The Fixer Upper couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, have been a household name since their hit HGTV series Fixer Upper first premiered in 2013.
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Four seasons of the highest-rated HGTV show in network history, a New York Times bestselling book, a quarterly magazine, a paint, wallpaper, rug and furniture line, a bakery, successful retail shops, and a happy marriage later, the Gaineses are America’s power couple. They’ve found their niche, and the world can’t get enough of it.
Not to mention the inexplicable desire to move to Waco, Texas.
#Shiplap.
But in a recent interview with People magazine, the Chip and Joanna Gaines open up about the long road of hard work and faith that led them to where they are today.
“Nothing has come easy,” Chip says. “We’ve worked so hard to have this beautiful family and this farm—it really does seem like the American dream you heard about growing up.”
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The couple met in 2001 and tied the knot in 2003. For years after that, they admittedly lived off of the cash in Chip’s wallet as they scraped by in the house-flipping business.
“I remember when we first got married the only money we had was what was in Chip’s pocket. He always had a wad of cash, but we were broke. If I needed to go grocery shopping it’s whatever was in his pocket. That’s how we paid the bills.”
Of course, now they’re running the Magnolia empire along with a laundry-list of other accolades in their quest for success.