With the Woman Wednesday series, CatMax Photography introduces you to exceptional female entrepreneurs who have gone through the CatMax Personal Branding Experience. Today, we invite you to meet Cristi Holcombe of Cristi Holcombe Interiors and CH Home.
Cristi Holcombe, founder of Cristi Holcombe Interiors and CH Home
Photo Credit: CatMax Photography
One of Cristi Holcombe’s most important experiences in the interior design industry began with a suggestion. When Holcombe was a recent college graduate, one of her furniture sales clients suggested a design friend hire Holcombe as an assistant. That recommendation turned into an incredible apprenticeship. “She designed a wide variety of projects during the year I worked for her, so I gained so much knowledge about various facets of the industry,” Holcombe says.
Coupled with her interior merchandising degree, that experience helped lay the groundwork for a celebrated design career that spans interiors for residences and hotels and includes television work, plus magazine awards and features.
Embracing the Ups and Downs of the Entrepreneurship Adventure
A business owner for over a decade, Holcombe says she always knew it was the path for her. For all the joys being the founder and leader of her own full-service interior design firm (Cristi Holcombe Interiors) and retail store (CH Home) bring, challenges, of course, come with the territory too.
Three years ago, Holcombe found herself scaling up her team drastically to help with the increased home industry demand caused by the pandemic and to work in the store she was opening. “Growing a company so quickly without the processes in place for each person proved to be pretty challenging,” says Holcombe of her team going from a few people to more than 12. On top of that, she says, “There were employee struggles as well as communication struggles with clients. I think, in general, during 2020 and 2021, we [the entire design industry] were truly just all trying to survive and stay afloat in more ways than one.” Not only do they now have systems in place, but the store has also helped her design firm achieve greater buying power for clients.
The tenacity it took to continue forging through that new business landscape is an example of Holcombe’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs in action. “Research, prepare, but ultimately have no fear,” she says. “I can't tell you the times I've been scared to move forward with something. I am a close-your-eyes-and-jump kind of person when it comes to business, though. You have to make smart decisions, but you also have to have a fair amount of ‘throw it in the air and see where it lands’ in order to get to where you want to go.”
Breaking Out of the Headshot Box
Though we’ve photographed many of Holcombe’s projects, before her Personal Branding Experience, the only photos she had of herself for business were headshots. “We didn't have pictures capturing the team or myself working at our office,” she says. “It’s great for clients and anyone to see that because it lets people know we’re a firm and not just one single person curating the designs.”
Because residential interior design is so personal, Holcombe says being approachable is incredibly important. She wanted the photos to portray that while also honoring an emphasis on professionalism.
“One of my favorite photos is us working on one of our new home plans in the conference room with our resource library in the background. I feel like it really captures what it's like to be in a working design presentation,” she says. “I also love the pictures that we took in the shop. Before, we were only ever able to take photos in the front of the shop due to our amateur iPhone photo skills. Haha. We could never get the lighting right in the back of the shop, and it was so nice to have photos of me in other areas of the shop that we don't usually get to show.”
Photo Credit: CatMax Photography
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For others planning a Personal Branding Experience photo shoot, she says, “Really think about the overall ‘feeling’ you want people/clients/ customers to have when they are working with you. Really do a deep dive into similar brands and see what those brands are doing as far as branding images go. Once you think about what feeling you are trying to emulate, then determine what outfits, shoot locations, props, people, etc., really help you convey that in the images. And definitely hire a stylist for the whole shoot!”
When not at work, you’ll find Holcombe sharing her love of horseback riding with her daughter and spending time with her husband and son. “I grew up on a farm and showed horses until I was 17,” she says. “I absolutely love being on the back of a horse. Nothing else quite like it. There is something so calming about a horse. Now, I'm getting to relive my younger days with my daughter, who is just as in love with horses as I am.”
You can learn more about Cristi’s Personal Branding Experience and her business during my Instagram LIVE Q&A with her at Noon today, Wednesday, June 21st. You can find CatMax Photography on Instagram at @catmaxphoto and Cristi Holcombe Interiors at @cristiholcombe, and CH Home at @chhomeinteriors.
