GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Sparkle and smarts.
Paris Richardson has that, and then some.
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The 23-year-old is the reigning Miss Gainesville, a future healthcare leader, and just earned her Master’s in Health Administration at the University of Florida.
From dreaming of healthcare solutions at the age of seven to creating the “Ribault Get Raw” healthcare club in high school, Richardson was on a mission to transform community wellness long before becoming a pageant queen. And as a contestant in this summer’s 2025 Miss Florida contest, she’s got a powerful platform, Crown of Health.
It’s a call to action that stands for Community, Research, Outreach, Wellness, and Nutrition. Paris wants to level the playing field and promote health equity for all. That’s her goal, as she dreams of becoming a hospital CEO with a vision of also expanding school-based health centers nationwide.
Paris said at her hospital, she hoped you never had to be admitted.
“I want you to be healthy at home,” she said. “Helping other people’s healthcare helps us. We are less susceptible to chronic illnesses or less susceptible to the flu if everyone’s getting their flu shots.”
As a healthcare administrator, she said this way of thinking would also help her lower hospital costs for patients and their families.
“If we can focus on these upstream factors and upstream determinants,” Richardson said with confidence. “Helping people understand that they can help themselves before we have to help them, it’ll make a huge difference.”
Paris also said her journey wasn’t always easy; the setbacks, the self-doubt.
“I’ve had a lot of times where I’ve been told no,” Paris says with a smirk. “And I kind of like it. It’s weird. I kind of like being told no. It makes me want it more.”
She said with the right people in your corner and a whole lot of passion and determination, the triumphant comebacks are priceless.
Watch the full interview from the “Discover the Joy: The Purdy Podcast” below: