Meet Christi Barbour

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christi Barbour. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christi below.

Hi Christi, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience most definitely comes from my grandmother.

We lovingly called her “Mom,” and she lived to be just one month shy of 101. Her life was not easy, but it was full – thanks to her grit, independence, and unshakable optimism. She was married for a total of only eleven years, but raised three daughters largely on her own.

Her first husband struggled with alcoholism, and in the 1920s, when few women left their marriages, she did, because she refused to live that life for herself or her child. Her second husband, the love of her life, died young of congestive heart failure, leaving her to raise three girls alone while working full-time as a nurse.

Despite the hardships, she created a rich life filled with meaning, service, and adventure. On a shoestring budget, she took her daughters to Europe for six months to experience the world. Travel was her muse, and she believed deeply in the power of new cultures to expand our understanding and compassion. My mom and aunt still talk about that trip to this day.

She also believed in service. As a lifelong resident of Blacksburg, VA and home to my alma mater whose motto is “Ut Prosim – That I May Serve”, she was a committed and giving community member. After retiring, she volunteered at a hospital well into her later years.

Mom never waited for someone else to take care of her. She made her own way – and I see now that I’ve followed that same path. I started my own design firm, created a nonprofit, and live each day believing that with courage and care, we can make a difference in the world. Her spirit – gritty, optimistic, and endlessly generous – lives in everything I do.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

If you had asked me twenty years ago where my career would take me, I couldn’t have imagined the path I’m on now. But looking back, I can see the dots have connected -through design, community, and industry – in ways that feel both intentional and deeply meaningful. As Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”

Today, those dots form a picture of a life driven by purpose.

Professionally, I wear a few different hats—but they’re all connected by a single thread: passion for making a positive, lasting impact.

By day, I lead Barbour Spangle Design, a High Point-based interior design firm with national reach. Our team designs everything from workspace to living communities to luxury homes – but what excites me most is the way design can change lives. We’ve helped transform spaces for non-profit organizations like the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club because we know that beautiful, thoughtful environments can uplift children, families, and communities.

Outside of our studio, I’m the founder of High Point Discovered, a nonprofit that started as an anonymous Instagram account and has grown into a multimedia platform that shares the life-filled stories of our city. What began as a “love letter to High Point” has become a catalyst for connection, pride, and growth. In fact, our team recently wrote the application that helped High Point become a finalist for the All-America City award – proof that storytelling, when rooted in service, can shape a city’s future.

I also serve as Chair of the High Point Market Authority, the global epicenter of the home furnishings industry. Through that role and others, I mentor emerging leaders, advocate for diversity and inclusion, and speak frequently on building values-driven businesses.

At a glance, these may seem like separate projects but for me, they are all part of the same mission: to design a life and career of purpose. Whether I’m creating a physical space, growing a community, or guiding an industry, I am always working to make things better – for people, for places, for futures.

And while I’m proud of what we’ve built, I know I’m not finished yet. In fact, I feel more energized than ever. I’ve recently begun focusing on writing and speech development, and I feel called to expand my voice – to teach, consult, and speak to leaders who want to build organizations where design, culture, and purpose intersect to create lasting impact.

If that’s you – if you’re building something and want to do it with heart – I’d love to connect. Whether through a story, a stage, or a shared mission, I believe we all have the power to impact the world. The real question is: how will we choose to do it?

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Commitment to Continuous Learning
Early in my career, I realized that the most successful people never stop learning. They remain curious and humble enough to recognize there’s always more to discover.

For those beginning their journey, I recommend developing a consistent learning habit—set aside time each week for professional development, whether it’s 30 minutes of reading daily or attending one industry event monthly. The specific schedule matters less than the consistency and intention behind it.

2. Embracing Vulnerability
When I was being recruited to change careers and enter graphic design and marketing, a brilliant woman told me her secret to success was surrounding herself with people smarter than her. Less than two years later, when I launched my own business, I took this wisdom to heart.

I’ve sat in countless meetings where leaders felt they needed to be the loudest voice or the smartest person in the room. From my perspective, they fear vulnerability – something I’ve found to be crucial for authentic leadership. As Patrick Lencioni emphasizes in “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” it’s essential for leaders to model vulnerability first.

For those early in their careers, practicing vulnerability might look like openly admitting when you don’t know something, asking questions without fear of judgment, or acknowledging mistakes. I make a point of sharing my own failures with my team, like the time I mismanaged a major client project – because these moments humanize leadership and create psychological safety that fosters innovation.

Remember: vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s having the courage to show up authentically when there are no guarantees of the outcome.

3. Intentional Communication
You have to know yourself to lead yourself, and know others to lead them effectively. In our organization, we use tools like StrengthsFinders and 5 Voices to understand team members’ natural strengths and communication preferences. Just like our thumbprints, we’re all unique and can’t be led the same way.

For those developing their leadership skills, I recommend first identifying your own communication patterns and blind spots. Then, actively study how others prefer to receive information. Are they big-picture thinkers or detail-oriented? Do they process information better visually or verbally? Adapting your approach accordingly isn’t manipulation – it’s respect for different cognitive styles.

The investment in understanding communication styles has been perhaps the most practical skill that transformed my effectiveness as a leader. Without this awareness, we’d miss opportunities to blend visionary thinking with practical execution, ultimately limiting what we could achieve.

These three qualities – commitment to learning, embracing vulnerability, and intentional communication, have been the foundation of my leadership journey. They’re interconnected and reinforcing: learning helps you communicate better, vulnerability opens you to deeper learning, and effective communication creates space for genuine vulnerability.

If you are just getting started, my advice is this: focus on developing these qualities consistently rather than perfectly. Start small: read one leadership book per month, practice admitting one uncertainty in your next meeting, or ask for feedback on your communication style from a trusted colleague.

Leadership is a marathon, not a sprint, and these qualities deepen with practice and patience.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

This question is both inspiring and fear-inducing—and in some ways, it’s not hypothetical for me.

In the fall of 2022, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After three surgeries and a year of chemotherapy, I returned to work and life with a new perspective I could never have gained otherwise. That year brought challenges I had never known – debilitating drugs, relentless exhaustion, physical pain, but it also opened my eyes to profound gifts I had once taken for granted.

I slept. I read. I prayed. I spent uninterrupted time with my family and dear friends. I reflected more deeply than I ever had. My faith grew stronger, my relationships deeper, and my understanding of what really matters much clearer. I came back to the office a changed person.

So when I’m asked how I’d spend the next decade if I knew it were my last, I know the answer – because I’ve lived with that question close at hand.
– I would spend more time with my family – visiting our children, savoring quiet moments with my husband, and supporting our aging parents.
– I would continue nurturing the inspiring workplace we’ve built – a team of remarkable individuals who bring heart and excellence to everything they do.
– I would say “yes” only to what truly aligns—and “no” with more clarity and grace than ever before.
– I would travel the world, exploring new cultures with the same curiosity and reverence my grandmother showed. I’d document those experiences through writing, art, and photography – not to produce, but to remember and reflect.
– And I would expand my voice. I feel deeply called to speak, teach, and consult with leaders who want to build organizations rooted in values – where design, culture, and purpose intersect to create lasting impact.

What does all this mean? I will live with intention. Because I’ve learned the gift of time is never promised – and that grace, service, and courage can define not only how we survive, but how we lead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.barbourspangle.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbourspangle/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/barbour-spangle-design
• Other: CB personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christi-barbour-94319b1a/

Image Credits

Maria West Photography
Michael Blevins Photography