Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Trenace Richardson.
Hi Dr. Trenace, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is really a story of growth, reinvention, and learning how to lead with both purpose and soul.
I grew up in Chesapeake, Virgina and education became one of the most important pathways in my life. I earned my bachelor’s degree from Elizabeth City State University and started my career as an English teacher. I eventually found my way into higher education. I earned a master’s degree in Religious Studies from Howard University and later pursued my doctorate in Leadership Development and Higher Education Administration at George Washington University. That doctorate took me ten years, included becoming a mother, and came with more than a few moments when I wondered whether I would actually finish. But I did. That experience taught me a lot about perseverance and about what it means to keep becoming, even when the path doesn’t look the way you imagined it would.
Professionally, I moved from teaching into higher education administration and leadership. I’ve worked in academic and organizational leadership, including serving as a campus dean and dean of faculty, and eventually moved into human resources and organizational development. Today, I serve as the Associate Vice President of Organizational Development, Talent, and Engagement at the College of Southern Maryland, where much of my work centers around leadership development, employee engagement, organizational culture, learning, and helping institutions become places where both people and performance can thrive.
But my professional life is only one part of my story.
I’m also an entrepreneur, speaker, writer, singer, ordained minister, and someone who has always been deeply interested in the human experience. I founded REAL Women Rock, a 501c3 nonprofit, because I wanted to create the kind of space where women could show up as their whole selves, not just as their professional titles or the roles they carry for everyone else. Through REAL Women, I’ve had the privilege of building communities where women connect, grow, encourage one another, and become catalysts for change in their own lives. REAL Women Rock creates safe spaces for women to do REAL soul work on themselves through sister circles and other intimate gatherings.
As a result of my many decades of experience and expertise, I started Trenace Richardson Enterprises LLC to house my consulting business and creative pursuits. I provide leadership enhancement, team development, and personal enrichment for individuals and organizations. I also do keynote speeches for events at churches, businesses, and non-profits. I also write books and articles and sing under this umbrella.
I’m also developing Songbird Sanctuary Farm and the Southern Maryland Farming Collective, which have given me another way to think about community, nourishment, sustainability, and connection. Songbird Sanctuary Farm is a small regenerative farm rooted in growing food, nourishing the soul, and cultivating community.
I founded the Southern Maryland Farming Collective, a grassroots community bringing farmers together to share resources, support one another, and build a stronger agricultural community in Southern Maryland. My vision is to continue growing it into a cooperative model where farmers aren’t trying to figure everything out alone, but can leverage our collective knowledge, resources, and relationships.There is something powerful about growing things, whether you’re growing people, organizations, businesses, relationships, or food.
And perhaps the biggest thread through all of it is that I’ve become increasingly interested in the intersection of leadership, humanity, spirituality, and purpose. I’ve experienced enough life to know that success isn’t simply about getting to the next title or accomplishing the next goal. It’s about becoming the person who can carry what you’ve been entrusted with, while still having a life that feels meaningful.
So, if I had to summarize how I got here, I would say I followed a series of doors that kept opening, sometimes while I was still figuring out who I was becoming. Teaching led me to higher education. Higher education led me to organizational leadership. My own experiences with faith, identity, motherhood, leadership, and community led me to entrepreneurship and service.
And now, I see all of those experiences as pieces of the same mosaic. I’m still building it, but I’ve learned that the pieces don’t have to look alike to belong to the same picture.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I don’t think I would want it to be.
There have been seasons when I had to keep going without knowing exactly how things were going to work out. One of the biggest examples was earning my doctorate. It took me ten years. During that time, I became a mother, experienced the loss of work I had poured myself into when my dissertation was lost after a laptop failure, and had to start over. There were plenty of moments when I questioned whether I was going to finish. But I did. And that experience taught me that perseverance isn’t always about moving quickly. Sometimes it’s simply about refusing to stop.
I’ve also had to navigate career transitions, stepping into leadership before I always felt completely ready, learning how to lead organizations and people through change, and figuring out how to balance being a professional leader with being a wife, mother, daughter, friend, entrepreneur, and community builder.
There have also been personal and spiritual seasons that challenged some of the things I thought I understood about myself and my purpose. I’ve had to rethink what success means to me and become comfortable with the idea that my life doesn’t have to fit neatly into one box.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that the difficult seasons weren’t interruptions to my story. They were part of the formation of the person I was becoming.
