• Mom LaeTania Richardson, 52, recently went viral after sharing her experience of getting a patent while out with her friends
• Richardson tells PEOPLE she even asked security to repeat her request to make sure she heard him correctly
• However, Richardson says there’s an even bigger compliment than being told she looks young for her age.

At 52, LaeTania Richardson says she’s no stranger to being told she looks young, but when she got carded at a night out with friends, she ended up going viral on TikTok.

“I was going out to celebrate my friend Danielle’s 50th birthday and so I decided to take her out to dinner,” Richardson told PEOPLE. “We went to Level 8 here in Los Angeles.”

“As we approached the (security) booth, there were people in front of us, and the guy kind of let them in, and then he stopped us and he said, ‘I’m going to need a ID from you,’” she recalls. . “And I’m like, ‘What? I have to film this because I know you’re not asking me for ID. ”

He says, “Yeah, I need your ID,” adds the Los Angeles resident and entrepreneur.

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Rightly, she captioned the video – which has more than 3.6 million views – “when you get a patent at 52”.

After deciding the moment needed to be captured, Richardson says she “gave my camera to the host, who was standing next to him, and she started recording.”

She even asked security to repeat her request to make sure he was asking for his ID. When she responded by saying she was 52, she said the bouncer responded with one word: “What?

Although people are shocked by her age “it happens a lot,” Richardson said what surprised her about this particular incident was that the people in front of her in line were not asked to provide their identity document.

She also adds that she was flattered by this request, because she felt quite beautiful that evening. “Thanks for the nod, thanks for the recognition,” she says of how she felt in that moment.

Still, even though she thought what happened was “a cute moment,” she admits she was shocked that the video “blew up.”

“It’s become this thing,” she adds, “it’s crazy to me.”

Richardson, who has only been on TikTok for about a year, says her pride in being 52 is what pushed her to start sharing her life on the platform.

“For me, growing old is a luxury that is not accessible to everyone. I feel like a lot of women get to 40 and say, ‘You know, I’m old, I’m afraid to start again,’ and it dawns on them,” she says. “And for I’m just one of those people who say “No!” “Be proud of who you are, you have so much experience behind you…I accept it wholeheartedly.”

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Asked by PEOPLE about her secrets to staying young, Richardson says there’s no big mystery.

“I’ve been using Noxema since I was 12. I get this little stick of cocoa butter from the beauty supply store, and then every six weeks I get microdermabrasion,” she says. “So that’s the full routine.”

Plus, sticking to a “very disciplined” diet helps Richardson improve her appearance, as she tells PEOPLE that she “almost never eats fast food” and doesn’t “drink alcohol” or “smokes cigarettes” – and abstains from soda. favor of “lots and lots of water”.

If there’s a secret, Richardson thinks it’s “keeping a young mind.”

“I think sometimes when we reach a certain age, people feel like they have to bring it down,” she says, sharing that one thing she tries to avoid at all costs is stress. useless.

Richardson believes that being a mom to a 21-year-old son “keeps her young” as well, although she admits that having such a young-looking mother wasn’t always something he enjoyed in high school .

Overall, Richardson says there’s an even bigger compliment than being told she looks young for her age.

“I live my life every day with the intention of what will make me happy. The biggest compliment I get, especially on social media, is when someone says my inside matches my outside,” she says. “That means everything to me.”