Today I will be doing a study on Joanna Gaines: interior designer, businesswoman, author, mom, and TV personality. Who most notably hosted the renovation show Fixer Upper with her husband, Chip Gaines.

You may also know them from their brand, Magnolia. Which has expanded to include an e-commerce site, Airbnb’s, a hotel, the magazine: Magnolia Journal, a blog, books, shopping center, Magnolia Network television channel, and a partnership with Target.

Whew. 

This is not only an analysis of Joanna Gaines’ life, but a story of the empire that she and her husband have built, together. Today I will be exploring her role in this success and the main takeaways I have learned from her story. I will first lay out what I have gathered from their history, and then dive into notable themes and analysis. 

Joanna Gaines, History

After graduating high school, Joanna attended Baylor University where she majored in broadcast journalism with the intent to become a news anchor. In her senior year of study, she was offered an internship with CBS News in New York City. 

After experiencing her internship Joanna began to have realizations that broadcast journalism was not, in fact, for her. She would leave her internship most days feeling uncertain. And wrestled with the initial misconceptions she had about this line of work.

While confused about her career future, she started discovering herself in New York. Growing up in Texas with a Korean nationality left her feeling isolated and excluded. However, in New York, she finally found a community of people who shared similar experiences. Confronting her past through writing, she faced the shame and misconceptions she had identified with internally. Leaving herself with a stronger sense of newfound confidence.

After uncovering these truths, she was still feeling a sense of confusion after not fitting into what the world told her she should do educationally. She graduated from Baylor and returned back to Waco, Texas with no plan. At a loss with the money and time she invested into her degree, she went back to working at her dad’s tire shop. Hoping to take over the business when he retired. While spending time at the tire shop this is where she met her husband, Chip.

Shortly after her marriage, she and Chip began working to get their home and renovation business running. Joanna didn’t know much about design at the time, and had no qualifications. However, she says, “I hadn’t gone to school to learn the best industry practices for interior spaces, but I knew how it felt to be held by a home. I had an instinct for creating spaces that said something about the people that lived there.” Focusing on making a house a home through her client’s individuality gave her an interesting angle and appeal. 

In the beginning of their marriage, Joanna can recall how overwhelming everything had become. Chip, a risk taker, initially encouraged the reserved Joanna to fulfill her dream of opening up Magnolia–a retail store. In their first five years together, they had 4 children, opened the home and decor shop they called Magnolia, and flipped houses as their main source of income. 

At the time they were having financial troubles, and she details stress, anxiety, and a deep belief that she was not capable.

In her exhaustion she began a blog, hoping to find community in like-minded mothers facing similar situations. Wishing that, instead of facing this immense workload and stress, she could simply enjoy the family moments she felt were passing her by. 

At the time, starting this blog was a raw and out of character experience for Joanna, who struggles with perfectionism and doesn’t like to be seen in an unpolished manner. However, reaching out to the world paid off. As she shared more of her story, more and more people identified and began interacting with her work. 

While these new developments were happening, Chip and Joanna were continuing to base their livelihoods around flipping homes. Joanna continued to authentically write for her blog, which drew the attention of an executive at High Noon Entertainment, who suggested that the couple film a short video called a “sizzle reel” for a potential show. This concept eventually became HGTV’s Fixer Upper.

From there, people continued to resonate with Joanna and Chip’s story on a larger scale through the show. Joanna honed in her design skills through practical experience, and Fixer Upper opened more opportunities for the family. Resulting in spinoff shows, and ultimately, what you see they have created today. 

Notable Themes

Below, I have outlined seven notable themes from Joanna’s story.

Learning out loud.

By setting aside her initial qualms of being vulnerable online, Joanna opened up an unforeseen life changing opportunity for her family.

Takeaway: openly, authentically, and thoughtfully sharing what is impacting you online has the ability to greatly change your life. 

Risk and reward.

Joanna and Chip have different takes when it comes to risk. Joanna says that Chip is much more risk driven, while her internal instinct leaves her to be more reserved.

Takeaway: surround yourself with others that balance your qualities and propel you forward.

Facing and overcoming fear.

Joanna’s path in life radically changed as she opened herself up to trying new things.

Takeaway: facing fear of the unknown will always create opportunity.

Upward spiral of confusion.

A lot of this journey was spent feeling lost and confused.

Takeaway: sometimes the right path doesn’t feel secure. 

Spouse support.

While Joanna and Chip created the situations they found themselves in, they supported each other through their strengths and weaknesses.

Takeaway: your chosen partner plays the biggest role in your success.

Foundation of self-reflection.

Joanna speaks on her self-reflection journey and how it impacted her life positively.

Takeaway: you are not able to build meaningful things with a sandy foundation.

Raw, unpolished connection.

Joanna and Chip find many ways to connect with their audience on a personal level.

Takeaway: remaining authentic, at every stage, is key to building relationships.

Why Joanna Gaines?

Joanna’s recent book, “The Stories We Tell” written on her story and struggle with self-reflection, inspired me to create a deeper analysis of where she came from and how she got to where she is now.

I bought this book in a Meijer’s, oddly enough, about a year ago when I was in between education choices and struggling with my next moves forward. During that time her work provided me a lot of comfort. It gave me more hope for my future to see someone incredibly successful detailing their early career challenges.

Throughout this book are many pieces of her past not discussed in my audit. I want to take a moment to highlight some impactful quotes from her work. 

Five Impactful quotes from “The Stories We Tell”

“But there’s no direct path to being truly known if you don’t allow yourself to be fully seen.”

― Joanna Gaines, The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters

“But here’s what I’ve learned about perfection: it’s isolating.”

― Joanna Gaines, The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters

“I didn’t let the thought of what people might think ruin the moment.”

― Joanna Gaines, The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters

“I’ve come to learn that, just like with anything that’s worthwhile, presence takes practice.”

― Joanna Gaines, The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters

“You can spot people who are living for something deeper. They walk out into the world differently, purposefully. What’s even more appealing to me is someone living open heartedly. Someone who knows there will be highs and lows, but still finds reason to celebrate every bit between. Someone who trusts they’re still in progress, but worthy of love anyway.”

― Joanna Gaines, The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters

“Have More Fun”

After diving into Joanna Gaines’ past, discussing main takeaways, and following up with some wisdom. It’s safe to say that the Gaines have had a whirlwind of a career story.

To all the go-getters out there, I want to leave you with one final thing I have learned from Joanna. That very simply being: have more fun.

After all the stress, perfectionism, insecurity, and worry, guess what?

Things worked out pretty amazingly.

Thank you for reading,

Olivia