Chip And Joanna Gaines On Their Dreams, How They Got Their Start (Full Interview) | TODAY

watching you go come on right so some may say that your story is a slightly unlikely one you meet here in Waco Texas you start a business after business and then you get this show that really changes your life when people think is this an improbable story what would what would you say oh gosh very improbable yeah I mean really it's it's it's bordering on impossible I learned somewhere in my college years that the difference between improbable and impossible and I wouldn't blame anybody if they said this was in fact an impossible story Joe and I met you talk about opposites attract that mean you know very different people in general we fall in love match made in heaven unbeknownst to either of our parents you know who were probably fighting it the whole way at least your parents my parents were actually in big-time support of uh me my parents weren't fighting and I think they were just wondering when I was gonna get a job good job I didn't want to say that he said wait so you let's start at the beginning of your of your romance cuz it seems like you found your love with each other at the same time you found this love with your business um when you first met you met I know maybe this is therapy versus like the first time you met was at your dad's tire store so super romantic very I had work for my dad for eight ten years at his automotive shop so I was selling tires I was selling oil changes I was doing all the books so I felt like this was gonna be something I was gonna take once he passed it down I wanted to take on the automotive shop um and chip had just graduated from Baylor he was he had a couple businesses going here to wash and fold business he had a landscape business I mean you name it he had a business and he came in to give us breaks done I remember the guys at front were saying hey coach check out this guy at front he owns his own business in town he's a loadable and the rest is history I remember his funny I had come out from working to get my brakes done and compared to the automotive guys I smelled like a road you know most of the time I was always feeling a bit insecure about myself but compared to the environment she was already pretty accustomed to she's like wow so you there were some confidence I felt pretty good about it and you immediately called called the store and Astro that's the deal yeah I never I didn't you know I was a lot I was a lot like your dad you know I didn't I didn't let an opportunity pass I mean if I saw a beautiful woman and I mean all she could say was no you know sighs I went for it you're dead so that's exactly how he how he asked your mom out no I just said let's do this and then is this true no you I mean it must be true you write in the book that he was an hour and a half late for your first date chip doesn't like that part because he thinks I'm a liar I'm but I'm not I have four witnesses my sister being one of them I'm also a liar so after that after that day we met at the tire shop he calls the next day asked me out we end up going out that week and I remember I forgot what do you look like he's wearing a hat he had just got back from working so remember he was a little scruffy and he had read all of it sunburnt but I forgot so all my friends were like what does he look like I'm like I don't know you guys just be at the apartment when he shows up and then you can see what he looks like except over 30 minutes goes by and I'm like wait maybe it's tomorrow another 30 minutes goes fine I'm like what an idiot this guy's not showing up hour and a half later we get a knock on the door and I said I'm not answering it well of course my friends wanted to see who is this chip guy so I go hide in the bedroom I'm like I'm not gonna be here they open the door and of course as chip can only do he walks in and is like hello ladies an hour and a half late and then you he was instantly forgiven instantly forgiven oh I'm sorry I mean just but now that I obviously know my husband he's about an hour late to everything so I shouldn't have taken a person you were on time today though I appreciate your time today thank you guys I appreciate that so um what drew you to each other when you first met what did what was your instant thought you know for me being in Waco we had moved as a little bride moved around a lot so I graduated here from Waco but I remember thinking I just love this town and I want to really plant my roots here but after I'd graduated from college a lot of people left they were going to Austin Dallas Houston bigger cities and so one of the things I'd always asked if I had met a guy we were thinking I'd say are you waiting what are your plans and so they'd all say I'm gonna go to California or New York's always new I don't want to move when I asked chip when he was at my dad's shop that day he said I really loved Waco and I want to play my roots here so I thought okay so that's a start um but I just loved his heart for this town but I also just loved it he knew how to draw me out I am more introverted so he had the right questions and I remember leaving that conversation just thinking man a lot of that stuff was really thought provoking these questions he was asking me really made me kind of dig in and get a sense for who I was and why I was a lot more superficial I was attracted to her hotness oh great yeah right and then and she's not talking I was like and she's got gorgeous lips I got that at first glance so there's so there's humor here oh goodness there's humor on this marriage yes right after you get married you you start it seems