Leadership in Action: ‘Family, Community and Spiritual Connection’ Drives Success for Henry Richardson
Al Torres
Oct. 3, 2024
How did you get to where you are today? The present moment is a combined history of my family, my time as an athlete, my passion for learning, and my desire to see the world be better. I grew up as a successful springboard and platform diver, however, an injury caused me to seek alternative treatments to heal my body. In that process, I discovered the power of yoga, exercise, meditation, mindset, and nutrition. This holistic approach eventually led me to open a Pilates and cycling studio called DEFINE body & mind. I opened studios around the nation, and after selling most of my business between 2017-2019, I was ready to explore how I could make an even greater impact on the wellbeing of our community. In 2023, I started actively working on a brand new multi-family/apartment concept called, Define Living. The idea focused on offering health and wellness services within a beautiful apartment setting to increase the wellbeing of our residents. Having a strong sense of community is the number one factor in living a happy life, so why not build a community where daily fitness, cooking classes, and social connection are the norm? We opened Define Living in March of 2024, and we couldn’t be happier with how things are being received. We are already looking at building more concepts like this in the Houston area and beyond.
Who do you credit? I credit my family, my community, and my spiritual connection. Houston is a place where opportunities exist. I did my MBA at Rice University and my Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology at UPenn. I am so grateful for the enriching communities of Rice and UPenn where they genuinely want to see their students thrive. These institutions have become my springboard from which I feel I could jump with the knowledge and confidence to launch the concept of Define Living. And, without any doubt, I give credit to my family and friends. I used to get a lot of inquisitive looks when I would talk about launching a fitness brand or a franchise brand. However, I now feel very loved and supported by the people closest to me when I tell them about a new project that I am focusing on. They can sense my passion, and that is contagious.
What lessons have you learned that might enlighten and inspire others?
Here are several:
1) Swim in your own lane.
2) Learn as much as you can about your industry while getting paid by someone else.
3) Starting your own business is risky, time-consuming, and challenging, but your passion will take you far.
4) It’s okay to be skeptical, but avoid becoming cynical.
5) As Mother Theresa stated, “What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.”
What’s new in your life or work that you’re excited about? I am so happy with how well our first Define Living has been received. I worked hard to build a program that was transforming and accessible. To know that we are attracting a group of people who are diverse in every sense of the word while elevating their wellbeing is incredibly motivating for me each day. This inspires me to bring this concept nationwide and add more health and wellbeing to communities across the globe!
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THERE'S A REASON that many Houstonians glorify a quaintly picturesque life on Nantucket. Actually, there are several: a storied history, charming shops, cobblestone streets, impossibly fresh oysters (and need we even mention the weather?).
For those wanting to be close to all the action, the harbor is where to stay. The Cottages at the Boat Basin are a row of Quaker-style houses on the slip that juts into the harbor — the closest thing to staying on the water without being on a boat. Renovated this year by Nantucket-based designer Audrey Sterk, each little house is inspired by a whaling ship from a time, 300 years ago, when the island was the busiest whaling port in the world. With a color palette of — what else — deep ocean blue and misty gray, the historic accommodations have been revamped without altering the architecture. Original details, including the vaulted ceiling beams, remain.
Surrounding the Cottages are art galleries and eateries; the adjacent Cru oyster bar has day parties with East Coast prepsters galore.
From here, it’s a picturesque walk along cobblestone streets to Nantucket’s small downtown. Nestled in the maze of shingle-style architecture and Greek revival buildings — take the walking tour from the Whaling Museum for the full story on the marriage of these two styles — are charming shops and ultra-hip restaurants. Located in a former sea captain’s house, stylish Via Mare offers mostly small plates and cool cocktails in environs akin to Houston’s La Colombe d’Or.
Meanwhile, on the northeast end of Nantucket, find The Cottages’ sister property, The Wauwinet. It’s a quieter, but equally scenic, hotel overrun with lush hydrangeas bathed in fresh sea air. The hotel’s restaurant, Topper’s, is overseen by its namesake — an Airedale Terrier — in the form of a large oil painting hung prominently in the dining room. The oysters here are harvested a literal stone’s throw from the restaurant, and the wine program has been annually awarded the Wine Spectator Grand since 1996. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a nice pour overlooking the water, while daydreaming about staying on island forever.
Oysters at Cru
Sankaty Head Lighthouse
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PINK FLOYD'S THE Wall. Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours. Beyonce’s Lemonade. Three divergent examples of the album as a cathartic, psychological, conceptual work, meant to be experienced in a single sitting. Houston singer-songwriter Jacob Hilton, 37, who records as Travid Halton, a portmanteau of his mother and father’s names, might balk at being mentioned in such company. (This is a thoroughly unpretentious man, who describes himself as an “archaeologist turned singer-songwriter.”)
Nevertheless, Hilton’s brand-new Obsessions is a low-key though no less powerful contribution to the concept-album genre. Across 10 tracks, Hilton shares his experiences with childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He’s joined by several H-Town luminaries, including Geoffrey Muller (bassist for The Suffers and Robert Ellis); Will Van Horn (pedal steel player for Khruangbin and Leon Bridges); Matt Serice (trumpet player for Bayou City Funk and Free Radicals); and Ellen Story (violinist for Slow Meadow and The Broken Spokes). For his part, Hilton is heard playing resonator guitar, dobro, steel-string acoustic guitar, banjo, and piano.
Throughout Obsessions, Hilton sings with a quiet urgency and a range of expression perhaps reminiscent of Jakob Dylan or Iron and Wine, but with a voice that is uniquely his own.
Hilton describes the album’s first two tracks as two halves of a whole: “Little Bayou Boy,” a bucolic homage to childhood, and “Blossom,” about his mother, Tracy Hall, in the throes of a psychotic episode. Hall, who died in 2010, was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a child. In 2016, Hilton went to a screening of a documentary about schizophrenia, and was then inspired to finish “Blossom,” which he began at age 15 to express his conflicting feelings about his mother. “The next day, I sat with my guitar and strummed the first few chords of the song, and the first few lines of lyrics just came out effortlessly.”
Hilton has come to manage the debilitating symptoms of OCD with therapy, sessions with a licensed psychologist, and sticking to a daily routine that includes regular exercise and healthy eating.
While Hilton, who is indeed an archaeologist by day, doesn’t have immediate plans to perform Obsessions live, he can imagine eventually playing it at a house concert, with all of the musicians on the album as special guests. In the meantime, his next four-song EP drops early 2025.
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