Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Addis Hickman.
Hi Kristi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My entrepreneurial story ironically begins in a tiny town in rural Mississippi. I was blessed to grow up as a country girl exploring the woods on my three wheeler sans helmet or cell phone. In the summers, I spent my time doing crazy things like wading through creeks while following my cousin as he poked around for snakes to catch. On other days we filled up brown paper grocery bags with frogs we spent all day catching and then let them loose in places like my Mama’s house or even better yet in my uncle’s car just before he was about to go on a date. I am so grateful for the hours and hours I spent immersed in the throes of nature because through those moments, both magical and mundane, a love for beauty was born. I learned to notice and appreciate the changing colors of the sky, the shifting shadows of the forest, the sounds of the birds, and the ever-changing pastoral scenes that were ever-present all around me. I had no idea those experiences were literally “wiring” my brain and my emotions so that I, too could take on the exciting task of creating my own little, beautiful worlds for people to live in one day. At The Hickman House Interiors that’s exactly what we do. We co-create with our clients to design the space that makes their dreams come true. Hmmmm…. Maybe one day I should write a book about this? However, between those childhood years and now, there was a whirlwind of life that had to happen to fully prepare me to open The Hickman House Interiors.
There was another form of beauty that enthralled me and her name was Miss America. As scrawny and gangly as I was, the freedom and confidence my family instilled in me at a young age was just enough for me to believe I could be on that TV walking down the runway in a long, white dress too one day. My elbows and knees were constantly covered in scabs and “strawberries,” my two front teeth were large and sticking out a tad, but in my mind I was good enough. I announced to my Memaw and all of Mrs. Flanagan’s baton-twirling class at age six that I wanted to be Miss America. It turns out I couldn’t wait that long. A decade later, I temporarily hung my basketball and track shoes up and entered the Miss Mississippi Teen USA pageant where I won and went on to win the title of Miss Teen USA on CBS live TV. And yes, I wore my own long, white dress and got to walk across the stage waving. I signed a contract with Paramount Pictures the next day just after I went on The Morning Show. Then, I traveled to LA to meet my new roommates Miss Universe and Miss USA. I traveled around the country and around the globe. My eyes were opened to so many new and diverse cultures, types of foods, types of architecture, and to the complexities of beautiful people from all over the world. Again, I didn’t realize God was meticulously putting the puzzle pieces together for me to be able to do what I do now. Hmmmm….Maybe one day I should write a book about this? I continued working as a model/actress while attending Ole Miss (University of Mississippi), graduated with a degree in journalism, and moved back to LA.
Soon after moving back to the city, there was a seismic shift that happened in my world. After some deeper bible study with ladies within my church, I switched my whole paradigm of thinking upside down, changed my dream, and found a passion for helping other women know God. I decided I wanted to work full-time in the women’s ministry. During this time, I was welcomed into numerous hospitable homes for fun and meaningful meals, prayer times, bible studies, birthday parties, etc. Eventually, I met a tall, dark, handsome man with a Princeton graduate mind mixed with an easy, Texas smile who was also in the ministry training program. We fell in love, worked side by side in the ministry, and began the joyous adventure of raising two adorable, interracial little girls. Currently, they are strong-minded, kind, and beautiful teenage young women and now I am decorating their friends’ dorm rooms! One of the biggest bonuses of marrying my husband of 21 years is his Mom! In Adrian Hickman, I found a like-minded woman of depth, fun, passion, intelligence, style, AND my future business partner. After over a decade of talking about it and of decorating a friend’s home for free, we opened The Hickman House for interior decorating, styling, and staging.
