. In the future, I look forward to offer individual and group healing services through my business Sacred Bliss Holistic Wellness.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Self-Exploration/Self-Reflection – Exploring myself has been so impactful to my journey. A teacher told me one told that you can not meet others further than you have met yourself. Being my a helping profession, it is easy to become very outward focused but I know that I cannot help anyone unless I am helping myself. I cannot heal anyone unless I am continually healing myself.

2. Learning – I have invested a lot of money into my learning through advanced education, workshops, classes, retreats, etc. A lot of people believe that it is a waste of money but I believe that if we are going to grow, we have to be constantly learning. It does not always have to be in a formal learning setting but being a learner of life is key. Learning is investing into yourself.

3. Follow the breadcrumbs – Life can be overwhelming when you try to figure everything out at once. It can also feel discouraging. If you have a vision and goal for yourself that feels very massive, enormous, scary; that is a great thing. Just follow the breadcrumbs that are in front of you. Your soul knows the way.

The advice that I would give to someone that is early in their journey is that don’t be afraid to make mistakes and don’t be afraid of going in the wrong direction. You truly cannot go in the wrong direction. Make a choice and if you don’t like that choice, you can make another choice.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I was raised by my mother and she has been a consistent source of hope and encouragement throughout my life. The thing that has been most impactful to me is that she allowed me to be me. She allowed me to explore the world without judging me for it. There is a lot of me that my mother does not relate to but even though she does always completely understand she allowed me to be free. When the world beat me up or things did not work out as planned, she reminded me that she is my safety net. Not only would she allow me to explore but she would support me even when she did not agree. When I wanted to go to a particular high school because they had a fashion construction class I wanted to take, she made it happen. When I wanted to go to the air force, she purposed the study guides for me to study for the exam. She never made me feel like I couldn’t do what it is, I wanted to do.

As a younger person, I took this safety net for granted but now I appreciate it so much. I know see that her allowing me to explore the world freely, helped me to learn to trust myself. It gave me a confidence to dream bigger, to dream deeper.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: keeshmachristina
• Facebook: Keeshma Christina Richardson