With both a background in business and training in the fine arts, she brings to the table 15+ years of experience across a variety of sectors. She prides herself on merging her business acumen and design thinking with a discerning eye for aesthetics and efficiency in her work.

As an immigrant from Colombia, Katherine moved to South Florida in 1999. With conservatory training as a prodigy oil painter, she became an apprentice to master Venezuelan artist Conchita Firgau at 14 years old, assisting in the studio and classroom teaching.

Moving on to work as an intern project manager at United Data Technologies, she led a concept-proof research project to gain greater insight into integrating technology into the K-12 curriculum.

Venturing into entrepreneurship, she ran her family's company in landscape design in South Florida from 2010-2016 doing work for high-profile residential, commercial, and government contract clientele. The experience she gained working with a rich, diverse clientele roster and regional and overseas partners was unparalleled.

Using the business’s profits, she also led the family estate’s investing in agricultural operations and real estate acquisitions in South Florida and their native homeland of Colombia.

After 2016 during a sabbatical season, she worked mainly as a freelance graphic designer, spending a brief time working as the Coordinator of Strategic Gifts at James Madison University. Working on endowment contracts, she found a passion for bridging her business insights into her love for scholarship and the arts through the impact of philanthropy.

She chose to conglomerate her skillset to work in the life and annuities insurance business. With an innate ability to bring value and to help others see value, she merged her analytical reasoning skills and pedagogical nature into the financial industry.

Her vision for serving her clients is using design thinking to strategically plan the financial health of individuals, families, and businesses in the Shenandoah Valley and throughout Virginia. She believes wealth is power – having the potential for impact and progress. In terms of generational wealth and strengthening the community ecosystem, choosing the financial products that best serve her client's needs is paramount. She is also harnessing her ability to work with immigrant families.

Katherine is a renaissance woman, with an unquenchable autodidactic love for learning. She is an entrepreneur, oil painter, and published writer, who recently released a book and exhibition titled, Vision of the Light: A Journey to Glory.

Her life's mission is to use her talents to serve God through scholarly pursuits, expression through the arts, and leading efforts for the conservation of the Christian heritage. ZION Sprouts is a collaborative, creative publishing house and concert management agency, Katherine co-leads with her husband, Dr. Michael Richardson.

She has called Harrisonburg, Virginia home since 2020. She is wife to the wonderful baritone, Michael Richardson, and mother to a lively 6-year-old son.

" My vision for serving my clients is using design thinking to strategically plan the financial health of individuals, families, and businesses in the Shenandoah Valley and throughout Virginia. I am also harnessing my ability to work with immigrant families.

I believe wealth is power – having the potential for impact and progress. In terms of generational wealth and strengthening the community ecosystem, helping choose the financial products that best serve my client's needs is paramount. "

Our Founder's Story