Meet Iesha Richard of Psalm’s Choice, Kimberlin

Hello to everyone taking the time to read my interview! My name is Iesha Richard. I’m a Louisiana native who has spent, now, majority of her life in the great city of Houston!

Above all, my parents choosing to have the tough and “mature” conversations with me while growing up set me on the path that I am on today. Throughout life, so many people adopt the belief that not addressing something means it’ll buy you more time, the problem will fix itself, or you simply just won’t have to deal with it. That’s absolutely false. My overall mission is to simply spread wisdom and encourage others to deal with the same hard truths (that we all face) so that we can succeed beyond them. I hate seeing how lack of knowledge and wisdom plagues the world. With so much technology in this world so many still don’t aim to take this advantage to learn and grow into better people. I’d love to help push a culture/society of accountability and generational barrier breakers. My parents held me accountable from a very young age. They have made mistakes and I’ve definitely made mine, but it was never the end. Even with my father spending the last 8 years in prison it has not been the end for my family.

I hold several roles in life currently: Believer, Individual, Wife/Manager, Mother, Chapter Lead, and Business Owner. And although I’d say my hands are completely full, I just continue to prep myself mentally knowing God will continue changing my seasons while adding or even taking away roles.

I have definitely had to overcome struggles, just like anyone else. But, when I think back on past struggles, I immediately come to the realization that I made it through and it doesn’t seem so bad. They prepped me to serve purpose today. I’d say my biggest struggles were my father being incarcerated 3 different times in my life, nursing school, and marriage.

When it came to my father being in prison there were several struggles. One, I have a loving father, but he was parenting from outside the household. Two, I had subconscious imprints made on me regarding relationships/marriage, fatherhood, and communicating emotions that I had to realize may not be healthy. And lastly, it’s awkward to explain that your father is in prison and coping with how that makes me feel. I am forever thankful that through my life I’ve still had my father aim to be as present as possible. I also have a community of family and friends who cared enough to help me blossom into the woman I am today. I am able to say that I am not my father, so there’s no reason for me to hold shame for his actions. There’s also no reason for me to hold pain or anger in about how I was impacted due to his absence. My healing in that area started once I chose to become vocal on my feelings.

Nursing school was a struggle that I can say woke me up. I loved all of the learning and the person it molded me into. It PUSHED me every step of the way. In high school, I graduated with a GPA higher than a 4.0. When attaining my pre-requisites to get into nursing school I didn’t have to try too hard. But once in nursing school… I worked up until the LAST exam to maintain a B average. All of my classmates adapted the mindset of “JUST PASS”. We couldn’t afford to get stuck on egos. I was puzzled because it was immediately out of my norm. I had to adapt new ways to study, needed all the study partners I could get, attended many tutorial sessions, and was turning down all social life events. A complete 180 from my previous college routine of class, work, party, repeat. But above all, I’m thankful because nursing school started me on a self-journey. I grew spiritually and took a healthier outlook on myself from a holistic standpoint. So many times I felt that it was just me and God. And that’s exactly where I needed to be.

My last most significant struggle is marriage. In no way am I saying I hate it or regret it. But, it has required daily dying to self from my husband and I, while becoming the most beautiful experience. We all get married with OUR own vision. Even with all of the pre-marriage counselling available, it still doesn’t take away the process of becoming one. Like most, you realize you married your complete opposite and the journey to one flesh gets real! I’m very social while my husband is the definition on an introvert. We practiced abstinence during our dating so we just knew that we knew soooo much about each other. And we did! I knew his struggles, he knew mine, but we didn’t necessarily know the depth or strongholds they had on us. July 20th will make 5 years of marriage and I’m glad I’ve given my husband and myself room to grow and change. There are times we are so in sync it tickles us. I truly believe our faith and community of people who hold us accountable to our covenant with God and one another has made the most impact. I believe that these 5 years have been foundation setting for much more that God has called us to.

So once again, struggles are REAL. But when you work through them verses sit on them, you see that it was only a season. And, during that season, God only prepared you for what’s next!

As mentioned, I serve in several roles. I am a full-time registered nurse. I help manage/run Kimberlin, LLC which is my husband’s art-based company. He specializes in commissioned paintings, music, and tattoos. I am also a Houston Chapter Lead for Social Tea (a women’s networking organization) and owner of Psalm’s Choice, which will launch this year! My favorite roles are wife and mother. I’m forever finding the balance to nurture my household.

I’m getting used to talking about myself. I’ve always been an actions over words type of individual so saying “this or that” about myself never really excited me. But you asked, so I’ll answer! I believe what separates me from others is simply my “mother like” personality, my ability to serve, and the excitement I get from sharing others’ success. I’ve stated before that my biggest blessings have come from the obedience of serving. Wanting a career that helped people lead me to nursing. I initially wanted to make a difference as a lawyer and work on cases such as child abuse, but I couldn’t get with the “cut throat” aspect of being a lawyer. With the help of others, I was lead to nursing. It’s so important to educate our community on the PREVENTION phase of healthcare vs. only treatment. Nursing has helped me gain and share knowledge we don’t even think about until we are diagnosed with a disease. After graduating, I needed to find purpose in socializing that I enjoyed. I became a team member of The Writer’s Block (a local Houston organization who showcases local talent and does community outreach). That role lead me to meeting my husband and starting my family. In 2019, I picked up the role as a Chapter Lead with Social Tea because I loved the vision statement: Win With Us. That’s simply what I enjoy. Uplifting others, connecting people, and spreading what I’ve learned so that individuals can heal and live out their purpose.

My business is still in the making but I will soon be providing shoes hand picked by me and available online to shop. I’ve always had brains but my style has gotten just as much recognition. I’m always getting DMs from followers asking where did I get something I’m wearing, and mainly my shoes. I often get comments saying they wouldn’t think to dress something the way I did or have the courage to rock a certain heel. It’s all confidence based and learning and maturing YOUR style. With Kimberlin, LLC I am fully able to stand behind my husband as an artist because I know the work he does is God given. He aims and works to perfect his craft, but it is all self-taught. He doesn’t aim to follow trends and I respect it. We are often told he is very genuine with customers. Honest opinions and suggestions are given before we even accept payment for services. We aim to provide an alternative to the digital craze we are all in today. Paintings are items that can be valued and passed down to future generations. From portraits to abstract my hubby, Tony Ri’Chard, can do it all.

At this point in life, success for me is to be an example to my daughter well enough that she simply blossoms into a good human being and continues to nurture good human beings. A legacy of love, faith, hard work, and honesty will bring all the other things we desire. The responsibility of raising a child and having them go into the “real world” with wisdom and not self-limiting trauma seems to get harder and harder. Of course I’d also want her to keep everything my husband and I have built going for future generations, but that would be her choice. The peace of knowing we did our best at raising her would allow all else to not seem so pressingly important.