Magnolia: Chip & Joanna Gaines. From House Flipping to Household Name

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Oct 20, 2025

Guest

Joanna Gaines

Guest

Chip Gaines

Chip Gaines, co-founder of Magnolia and former pro baseball hopeful, shares how a failed athletic dream led to entrepreneurship. Joanna Gaines, designer and author, opens up about her Korean-American upbringing and how a toxic internship shifted her into retail. Together, they reveal their pivot from a successful TV show to building a thriving lifestyle brand, overcoming near bankruptcy after the 2008 crash, and transforming their hometown into a tourist hotspot. Their journey highlights the power of faith, resilience, and authentic storytelling.

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ANECDOTE

Turning The Silos Into A Town Magnet

Chip and Joanna turned a disused cottonseed refinery into The Silos, a public gathering place with shops and food trucks.
The Silos became a tourist destination that rebranded Waco and drew millions of visitors.

ANECDOTE

How A Tire Shop Sparked A Partnership

Chip met Joanna at her father's tire shop after recognizing her from local commercials and pursued her relentlessly.
They married and quickly began running businesses together, blending Chip's construction with Joanna's retail instincts.

ANECDOTE

A $25 Sled That Validated A Dream

Joanna tested demand by displaying a $25-decorated sled in her dad's Firestone waiting room and it sold, giving her the confidence to open Magnolia.
That early $25 sale convinced her the store idea might work despite widespread doubt.

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What happens when a charismatic home renovator marries a budding design whiz? You get the billion-dollar powerhouse that is Chip and Joanna Gaines.

The Gaines’ TV show Fixer Upper became a cultural obsession, turning shiplap and farmhouse sinks into a lifestyle movement that swept America.

When they walked away from that show at peak popularity, everyone thought they were crazy. Instead, they turned their business Magnolia into a thriving lifestyle brand, which includes a network, retail, restaurants, books, and a magazine. The Silos, their Waco headquarters, became an unlikely tourist destination, drawing millions.

Chip and Joanna proved that faith, small-town values and authentic storytelling could compete with coastal glitz. And they did it all while raising five kids.

You’ll learn:

What Chip and Joanna saw in each other—as business and life partners.
How a miserable semester in New York sparked the idea for Joanna’s first store.
How the Gaines’ almost went bankrupt after the 2008 housing crash—and refused to quit.
Why walking away from their TV show turned out to be a brilliant move.
Why faith is as important as luck.
Why betting on your hometown can be a superpower.

Time Stamps:

3:30 Chip’s failed dream of becoming a pro baseball player—and the unexpected path that followed.

8:20 How running a laundry in college taught Chip the economics of entrepreneurship.

14:35 Joanna’s Korean-American childhood, identity struggles, and how a toxic newsroom internship changed the course of her life.

24:10 The day Chip walked into her dad’s tire shop—and never left.

35:10 How Joanna’s first $25 “sale” encouraged her to open the first Magnolia store.

45:15 The housing crash that nearly ended their renovation business—and how they scraped their way back.

55:15 The moment HGTV called—and why Chip thought it was a scam.

1:09:10 How saying “no” to Fixer Upper opened the door to owning their own network—and their future.

1:13:09 The cultural backlash and the lessons that came with becoming America’s most famous fixer-uppers.

This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant with research help from Chris Maccini. Our engineers were Patrick Murray and Kwesi Lee.

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