like this little house this little yellow house that you moved into was sort of the catalyst for all of this for what you've built together you you hadn't even ever done interior design work before again I crunch numbers I mean if anything I thought I'd go into accounting or something just because I love the numbers of the business as far as design I had no idea what I was doing and so chip when we were dating he would always buy these flip houses and I just remember thinking this guy is crazy why would he buy that house and then after we'd sell it I'd go oh he's actually kind of smart um so our first fixer-upper together we really learned how to work together and I learned what not to do from a design standpoint we joked that every room literally we had a theme and at the time I collected sailboats like the cheap sailboats he just get at those you know yeah she's still booth and lighthouses and so the front room was a nautical theme so there are lighthouses and sailboats and then the kitchen was like country French country and then I mean literally six different things in the small house my little cowboy room get back this mirror with the with these Longhorns on top of it I mean we really we all the aesthetics that are even imaginable combined into one project but that house must have taught you that you had it's even if you were um like the theme that you had you had a knack for design I think so I think so a little bit I mean what's funny about that is I remember the whole idea that when you know I was so proud of come on house and at the same time I was also talking to our family and friends about opening at the store but then when they come see it they'd be like something else I remember people literally talking me out of doing a home store because of what I so I think for me it was just wanting to try um and you know obviously we moved numerous times after that and every time we moved what I started learning was how to get creative within the small budget that we had and what I loved about it is in those creative moments actually it taught me a lot about kind of just thinking outside the box and having to think beyond this tight budget forced me into this creative spot that I think really taught me well when you start it when you opened that first little store um what I read that women would come in and say well now how can you teach me how to fix up my house how can I fix this up um how did that store kind of lead you and all of this so the same year we were married in 2003 we opened up a little shop on Bosque we named it Magnolia and I remember for a long time I was only when working I was by myself and ship would be in the back and women would come in and literally ask me for advice I remember sitting there behind the counter going oh my gosh what - hey I would literally have no idea and so I'd start making stuff up and thinking I hope they don't return all this tomorrow well they never would return it I think every time a woman would come in there and ask for my opinion or my advice that was my way of learning that was kind of like trial dinner it was my education so for the first year I was really just stumbling and just going okay maybe this or that but the more and more I was in the shop the more I played around during the slower hours I play around with displays and I really start getting a feel for what it what it was that I loved and I realized that's what I had it kind of teach others is go with what you love and throw the rules out I also love when I read that that you said many one day I'll open a shop and both chip and your dad sort of gave you the confidence to do it right now why would you wait yeah um chip is that sort of part of your philosophy is just to live in the moment and to make things sure yeah you know even as a kid my mom and dad have these hilarious stories about me doing one crazy thing after another and and it just sort of built this I mean everybody's scared of something but I have a very high fear tolerance so when I think about starting a business I literally would call that on a scale to 1 to 10 10 being the most fearful you could be like a 1 so 10 yeah skydiving opinion yeah skydiving so I've done that taste well there are a lot of snakes here in my bears I know here's a wrestle a grizzly bear yeah that's enough you're gonna start a business so use a couple of bugs so your friends think you're a loser what else is new so I tell Joe I'm just like they what's the why what are you so scared of I mean you go by this piece of real estate for me real estate was always the backdrop so we loved the building that she bought to do her first story so I literally thought this is a no-brainer you were going to make twenty thirty thousand dollars on this property period okay and if you go and lost sorry if you go and lose twenty thousand dollars in your first year of business we would just break even on the sale of the the property yeah I always felt really come come come tomorrow I'm fit in I always felt really confident yes as I'm really wildly insecure now this is the not honest Gilderoy no no no your feel you always always felt confident about going for it you know the I I was really confident about painting the worst-case scenario is not that big of a deal but Joe I think bought out of that I mean you know worst thing that happens you go start a store then work best thing that happens you go start start a store you're picked up by a reality television show millionaire jump and you move to the Bahamas I'm saying I just moved to the Bahamas world beautiful live that one yeah Thomas when you but one thing that I do find to be you know lucky