Kathleen Richardson spent most of her distinguished advertising career working for some of the biggest brand names in American food.

Chains like McDonald’s, Pepsi, Starbucks and Panera. On some occasions she worked as part of an in-house marketing department; other times she worked for ad agencies that had contracts with the firms.

“But all along I wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity, and I knew Richmond was a good market to start something,” the Richmond native and Virginia Commonwealth University graduate said.

So on Feb. 3, 2010, she opened The Urban Farmhouse & Café. The economy was sputtering and a massive snowstorm (remember that was the winter of “snopocalypse”) hit town during opening weekend.

But the store made a profit in its first year, and now Richardson is starting to eye sites for a possible expansion.

“This culminates what I learned from a brand and sales standpoint,” she said. “Because my background was in corporate marketing, I know how to build a brand and a good customer experience. I had to learn the operations side, things like equipment, electric and plumbing.”

The café has some direct relationships with local farmers, and it relies on Charlottesville-based Cavalier Produce for most other supplies.

“I learned the hard way that being just one unit makes it hard to work directly with farmers,” she said. “But we do want to go as local as possible. Last year we worked with AgriBerry, and each week we took whatever berries they had and adjusted our recipes and menus based on what was coming in.”

Cavalier works to source as much of its materials as possible from farms and suppliers within 200 miles of Charlottesville. And many of the products sold on the shelves of the Farmhouse are bought directly from local suppliers.

Though she hasn’t settled on a site for the next location, Richardson hopes to sign a lease soon and then get the new café open in a matter of months. She said the timeline is “ASAP; I would love to be open by late spring.”

Urban Farmhouse is also drawing interest from investors and people who want to open franchises in other markets.

“I want to grow in a healthy fashion, and not too fast,” Richardson said. “I think we could do some things along the I-95 and I-64 corridor because we could use many of the same suppliers and farms.”

Though the business is only two years old, it has survived more than just a shaky economy and unusual weather. On Aug. 14, 2010, her landlord, developer Justin French, was arrested at Richmond International airport. He eventually pleaded guilty to charges of misusing historic tax credits and wire fraud; he is serving a 16-year sentence in federal prison.

The building that houses Urban Farmhouse was bought in February 2011 by Jerry Cable, owner of The Tobacco Company. Richardson said she’s enjoyed a “very positive working relationship” with the new landlord and is now working on innovative ways to grow and strengthen that block of East Cary Street.

With those challenges behind her, and with the market for local and organic food steadily growing, Richardson hopes to have an Urban Farmhouse open near you soon.

You can read more coverage of Richmond’s natural food sector here.