After all of these years, the culmination of my experiences congeals together to help people create beautiful spaces. But I’ve had to ask myself why I’ve been drawn to all things beautiful since I can remember. I notice it all. I’m enthralled by it all whether it’s the paintings within nature, or the fervor of youth, or the grace of femininity, or in the diversity of global cultures, or the strength of confidence, or the careful and artful decor within a home. Hmmmm…Maybe one day I should write a book about it? Well, guess what! That day is now. “Chasing Beauty” is in the works. I am exploring the questions of why we seemingly all want to either be beautiful or marry beautiful. I’ve been chasing this feeling, this ideal my whole life and I’d like to open a dialogue about all the ways we can find beauty and infuse it into our lives. You may think since I am a former queen that I am about to say, “Beauty begins from within.” No, I am not. Not sure I believe that. I can’t tell you everything I believe or you won’t read the book. I will say that we can find beauty in so many places if we are intentional about building beautiful lives. #makeitpretty One thing I am for sure of and that is The Hickman House can help you create the space that you are dreaming of whether it be a home restoration or an in the job workspace upgrade like we did for @mrshortgame utube set.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I would say that learning to balance my time has been the biggest struggle for me personally because I tend to take on too much. Then I inevitably get overwhelmed and stressed out and have to listen to my bestie lecture me AGAIN on saying yes to too many people and projects. I always end up explaining that everything I have agreed to put on my plate are things I really want to do. It’s not hard for me to say no to things I don’t want to do, but it’s super hard for me to say no to something that really interests me. I can be passionate about so many things that I end up being counterproductive unless I’m extremely intentional about my schedule. I think this is common for many of us “creatives” because usually creativity comes in more than one form within a person. I love to write, to decorate, to dance, to style events, to teach fitness classes, to speak to women’s groups in public forums, and the list can go on. I have had a career including every one of these creative jobs at different points in my life so I have had to learn to consolidate my talents. I simply cannot do it all at once. I never want my family, which is the most important part of my world, to suffer because I’m too busy to give to them and spend time with them.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Hickman House?
The Hickman House is an interior decorating business that I started with my mother-in-law a few years ago. Since then, we have had so many wonderful clients and enjoyed every minute of seeing The Hickman House grow! We have designed and/or decorated large homes, small homes, townhomes, vacation homes, condos, guest rooms, patios, porches, you name it! We even recently designed and remodeled a YouTube set for MrShortGame Golf. How does the ball get rolling in our creative process? Our collaboration with our clients starts with a consultation where we tour the space and begin to create a plan for the preferred design. We offer a full custom decorating service including the design style of the space and the project management of all remodeling vendors and contractors. We help our clients improve the quality, functionality, and aesthetic appeal of a space. We believe a well-designed home should be both livable and inspirational. Another option we offer is called our Express Decorating Service. This service is perfect for a room(s) that need a before and after design team. We rearrange a space using what our client already has plus shop for additional accessories and furniture that will enhance the space. Our clients have taken advantage of this service for starter homes, downsized spaces, or a “just because” home refresh and change of scenery.
Also, we offer a Home Staging Service in which we help get homes on the market ready to sell. We help decorate and streamline the atmosphere of the home, so it becomes easier to visualize as a future home for the buyer. For over a decade, we had dabbled here and there in interior decorating and styling with a dream of opening our own thing one day. There are only so many times you can re-do your own house and only so many times you can design and decorate friends’ homes for free! Years ago, when I put my house on the market, almost every single realtor who walked through my home asked if they could have the name of the designer who staged it. Every one of those realtors asked me what my friends and family had been saying to me for years. “Why aren’t you working in interior design?” So, now that the time of becoming an empty nester is almost here, it is time. My life experiences have been my school of design and I am ready. I still have lots to learn about the industry, especially the business side of it. Who knew that creating invoices could be such an ever present annoying nuisance? I am a creative so those are not the parts of the business I necessarily enjoy learning but thank goodness for our accounting team! However, the years of waiting to get this dream rolling has me ready to work hard and give it my all for my clients.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice to those just starting out would be to never underestimate the value of relationships. When you build on the right people, the business will build itself in many ways. In my case, seeking out and getting to know different vendors as well as contemporaries within the industry has paved the way for things to go well for me time and time again. At the end of the day, life is about people not about businesses. When you take the time to get to know people good things happen. It’s really not that hard to just be a nice person. Look people in the eyes, smile, and actually listen to them instead of simply crossing their path. You will learn who you can trust and who you cannot. I have found that it’s less depressing or heartbreaking when I don’t get that big job I really wanted if I can remember in the midst of it that I met and interacted with some more interesting people with complex backstories (because everyone has one) and that my life and my psyche is richer for it.
Pricing:
- Design Consultation Fee $125
Contact Info:
- Email: Kristi@thehickmanhouse
- Website: thehickmanhouse.com
- Instagram: @thehickmanhouse
- Facebook: @thehickmanhouse
Image Credits:
Benvil photography @wbenvilleimagery @b.benvil.breathe #benvilphotography Nichole Crosier Photography