and wonderful is that you work so well together so when when he came to you and said let's why don't we start a business why don't we start making these fixer-uppers why don't we stop and start investing see coming off start investing in these homes and investing in you and your store was your ever remember we thought well maybe we maybe we shouldn't work together I think from the beginning it was one of those things where God knew we had to work well together just because of art the nature of our business but just from the beginning I think we knew chip was the big risk-taker he was the big visionary and then I was the numbers one I was the one that was like okay here's your vision and these are the steps to get there and I think we both understood each other's strengths and rarely were we in the wrong Court like I'm never the visionary when it came to all that stuff so I was like okay what do you want to do I'd cry a little bit say I don't want to do it then I'd get on board and figure out how to make it work and but I think we just learned how to work with each other and stay in our lanes and really respect what my strength was and then respect with his strength was and we've had our ups and downs for sure but we're the opposite we're thinking a lot of couples a lot of our friends are like hey we need that eight to five break um and I really respect that but for us if we did the opposite we're offs like if I go on a girls weekend and I come back it takes us two days to get back on the same page cuz we've been apart so I think we're just wired differently you just like to be together I do love being with Joe and it was really funny early on I realized if I didn't work with her I would definitely implode my business would probably go down in some sort of a ball of flame and I'm pretty easygoing I mean I think I'm fun to be around I think for you to be around me for me I realized that they the net benefit which is you're gonna keep me out of jail well she died actually okay for you to get us Jenna well she did actually help pay for you that's one of the stories in the book that at some point she had to bail you out no that was a low point for both I denied she had warrants out for my arrest we both had warrants out for arrests I remember thinking we've hit rock bottom did not tell my parents probably gonna find out when they read the book that their daughter had warrants out for arrest the cops were coming for me that day but they found him and they took imagine when people see all of this and when they watch your show and read about your story they may not realize that you've had hard times and building your businesses and in 2008 the bubble hit you as well as most of the country talk about what that time taught you gosh that was a tough time I mean Joe and I I mean we had some really big bets at play right when the housing crisis hit we had taken her first chance on a development here in town 30 or 40 Lots that were just starting to become available and the bottom literally fell out and I remember I mean there were just some sleepless nights I think it taught us a lot about each other I mean one of the things that I would almost look back in our relationship and say that it really forged our love for one another because we realized pretty quickly the whole blaming each other for sort of the superficial things that happen every person every couple it wasn't really successful for us I mean it didn't take us long to realize that's not going to work so what we decided to do in opposition was just hey let's pull in the same direction let's go ahead and identify the problem the economy is terrible we just did a huge development nobody wants these things we've got a couple of flips that aren't selling we've got some rental properties that the rent started you know being reduced on that on the unit's themselves I mean it came from every angle and Joe and I just literally tackled each of those issues individually and we just realized that when we work together we're pretty formidable we're a pretty tough team to be and I think that when we came out of that and cut our first big breath maybe 2010 2011 I think we looked back and were like if we can make it do that literally we can make it do anything and it just kind of convinced us that it was us versus the world in a lot of cases and you know for me that's romantic that's what the movies are about you know anytime you see some gorgeous love story it's always about some you know terrible adversity that they had to work through and I think the Joe and I really I think that that solidified our relationship mm-hmm you were you said that you cried while writing and I think you'll probably like me there's tears everyone smile you don't we're not scared to cry but you cried while writing that part of the book and what brought those tears is that right probably I've never seen you cry cry literally that's message two-thirds robot she is I wouldn't be myself I cry in the car and then I pull myself together Simon there's breaking point see she's a cyborg a real-life Sylar if she cries it makes her really rusty haha was that you crying or was that me this bug the best I think you you cried at different moments for me I just remember feeling that because I was more than for some reason with chip because he was a visionary than anything it never I don't know it never made him feel um defeated like the funny thing was just like just like he said if we losing all your money is only a scale only one the power does go between them but Hawaii my mom and her culture in her name like I just remember going right we can't bail I can't tell my parents