John Daniel Richardson
Enthusiastic Leader

If you know JDR...you truly know JDR. 

A story that best describes JDR's authenticity and zeal for life comes from his wife Kelly.  After sharing his entire life story in about an hour on their first date with his wife Kelly, she promptly asked him, "Do you do this on all of your first dates...and how does that work for you?" 

True to himself, John replied that he does. 

He will tell you that life is too short, to be dull and boring. 

To help others fully live the life God has called them to live, John has formed the habit of quickly transitioning from a superficial head-level conversation to a meaningful heart-level conversation.

John's desire to be truly known and to authentically know others stems from four meaningful experiences in his formative years.

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First, John will proudly share with you that he is a Nashville native who was raised in a loving family that included his dad (John), a retired Master Sergeant in the Tennessee Army National Guard, his mom (Teresa), a retired pre-school educator, his brother (Michael) a successful cyber security guru and Senior Master Sergeant in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and his loving and very patient Italian grandmother (Irene).  From the quality time he spent with his family, John learned the value of volunteerism, the importance of always being curious, and the joy of making time to enjoy fun experiences with the people you love.

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Second, John will enthusiastically describe the adventures he had in the Boy Scouts of America and that he is proud to be an Eagle Scout.  From his days in Scouting, John learned the importance of being prepared in life and the values of being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

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Third, a conversation with John will sometimes include his positive  educational experiences he had as a Metro Nashville Public Schools student at Meigs Magnet Middle School and Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School.  In fact, John proudly has framed art in his Brentwood home that features Hume-Fogg's historical white castle building.  While at HFA, John learned the value of appreciating diversity, the importance of teamwork, and how much can be accomplished through synergy when we first seek to understand others and find win-win solutions through collaboration.

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In John's last wrestling match of his high school senior year, he broke his neck in a tragic accident.  The doctors who attended to him during this time in his life said that he should have died or at least be paralyzed from the neck down.  Through God's amazing grace, John has fully healed from this tragic event with no long-term side effects. As a result of this near death experience, John's desire to make every day count and live life to its fullest was even further amplified.

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Finally, while attending the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), John learned the value of service-minded leadership through his active participation in campus life.  While John graduated from UTK with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minor in Spanish, he would tell you that he actually majored in extra-curricular activities.  While he participated in almost every activity that college has to offer, he is most proud of his years of service as a Resident Assistant, his service in the Student Government Association, his membership in the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, and his Summer job selling books and Bibles door-to-door.  It was during his 5-year door-to-door Bible sales experience that John would develop a more meaningful personal relationship with his Heavenly Father and discover his love for turning strangers into close friends.

Life is a precious gift from God.  John feels called to lead others to make the most of each day by helping them align their values with their time, talents, and treasures.

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Since graduating from college to return home to Nashville, John has enjoyed serving others in his successful career as a financial professional and his involvement as a leader in numerous non-profit organizations.

Professionally John has built a successful career as comprehensive fee-based financial planner in Brentwood, TN with over 17 years of experience.  He enjoys helping like-minded people live their best lives by helping them be good stewards of what God has provided them through the alignment of their financial decisions with their values.

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When he is not busy helping his clients, you will find John busy most nights and weekends involved as a leader in several local non-profit organizations.

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With the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), the nation's largest association for financial services professionals, John has served and continues to serve at the local, state, and federal levels in many volunteer roles that include: Past-President of NAIFA-Nashville, Past-President of NAIFA-Tennessee, Lobbyist for annual trips to Washington D.C. to advocate on behalf of his clients and other financial professionals in our industry, Graduate and two-time Moderator with NAIFA's Leadership in Life Institute, NAIFA 2025 Strategic Planning Committee Member, Governance Committee Member, NAIFA Virtual Learning Committee Chairman, and in 2018 John was chosen NAIFA Young Advisor Team Leader of the Year Award Recipient.  Through this experience John has demonstrated his ability to successfully lead teams of volunteers at the local, state, and national levels.

With the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America, John has served and continues to serve as a Council-Level Executive Committee member, a Heritage Society member, a two-year District Chairman, an Eagle Scout mentor, a merit badge counselor, a MT60 Wood Badge Buffalo, and for 11 years John served as adult leader with the same Boy Scout Troop that he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.  Through this experience John has served as a positive role model for our nation's future leaders by living by the Boy Scout Oath and Law.

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With the Davidson County Election Commission, John has served for 20+ years as a poll worker and Officer of Elections.  Through this experience  John has learned Tennessee election laws and how to create a quality experience for voters while ensuring that the rules are followed on election day.

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With the Christian organization, Music City Tres Dias, John serves faithfully on men's weekends that occur every six months.  In the Fall of 2019, John led a team of 150+ volunteers and candidates as the MCTD #35 Rector.  Through this experience John has learned how to unconditionally love and serve others.

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Within Tennessee Politics, John has served as the campaign manager for numerous Metro Nashville City Council and State Representative races.  Through this experience, John has showcased his ability to lead a team to victory through intentionality and hard work, and how to lose graciously when his team has come up short.  

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John is an active member in several fraternal organizations that include:  The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, Delta Kappa Chapter of the  Phi Kappa Tau (University of Tennessee) Housing Board of Directors, Order of the Arrow Wa-Hi-Nasa Lodge #111 BSA, West Nashville Phoenix Lodge #131 F&AM, Al Menah Shriners, Nashville Valley Scottish Rite, and Franklin York Rite.  Through this experience John enjoys the fellowship of Brothers who seek to make our world a better place through their cheerful service to others.

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John, his wife Kelly, and their fun-loving rescue dog Piper live in Brentwood, TN.  John enjoys serving his neighbors as the Secretary on The Heights at Autumn Oaks homeowners association board of directors.    Kelly Richardson, DPT, is a graduate from Belmont University's Doctorate of Physical Therapy program and specializes in serving vestibular patients as a physical therapist at Ascension/St. Thomas Hospital.

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John and Kelly worship and serve at The Village Chapel.  For fun, John and Kelly aka "Team Jolly" enjoy traveling and spending quality time with their friends and family.  John's hobbies include playing table top strategy board games, attending live comedy events, and taking fun photos with people with his trademarked thumbs up.

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