Dr. Virginia Richardson, BCC

Founder & CEO

My grandparents were entrepreneurs. Grandpa David was born in 1906 and came from humble beginnings. After arriving in the United States as a young boy, he set out to make his future. He proposed to my grand-mother on their first date and they married a few weeks later. As a couple, they thrived happily together creating their future for more than 70 years until her death.

My grandfather was the creative, my grandmother had the business savvy. He loved to restore furniture, she insisted he focus on antiques. After a major flood destroyed their first business in town, they decided to relocate. He wanted higher ground in the country, she insisted they stay close to the highway. They bought a wonderful property endowed with several structures including a large house and a barn with a park-like setting between them.

He restored furniture in the shop, she decided they would sell his masterpieces in the barn. When families came to buy antiques, the children could play in the park while their parents shopped inside. This plan was instrumental in avoiding accidental breakage of their antique lamps and glassware product line.

He needed to paint the barn, she insisted he paint it pink so people would notice it from the highway. It would be called "The Pink Barn" and it was quickly noticed.

Over time, museums came to rely on The Pink Barn for authentic era-original antiques. He became an expert historian on furniture and glassware of all periods. To increase his customer's knowledge about the antiques, he taught them about the woods, materials, and engraving techniques used to create each piece. She became an expert on the value of each piece. Their business thrived, making their life and mine very comfortable. 

As a young girl, I loved to visit my grandparents. Their love for their business, excitedly showing us the newly restored antiques on every visit, and playing in the park with my sisters and cousins were a natural part of my formative years. They made owning their own business as natural as learning to ride a bike. "Everyone can have a business if they set their mind to it," my grandmother would say. "It's no big deal, you just need to focus on what people will want before they know they want it." Her business savvy-filled words of wisdom made good sense to me, and they formed the basis of my mindset.

My grandparents were living examples of the importance of working as a team, how we thrive when we of focus on our strengths, and the power of anticipating the future!

We don’t need a crystal ball to anticipate the future. The trends and signposts are all around us. The challenge is in knowing how to synthesize the data so we can prepare for and leverage changing opportunities.

As the Founder and CEO of the Foresight Center, Dr. Richardson has devoted the past two decades exploring the future trends that shape our world to help business and healthcare leaders prepare for and design a preferred future. Leveraging her skills as a business and healthcare futurist, graduate foresight educator, leadership expert, and board certified business coach, she equips organizations with the strategic business acumen necessary to build a brighter future.

We don't need a crystal ball
to anticipate the future!

Utilizing strategic intelligence tools as a mechanism of value innovation, Dr. Richardson’s expertise includes a vast spectrum of foresight and futures capabilities to bring businesses a wealth of information about trends, innovations, and forecasts that will influence consumers, business, and society in the future. She is a trusted adviser to entrepreneurs and organizational leaders dedicated to executing Big Idea initiatives utilizing proven business strategies to launch successful ventures.

BOARD CERTIFIED COACH (BCC)

Dr. Richardson’s coaching and consulting practices encompass businesses from many industries as well as healthcare organizations across the U.S., including large integrated health systems, community hospitals, medical group practices, faith-based health systems, academic medical centers, and healthcare associations.

Through the Coaching Business Center, Dr. Richardson leads a diverse group of executive coaching faculty to train leaders in preparation of becoming a Board Certified Coach (BCC) with the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) accreditation.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Specializing in advancing our understanding of the possibilities for the future, Dr. Richardson has a long history of presenting keynote addresses and conference workshops on healthcare, leadership, and innovation. The U.S. Department of Health & Senior Services (HHS), the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), the Georgia Osteopathic Medical Association (GOMA), and the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) are just a few of the organizations she has worked with, as well as numerous health-system and business-client focused training initiatives. 

INTERNATIONAL TEACHING

Dr. Richardson’s international initiatives include delivering a customized leadership symposium on Strategic Thinking and Planning for high-ranking leaders in Quito and Ambato, Ecuador. This executive program included university provosts and members of the Ecuadorian Congress.

She also served as visiting professor for The Future of Work program in Johannesburg, South Africa as part of their global studies program. 

CURRICULUM DESIGN

For the past two decades she has designed customized Future Leaders training, Women in Leadership programs, Strategic Foresight workshops, Coach training and certification programs, as well as healthcare leadership and CME-approved Certified Physician Leadership academies.

As a graduate professor of Leadership, Foresight, Healthcare and Coaching, Dr. Richardson chairs the DSL Foresight Concentration for Regent University, and she is an Associate Professor for Oral Roberts University's  DSL program chairing their Coaching Concentration.

She designs curriculum and delivers leadership and foresight courses and programs for a number of private clients utilizing strategic intelligence tools in an applied learning format to achieve high-level student competencies and customized strategies to create long-term value for their organization’s customers, markets, and stakeholders.

EDUCATION | DSL, MBA, BCC

Dr. Richardson earned a Doctor of Strategic Leadership with a Concentration in Strategic Foresight from Regent University, an MBA from William Woods University, and a BA in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a CCE Board Certified Coach (BCC) specializing in Business/Executive/ Leadership/Organizational Coaching. In addition to serving on a number of boards over the course of her career, Dr. Richardson is a member of the International Leadership Association (ILA) and a past professional member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) and the World Future Society (WFS).

CONTACT US TODAY To SCHEDULE A CONSULT To SCHEDULE DR. RICHARDSON
For A KEYNOTE, TRAINING Or COACHING ENGAGEMENT!