I just remember there was enough in me going holy cow that's not an option and that was my biggest fear was what if we have to tell our parents we didn't make it and so I just remember feeling it from just the standpoint of every Friday when we had payroll going how are we gonna make it and we had employees that literally held their check for weeks and we never knew it until I go to balance the bank account and I realized they're all holding their checks for us so I think for me just feeling it and now being on the other side is I'm in a weird way thankful for that because I think when you're tested at that level I think the stuff that you learn and what you get out of it is I think the stuff that gets you to the long haul um it would have been easy to quit it would have been easy to say okay let's just call it call it a day and a lot of people like that I mean I was what people did they said Bank here you go and and they took back the assets and the couple whoever they might be went on and figured something else out but for both Joe and I we were passionate we were gonna figure that thing out and there were some months to where I mean everybody had to be a part of this I mean I wish I could say we were smarter than everybody else that really wasn't our case our banks bent over backwards to make deals with this local vendors would allow us to pay I remember sometimes 10 20 cents on the dollar and we would just inch along and you know we'd make it one week and we'd make it a month and then we made it a year and next thing you know we caught our first breath of fresh air literally what felt like something added dragged us to the bottom of the ocean we popped out I remember just feeling like we're gonna make it you know we we are not dead and we are they're gonna hear about it you enjoy the gates well and they did a good Segway a few years after that somebody came calling and said cuttin we have a crew let's shoot a show and now sitting here across from you you I'm surprised because he is a little bit of the showman then you were the one that said let's go for this let's do it was the irony that we had a random phone call and she called me on my cell phone I remember thinking what in the world and she said hey we'd love to just do a quick 5 minute deal on you and your husband would you guys be interested in doing that and I said well let me ask chip called chip he was like it's scam he's like do not call them back no way Jose and probably have to own all this money we don't have it right now don't don't do it I mean I remember thinking chip it was a normal lady sounded really sweet um so I was like they all start off that way called her back and I'd say a couple weeks later they they came to Waco Texas and filmed me chip and our four kids and I think what we love about that is chip is the showman I mean when you watch the show you see that he eats it up I mean he's he's the first to do the thing that the most earrings he's I get awful he was terrible these lights the camera he stopped talking and for me I kept thinking this is gonna be easy cuz chips gonna carry it all just being background do anything and instead it was opposite I had to carry it which is not a good thing as I can't carry it I'm not this like well you can carry it jail but yeah at the time I was thinking what the heck's happen in kitchen before kids are literally climbing on me chip is now behind the camera watching me through the camera i sweating profusely he's sweating and so it was bad I got all jazzed about like the equipment itself you know I was behind the camera with the camera operator radio what's that what does this do in the guy was like oh like this is not really what you're supposed to be derange to be on the other side of this I wish they could show that side like literally the whole wheel yes horrible one moment that changed it all changed it all oh the whole me if it had probably stayed that way we may not be here right now be here guarantees it when I took shirt off no they were meant to take that when you like to take they're sort of changed everything back then oh no I remember that whole week we stuck I mean if you had us an interview we were stumbling over words and at the end the producer was like hey you guys we got to draw some emotion chip can you surprise Joe with something and he was in the works of surprising me was something and he thought I'm actually working on this house but I want to surprise Joe with he wanted me and the four kids to live on the house up for six months while we were in transition we actually were about to be homeless yeah normal except that most of my kids are not a swine we're children yeah no big gay house but that was a wreck so maybe they've got these little floaties on their arms and they just Bob out in the lake so last day of filming I'm blindfolded I literally think it's gonna be a picnic with like candlelight Romanus and undo the bill billfold they undo the blindfold and I remember just going oh this is a joke I figured thinking there's gonna be the pretty vote on the other senses and chip was you I looked at chip and he was like tada like he was nervous he knew I was gonna be mad and at that point I forgot the camera people were there chip forgot and now chip cuz kind of had this crowd he screwed up um I started getting people on the phone I was rocking and rolling I got off the boat from I got this marine mechanic who knows a marine mechanic I mean I pulled the marine mechanic out on the fly Joe literally went from pretty irritated to kind of that concept I'm describing like we can be as mad as we want at each other or we can figure out the