So no, it hasn’t been a smooth road. It’s been a winding one. But when I look back, I can see that even the detours taught me something I needed for the next part of the journey. Today, I don’t necessarily measure success by how easy the road is. I measure it by whether I’m continuing to grow, whether I’m making a meaningful contribution, and whether I’m becoming more fully who I’m meant to be.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about REAL Women Rock?
REAL Women Rock® is a women’s growth and leadership community that I founded because I believe women need spaces where they can take off the armor, tell the truth about where they are, and still be encouraged to become who they are capable of becoming.
At its heart, REAL Women is about “connection, confidence, and becoming catalysts of positive change”. We create safe, intentional spaces where women can have meaningful conversations, explore their personal and professional growth, build relationships, and support one another. Our signature experience is our Sister Circles, which bring women together in intimate settings for honest conversation, reflection, encouragement, and growth.
What sets REAL Women apart is that we aren’t simply another networking organization, professional development program, or women’s social group. We care about the “whole woman”. We recognize that you can be accomplished and still be figuring things out. You can be a leader and still need support. You can be strong and still need a place where you don’t have to be strong all the time.
Our community is built around values like humility, authenticity, vulnerability, empathy, acceptance, support, encouragement, accountability, and transparency. Those aren’t just words on a website. They shape the way we gather and the kind of relationships we want women to experience.
I’m particularly proud of the community we’ve built. What started as an idea has grown into a network of women who continue to show up for themselves and for one another. We’ve created spaces where women who might never have crossed paths otherwise can sit around the same table and discover that their stories have more in common than they realized.
We’re also evolving. REAL Women is moving toward a stronger membership-based community with ALL Access membership, exclusive experiences, Sister Circles, growth opportunities, and programming designed to help women move from simply having conversations about their lives to actually doing something with what they discover.
Ultimately, I want people to understand that REAL Women Rock isn’t about creating perfect women. It’s about creating a community where “REAL women can grow together in a safe space.
That’s probably what I’m most proud of from a brand perspective. The name says REAL Women Rock and the real promise is that “you don’t have to pretend to belong here”.
To join the movement that is REAL Women Rock, your audience can join one of our sister circles at https://www.realwomenrock.org/findcircle. They can become ALL Access Members with benefits at https://www.realwomenrock.org/membership. They can become Connectors to help us convene a sister circle in their area at https://www.realwomenrock.org/connector. And lastly, they can become a trained Facilitator to learn how to create safe spaces for women at https://www.realwomenrock.org/facilitatortraining.
Lastly, if this is shared with your audience before Oct. 17th, we would love for the women in your audience to join us at our annual intensive in Springfield, VA. Feel free to get more information and register at https://www.realwomenrock.org/event-details/real-women-rock-micro-intensive-2026.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I’ve learned that mentorship and networking are less about collecting contacts and more about building genuine relationships.
Early in my career, I thought I needed to find someone who could give me all the answers. Over time, I realized that I actually needed a variety of people: people who had walked the road before me, people who were walking alongside me, and sometimes people who were a few steps behind me who could teach me something too.
My advice is to be intentional about putting yourself in rooms where the people you want to learn from are. Join organizations, volunteer for meaningful work, serve on committees, attend conferences, participate in professional and community organizations, and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself. But don’t approach every interaction with, “What can this person do for me?” Ask, “What can I learn here, and what can I contribute?”
I’ve also found that some of my most meaningful relationships didn’t begin as formal mentor relationships. They developed organically because I kept showing up, asking thoughtful questions, doing good work, and staying connected. Sometimes the mentor relationship comes after the relationship has already been established.
And I believe in having what I call a **personal board of directors**. You don’t necessarily need one person to be your mentor for everything. You might have someone who challenges your thinking, someone who understands your industry, someone who knows your heart, someone who has financial or entrepreneurial wisdom, and someone who will tell you the truth when you don’t want to hear it.
Finally, don’t underestimate what you bring to the relationship. Networking isn’t just about finding people who are further along than you. You have experiences, knowledge, relationships, and perspectives that someone else may need. So show up with curiosity, but also with generosity.
For me, the best networking has never been about having the most business cards. It’s been about building relationships strong enough that, years later, we can still pick up the phone and say, “I thought of you when I saw this,” or “I think you need to meet this person.”
That’s the kind of network worth building.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.realwomenrock.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realwomenrockorg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realwomenrockorg
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtrenacerichardson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@REALWomenRockOrg
