Meet Rondal Richardson | Entertainment Philanthropist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rondal Richardson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rondal, how do you think about risk?
When I was 17, I really wasn’t certain what courage looked like. As a seventh-generation Tennessean including an indirect line to Davy Crockett, courage was not something that was widely discussed at the dinner table. I do think that most humans of my time were taught that by taking risks you were somehow made to believe that you might be taking something that would belong to someone else. In May of my junior year of high school, a job presented itself to me in a way that would ultimately require that I summon every ounce of courage possible. A gentleman who attended my same high school from a previous decade was looking for a roadie for some country music bands, specifically to sell “merch” on the road in the summer of 1986.

It’s not that I was so afraid of the job or certainly not of the travel! That seemed life-changing, like the big scene in a movie where the character turns right and you know it’s right…but you just don’t know at the time. I was as sure of the decision to pursue that as I had been of anything in my life before or since.

What I was afraid of- truly- was asking my parents if I could actually go out on the road for the job. I had already had a glimpse of a summer of freedom and magic in the mayhem when I dreamed about how I would ask them. What I was about to experience that summer would (still) take my breath away.

The first hurdle was Mom and Dad.

And turns out it wasn’t much of a hurdle at all. After ten agonizing minutes of pushing the peas around my plate over a dozen times, I finally felt brave enough to make the big ask. Can I do this? Would you allow me to get on a bus with a bunch of strangers and let me go and sell merchandise at concerts and meet all of these crazy characters and oh by the way it’s a cash business and nefarious for long nights and proclivity for tomfoolery?

After I presented my best and worst case scenarios, my Mom put her fork down and very quietly and reverently said, “You are crazy if you don’t do this.”

Was she ever right.

And the rest is history. That single moment of risk rewarded me in ways that still exist almost 40 years later.

I have a feeling that people thrive more through risk than they might otherwise believe. The stories we make up in our heads about all the things that could go wrong inevitably prevent us from doing the things that are the very next right thing to do.

Since then, every single thing I ever did professionally in life had an “over/under meter” of risk assessment associated to that first big ask of my parents for my very first job in life.

Not all risk is rewarded. But my hunch is that if we all were inspired to take more risks- that we live our dreams out loud more profoundly. With risk, life feels more amplified and curated to respect the risk.

Your gift will always make room for you.

But even more so with a little risk attached to it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I learned hospitality from watching the artists that I worked with treat others however they encountered them: in the middle of the night at truck stops and in baseball parks, at autograph sessions and enchanting dinners with the same dignity and respect that each of us deserve from the world.

My parents were the first civil servants I knew- and that was breathed into me as much as compassion and grace for others were. For the past eighteen years, I have been actively raising money for charities and nonprofit initiatives- often with a co-pilot or two who can navigate us to opportunities that I couldn’t have once imagined and have spent the last six years at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee helping donors who want to live out their wildest philanthropic dreams. It was the job, the career, the life that I was born for.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The trinity of goodness in our beloved city for me: Radnor Lake, Loveless and The Bluebird Cafe.

This is a wildly entrepreneurial city full of interesting people and imaginative places. The legends who walked the halls and trails of our fair city long before us would be bustling with pride that we have been a city blessed by music, magic and hospitality. It’s the only place in the world I could ever imagine living!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Dr. Brene Brown changed my life by brilliantly navigating the force-field of vocabulary around it. She has helped me (and millions of others) find ways to describe feelings and emotions like no other human has ever done.

I’m super grateful to my parents for teaching me to raise my hand more and to my siblings who are my superheroes. My immediate family of twenty are the best people I know; it is from them that comes a majority of my inspiration and hope.

I have so many musical friends and mentors who amplified radical hospitality for me and helped cultivate individuality and creativity in me, both personally and professionally. This is an epic scroll of humans who took risk after risk after risk and paved the way so that a career like mine could take shape and thereby help me help others to change the world.

For every teacher, colleague, priest, host and challenger I ever had- who taught me the value of being curious about the galaxy- you all live firmly in my heart, forever.

Website: https://www.cfmt.org/about/team/rondal-richardson/

Instagram: @rockinrondal

Linkedin: Rondal Richardson

Twitter: @rockinrondal

Facebook: Rondal Richardson

Image Credits
These are all from my personal collection- no photographer credits needed.