problem and next thing you know Joe and I kind of started working out what this boat could look like how we could work this out how we could get out of it she kept going I just want we just figure out how to get half our money back I'll be fine with that and so when she said that the bar so low I thought I can work that of it and so we just started rockin and rollin when I jumped off the boat as we're walking off towards you know basically defeat and misery the camera guy put his camera down he was like if I do my job you just got yourself a reality television so so my special moment when they called and sorry that I didn't that's okay when they called and said yes this is what you have a reality television show was there a moment of hesitation or you just thought let's let's do this how did we feel at the very beginning we know I think we really thought hey people Waco are gonna see the show and hopefully don't make them proud like I don't think we ever knew it was gonna be this national thing so I think it's just stupid we're like we were really dumb well because we don't have a TV so we don't really know what happens on reality you don't have a television we don't but so I think that was our idea of TV was local news yeah oh they'll see us flippin some houses um never would we have thought it'd be anywhere close to this where's there a moment where you realize that the show was taking off man don't you think like by season two wow you don't need to row one season just a whole season we're really we're really anxious people you know we like things to go really quickly and sing that African even the call hey you got the pilot and then the pilot led to the series and then the series led to season two I mean all of that took like two and a half three years done fold and I remember Joe and I were just like again this is miserable you know because you would do something and then you would wait six months to kind of see how it went I I remember there were some seasons in that six month they'll do worry like ah let's do something else let's move on but I remember courtship though remember when it was like season two and we were in New York we were actually in Soho yes for the network and he would have hit me and New York or noticed us and she was basically saying hey in New York and we leave all birdies alone we never do this we never do this oh my god I can't believe I gave you my favorite you're probably a business offensive probably offended some New Yorkers right now all right she's like oh my god how I love I love his show I love the show and so I couldn't ever you shock shock I was like what and I mean this New Yorkers do not mess with anybody I live there when this lady was going on and all my goodness I've got this apartment up in this place and you've gotta come see it I think this is like if a Boston person in New York somehow chain-smoking was a part of it but all about to say she made my day and I told her we I got a big hug and he took all these pictures I just I felt like at that moment we had made it when you film it's not just you know turn the camera on turn it off there's a lot that goes into the work that you do and you still take your work really seriously I'm not just the TV part but that you're an interior designer and your construction work so talk about what goes into filming of the show you know we joke that when we said yes this we didn't know would be a full-time job like I think for us we thought oh it's gonna you know they'll film us every now and then but what we've had a really balanced is our film schedule with also our construction schedules and since our construction business a lot that goes into it you'll never see which is in the hours of the design and the process and meeting with the contractors that construction crew you know all that stuff so that we can really make sure when you're doing eight of these at a time it's literally every week you know it's a domino effect so there's so much that goes behind that so when you show up a new film we have to know kind of what's going on in each job it's not just show up and do our deal Prudie I'm looking around making sure that interim that I ordered is actually the trim that's on the on the walls and so but I think we wouldn't have it any other way I think for us to be disconnected from the job would almost you wouldn't feel it you know I think it's important that we know exactly what's happening on these jobs especially from a design standpoint and we've got our crew that's been with us for years that are doing this we trust we trust it from that standpoint but from a design standpoint I've got to know everything that's going on so that I can really feel like this is authentic this is what we're doing and when we present this to our clients it's something that we're really proud of now you're not only filming the show though you've are also opened up this huge I don't even know what to call it a huge complex thank you for not calling it a comp and a lot of people I know and what would you call it I mean the silos here and and there's complex and and Wako and one of the things that I've read in researching this which I loved was was this quote and I just wonder what you think about it when I think about Waco I think about chip and Joe Waco has become a tourist destination a lifestyle aspiration and a relocation consideration all because of chip and Joanna Gaines and this is a place that you love so much so I wonder what when you think about giving back to your home what goes through your mind that's really the most beautiful the biggest compliment you could possibly pay us if you told us when this