Chip Gaines Reflects on Why He Started Magnolia With Joanna 20 Years Ago: ‘That’s the Whole Secret to Success’
Chip Gaines shared his thoughts on 20 years of running an expansive business empire with Joanna Gaines. Through two decades of growing Magnolia from a local boutique into a formidable empire, the couple went from newlyweds to parents of five.
Chip revealed it all started with an idea and dream they both believed could have a positive impact. While looking back on their journey, he touched on the undying faith he and Joanna had in each other, their tenacity toward their vision, and what he believes to be “the whole secret to success.”
Chip Gaines reflects on starting Magnolia as a small local shop in 2003 to ‘build something that would matter’
In an essay on the Magnolia blog, Chip opened up about what the last two decades have been like for his famous family. He noted that 2003 was a “year like no other.”
Their Magnolia adventure began as newlyweds when Joanna “set her sights on a little shop” in Waco, Texas. Chip recalled, “We didn’t have much figured out in the way of numbers and finances, but we believed in each other, and we believed in a dream to build something that would matter — something that would be meaningful, not only to us but to our family and our community.”
The incredible journey has been one the couple “never could have predicted in a million years,” he shared. They went from a young couple with a bit of money and big ideas to parents of five kids with a business that “grew by even more.”
Through wins, losses, and lessons, Chip said they “wrestled with the temptation to settle for the easy path, always keeping one another accountable to the truth we held on to like our lives depended on it …”
Fortunately, they had a common goal and something to offer the world, which fueled their determination.
Chip Gaines shares the secret to business success with Joanna: ‘When the world zigged, we zagged.’
It would be an understatement to say it wasn’t always easy for the Fixer Upper couple. Chip couldn’t quite explain the method for success they used but noted that sticking together was vital. “When the world zigged, we zagged,” he wrote on the blog.
Chip added that “for better or worse,” they relied on their faith and gut instincts with a “white-knuckled grip.”
And therein lies the “whole secret to success,” according to Chip: “To be resolute in the face of all the voices telling you to give up, give in, or forfeit, because you just know what’s on the inside is worth fighting for.”
“… No matter how something may appear on the surface, there’s always beauty waiting to be revealed underneath,” he offered. “The same is true for me. And for you.”
Chip Gaines shares some of the Magnolia moments that ‘shine a little brighter’ in his memory
Chip reflected on some of the things he and Joanna have done in their 20 years of building Magnolia, confessing some memories have gotten a little blurry with time. “We bought an old church, a dilapidated castle, and a newspaper building,” he wrote. “We doubled down on forgotten places and impossible projects.”
He added “it’s hard to parcel out the journey into a cut-and-dry story” because “everything is mixed up and folded together.”
“But there are moments that shine a little brighter in my memory,” he offered. “Like day one of [Fixer Upper], and the rainstorm on our very first Silobration. That downpour turned the Silos grounds into a mud pit — and yet we watched the skies open up the minute our friends, Johnnyswim, took the stage to sing their hearts out.”
After sharing a few more of those memories, Chip concluded the blog post with a message for Magnolia fans. He noted, “Maybe you’ve been with us for a long time, or maybe you’ve just found us. Either way, we’re grateful for you. And don’t go anywhere — we’re just getting started.”