is all said and done that we made a million dollars but nobody felt that about us or somebody just somebody could say that about what we've done here with our community and there was no money you know we got no benefit from it we would trade we would take that comment any day of the week I mean the fact that Joe and I both had other options I mean you know I'm not saying we were the most sought-after individuals on the planet but we were go getters I mean we were young up-and-coming mmm-hmm young 20 year olds graduating from Baylor University and everybody everybody left for the big city and I remember you know Joe was was kind of home down because her parents were from here prior to Baylor but for me I mean I was ready to go off to the big city just like anybody else but something kept drawing me back to this beautiful town and I remember it was just you know you're right in the middle of two of the greatest cities in the world Austin Dallas if you want to go one way or the other to catch some of the big city events you can do that hour and a half later you're in either of those gorgeous cities but there was something just quieter about Waco there was something that felt like things were a little bit slower paced and so many people said so many terrible things about this place because of some circumstances that in fairness to those people happen you know I get it but the people that live here the people that worked here knew that that wasn't who we were you know and now for people to say that they think of us they think of this show they think of our family they think of the silence I mean it's a it's a complete honor I mean it's one thing to turn around a city you know that has something going for it to begin with but Waco had decades of really terrible reputation points one after another and to be able to kind of turn that on its ear and for people to consider Waco an option to move here or to come here on some some kind of a vacation of sorts I mean that's that's an unbelievable proposition you're from here you went to school here so what does this mean to you this is your backyard I mean it must feel empowering to make Waco known for positive things uh you know I went to school here in Waco and when I work for my dad even in high school I just remember being at the tire shop meeting a lot of other local business people and I think that's why I fell in love with the town just knowing all these businesspeople who took the risk and knowing they're supporting my father here with his local business that I want to do the same but to now see that fast-forward now 2016 you know chip and I've gotten to do this silo's thing you know our stores down here and seeing downtown thriving and you know for the longest time you didn't see businesses popping up downtown where now we're seeing it everywhere and I think it's humbling it's one of those things where we're just we're excited to be part of its story you know I don't I don't think we we credit ourselves for all this but I think in the end the fact that we get to be a part of it is a huge honor I wouldn't mind if maybe when this is all said and done if they had a statue of nobody you can have a statue of yourself maybe your shirt on seriously there is a lot okay I just have to ask you know there are some dad do you like to show your dad bod I like that that's what they rounded it's a dad bod you know you know it's you're not always been very self-aware and very confident I used to not have a dad bod and I like to show that all and then when I started realizing that what I used to show off was not what I was showing off as we spoke I thought who cares yeah it's only a one at a scale scale the one kid that's only a one true story in season one when we started doing the same he really thought hey I'm 24 years ago then we start watching the showing like oh my Joey I can't believe you made me do that I didn't make it he was blaming me and so finally I just owned it there was nothing else isn't one which is great too which if you watch season one now he goes why didn't I ever it was like 200 I would laugh I would laugh represented I would just I would just cover one two you know periodically and we went to get it fixed cuz I never look I am really fat and I've got a gray tooth I can only fix one of these because I don't have the discipline choppy doughnuts so I'm going to fix the great dude it was like 200 bucks yeah and I remember telling Joe's like this is all it costs to get one of these things fixed and this whole time I've been in you know is agony and complete self uh you know defeat misery obviously you're authentic people you are who you are I mean you're showing the dad bod and the gray tooth and what is that what you think draws people to the show I don't know I mean I think part of it is when when the cameras turn on I think in the beginning we were scared war they can make us act like something are they gonna ask for drama are they gonna you know that's what we were terrified of because I think in my mind that's what reality TV was um but the network was just always great our producers are greater to say no no we just want what y'all are really doing and I think when we felt the freedom to just be ourselves we never thought about what's on the other side of this we weren't ever being intentional about once this airs this is what we're gonna look like now sometimes you would at least yeah twice time in a little better yeah but I think that's hopefully like you know we want to connect to people we want to be relatable we don't want to be chip and Joe up here and then you know we we want people to UM know that we're just a normal couple from Waco we're passionate about what we do we love the business of home and we really like each other you've taken this small business this fixer-upper business he started together a small store on the Bosque and now you've really started an empire I mean I I walked in today and I was like how did they start this Empire you have a magazine you have a book you have home goods you have the store here you have the show what does it take to to do all this that's a great question that's fun you know the answer to that I'll tell you this for me it's just lots and lots of hard work I mean you know kind of we forget which came first the chicken or the egg but Joe and I both had big ambitions we had big passions I mean back in the day was that we were going to be you know the best construction company in Waco Texas and I mean we had a goal to accomplish that we started a little real estate company we wanted that to be the best in town she started her retail shop we wanted that to be the best in town I mean Joe and I don't play around I mean when we do stuff we want to be the best at it and so as the show started picking up steam it was really funny we even wanted to be the best at that I mean we would start watching other shows ratings and compare our ratings even like big Network you know ratings and we were like wow that's an unbelievable show look at the ratings gosh we've got a long way to go and it's just fun you know I think I think competing with one another in friendly ways against other people in friendly ways I think it helps keep you young I think it helps keep you motivated and as things started kind of picking up steam we never thought we made it you know we're done let's cap this here so we can put some money in the bank I mean again like a couple of teenagers we take some money and we reinvest it we'd take some money and we'd reinvest it and I mean we'll see how it all goes when the fruit is not yet in the pudding I can assure you of that but so far I really feel like we're building something that when years play out and we look back I think we'll have something here that we're really gonna be proud of and you know I think in the beginning when we first started everyone was asking can you come to New Jersey can you come to Florida and chip was really trying to figure out how to make that work number one we can how do we take all of our crew couple one of this to come to New Zealand it was like I think he's been like two days trying to remember me to New Zealand God how to get shorty to newsela so you know for us the intention of you know what we have here at the silos was really just okay growing into a bigger spot for the shop on Bosque and then what we've taken on from a national standpoint whether it be the furniture line or that paint stuff is really this is our way of coming to your town without having to really come to your time as we can't we have four kids at home and we've made a commitment to stay here in Waco while they're young tell they're all out of school so that we can be here for them first and so when we've taken on these these collaborations with all these partners it was really our way of extending that reach from a design standpoint saying hey we want to help you and this is our way of doing it speaking of that you have four kids they're on the show how do you do it as a mother how do you balance everything that you have going on you know for us I think our kids are really what keeps that keeps grounded we feel like Matt - ya know we're really I think our kids I think their kids are what keep us grounded when we get home from a long day at work they are what I mean that's why you know for us that's they're our inspiration they are what really they're a priority so whether it's chip with the kids you know taking them to the animals or throwing a football he's the best of being a kid with them and then for me just connecting with them on levels whether it be in the garden or in the kitchen just when we're home we just really try to be home and I think before all this it was easy to say hey you know I'm a stay-at-home mom who works to you know hey but then I had my phone and I was holding them and so now I've just had a carve-out super intentional time okay tonight I'm taking this child out on a little date tomorrow chips gonna you know so it doesn't we don't want this to go by so fast that we forget the most important things in front of us and so we have to really carve out intentional time with our children mm-hmm one of the other things I think people like about your show is that in a time where things are a little messy in our world you take you know maybe something that's not chaotic or not so beautiful and make it beautiful is that one of your favorite parts of your job yeah no doubt yeah our first sort of motto and we put it on the back of every one of our little construction vans was we're gonna make Waco beautiful one house at a time and I I mean that was Owen there was something about it for us taking this thing that her parents would say was a terrible idea the neighbors there was one house that we bought specifically and I remember this couple ran into him like hey you're gonna bulldoze that right right what we then never did never even dawned on us but ironically we were like that's not a bad idea but we were just again we were too dumb to think through it like that we didn't have the budget to bulldoze stuff like that so we figured out how to make things work and then we'd get on the other side that couple would be second or third in line in these little open houses that we would do and I would always laugh going wow they really thought we should have bulldoze this and again in their defense maybe they were right but here they are literally walking through the house going what did you all do to this place I cannot believe it and there's something addicting to that I mean that whole transformation process there's a reason that this this program this niche market if you will has become such a thing I mean to cook a meal at home is intriguing to people to do renovations with your own two hands is really intriguing to people and it's fun to be a part of something like that and I think I think people really like to see that Cinderella story they love seeing the house with the least amount of potential or the one that's just completely torn down and I think that's what keeps people watching they want to know what does this thing look like in the end I think there's just so much reward in that and like you said with all the stuff that's happening in the world I think it's fun to see it's just it's like a breath of fresh air when you can see something go from chaotic and really there's no value in that into someone's dream home I think I think that's one of the things that people like about the show all of these celebrity fans Taylor Swift like lively all these people watch your show are you shocked oh yeah the fact that celebrities are interested in what's going on little Waco Texas really Ryan Reynolds he tweets us out I mean I'm sure he's being facetious but he says something like my goal for 2016 is to infiltrate the gains his life and he said to eat stuff and build stuff into break stuff and really the way he said it I was like that's pretty romantic to me but the idea that some of these folks are interested in the show is really awesome mind boggling chip away said the beginning if we can get our in-laws our you know grandparents all those people to watch some work we're doing great and I think in the beginning that's really what we thought it'd be the town and be our family so now to fast forward and like you said we get tweets from celebrities it's just seems very surreal when and then also this place has become a tourist attraction I mean when I walked in and she needed to have been a little bit more prepared I had my little Rolly bag and there were people from all over the country um visiting the stylist and you must see it but is that surprising this weekend we met people from Alaska Singapore just from all over you're one what you came here for you know it's just it's crazy to think that people are coming to Waco Texas to see what was you know the little Shawn boskie now here the silos but I think in the last year one of the things that ship and I really focused on with this place here which is that when people come that they really have an experience that it's not just about hey I hope they buy stuff that's not what it is if people leave inspired and they leave getting good time with their family and their loved ones that's the goal for us that when they come there in the garden they're on the turf playing with their kids just it's almost like I want them to feel like it's a step back in time where they can put their phone down and just be with the people they love the most and that they leave inspired then we've done I love that what do you hope you all are remembered for what a good question what do you you got something a sort of like one of those files I try though I mean for me I think we both have talked about this it's the first the thing where you know when this all is whatever whatever happens and when we look back we want our kids to say our parents are the best parents and we want to look at each other say we made it we were the best to each other and we made it through all this thick and thin but then I think beyond our family life I think it's really that I think it'd be fun to be known as people that were passionate about the work we did good work that mattered we inspired people for me my dream was very small it started out very small literally was to sell um you know at my house like have these small home shows and then it turned into this little shop on Bosque we ran the numbers it like $200 a day and we were like if I can make $200 a day we can do this so what my dream was really small but I think when people leave this place and people who know our story you know it did start small and then it ended in this thing which is huge the silos it seems like a big complex now and I hope you believe going hey they start trying to figure out what is it in my own life that what's mine what's mud there's going to be hardship and stuff but for us it's just to push through it chip boy says go get him you can do this and I think that's the coaching I needed even in the hardest of times and so hopefully people leave inspired to dream big hello today fans thanks for checking out our youtube channel subscribe by clicking that button down there and click on any of the videos over here to watch the latest interviews show highlights and digital exclusives

Channel: TODAY

Views: 2,601,254

Rating: 4.8584089 out of 5

Keywords: Today Show, Today, Show, Todayshow, NBC, Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, morning show, entertainment news, news, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, interview, Carson Daly, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Today show recipes, Today Show concert series, Kathie Lee and, Chip And Joanna Gaines, Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, Fixer Upper, HGTV, Flipping Houses, Waco, Waco Texas

Id: uYNvPkZcex4

Length: 44min 29sec (2669 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 18 2016