What I learned from Joanna Gaines (well from her book)
I just got back from a wonderful vacation in beautiful Northern Michigan. Despite chasing two lively toddlers around, I was able to read a book. Yes, a real book. For enjoyment. Consider it a summer miracle.
I digress.
Before hitting the roads, I grabbed “The Magnolia Story” by Chip & Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino. I got the book fully intending it to be just an easy read for the beach. Little did I know that Joanna would teach me some important business and life lessons…
Let Go
Joanna and Chip’s story taught me that you need to let go in order for life to work its wonders. Joanna was conservative by nature but she let go when she met Chip and it made all the difference. Caution is important but there is something to be said for just going for it.
The Road May Take Many Turns
Chip & Joanna’s entrepreneurial story took many different twists and turns. Just because you do something now, doesn’t mean you are stuck with it and that you can’t start doing something else later. Chip was a serial entrepreneur and all of these little business adventures helped him refine his skills and identify his true passions. If you don’t know where you are going, just start. You are never going to get to your destination if you never board the train in the first place.
Make the Most of It
Joanna and Chip had numerous mishaps and obstacles throughout their journey. No matter what life threw their way, they always seemed to make the most of it and actually end up a little bit better off than when they started. For example, if it weren’t for Chip getting duped into buying a dilapidated houseboat, they would likely never have their show on HGTV. The same show that gives them the opportunity to impact and inspire millions of people across the world. I’m a huge believer that your attitude creates the outcome. You can choose to be the victim or you can choose to overcome. Chip & Joanna overcome.
Do What is Right for You & Your Family
It was so refreshing to see that Joanna struggled with the decision to close up her first shop and stay at home with her babies. That is a very personal decision and something that only you can decide for yourself. The lesson is, do what feels right at the time. If that means to stay in the workforce, stay. If that means stay at home, stay there. Ultimately, she heard a voice tell her that it was time to stay home and that is what she did. And that is cool because that worked for her. Do what works for you.
Be Kind to People
Chip & Joanna just seem like really awesome, really nice people. There are stories scattered throughout the book of Chip & Joanna helping someone out in need whether it be giving a homeless man a place to sleep in the middle of the night or keeping a couple kids out of trouble by giving them some work for the night. I wholeheartedly believe that if you put good out into the universe, you get it back tenfold. Chip & Joanna are testaments to this. They have had some incredible breaks in their lives. If I were to guess, this was not by chance.
Seize Opportunity
Chip & Joanna never seemed to hesitate to seize a business opportunity whether it be opening up a retail store or buying their next house to flip. In business, the spoils go to those that take a chance and seize the opportunity. This is why I’m such a big believer in everyone having an emergency fund. This way, when life gives you an opportunity you have the means to take advantage. There was a point in the book where they were $5,000 shy of a life-changing business venture, luckily, Joanna had been stashing some money aside and had exactly enough. Without that little cushion, life could look very different for them.
Use Debt Carefully
Chip is a big fan of using debt to fund his business ventures. I agree that debt does have a place in business. If you are in business for any amount of time, there may come a time when you need to use it. However, I caution you, use it carefully. Only use debt when you need it and never take out more than you can cover. Always have a backup plan because the banks can call their line at any time and it may not have anything to do with you or anything you can control. Chip & Joanna were heavily leveraged in order to fund the development of their dreams. The made their payments on time, borrowed responsibly, all the things that they were supposed to do. Unfortunately, this was right at the height of the financial crisis. The government forced their bank to essentially cut their line of credit leaving Chip & Joanna on the brink of financial ruin. The lesson is, debt is good but use caution when using it.
Work Hard
No question about it, Chip (and Joanna) has an awesome work ethic. One of my favorite quotes from the book comes from Chip, “Whenever I’ve been down financially, I’ve just picked myself up and worked a little harder. And whether it’s a little luck or God or a combination, everything seems to find a way of working itself out eventually.” Good things come to those that work hard and stick with it. As a parent, it is equally important to instill good work habits into your children. We want to give our kids the world, but the best gift that you can give them is the ability to be humble, work hard for what they want, and be content if it doesn’t come right away. I think that Chip & Joanna are doing a great job of that.
Stop Cleaning the House
I picture Joanna’s home as Pinterest perfect at all time, everything is tidy, everything has its place, everything is beautiful and in pristine condition. She is Joanna FREAKIN Gaines for Pete’s sake. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Joanna came to a revelation that she couldn’t keep up with keeping a perfect household all the time. Say what?! Joanna’s kids spill cheerios and write on the walls too?! I am not alone, I am not a failure of a mother and wife. If she can let the housework go for a bit and spend some more time with the kids, the rest of us can.
I loved this book so much. It was entertaining and read like a story but it taught you so many meaningful life and business lessons. While I didn’t get to speak to them personally, I felt like it when reading their book. I recommend it for literally everyone. Check it out on Amazon!
Have you read The Magnolia Story? If so, what are your thoughts? What lessons did you learn? I’d love to hear, drop a line below!
I like your first point, and I think a lot of times, we feel unnecessarily stuck in one path or one career choice, while in fact the rest are still open to us.
This was an “aha” moment for me. I am a planner so I like all of my actions to be calculated. Sometimes you just need to START and take it one step at a time. Thank you for reading!
I use to be a planner, but I had to learn that everything in life doesn’t have to be so calculated.
Still such a struggle for me! Thank you so much for reading!
Thanks for the article.I wanted to read this book!
It is a fantastic book! Thank you for reading!
It’s so refreshing reading your reviews on this book, you just made me wanna go get this book. I love how it’s been potrayed that life doesn’t have to be perfect, just find your perfection in all life’s imperfections .
Love that “just find yoru perfection in all life’s imperfections”! Exactly! Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
Loved this post, and all these helpful points! especially “Stop Cleaning the House” Oh! much needed! Thanks for sharing!
It’s so funny how most of us stress ourselves everyday chasing perfection instead of making it perfect with what we already have to work with. Your quality reviews on this book makes me wanna go get it. Thanks
Really good points there.
Haven’t read this book before, might check it out! Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
http://nouw.com/ladolcemusica
Love this! Joanna is my spirit animal. I am going to get this book.
I love Joanna Gaines. I plan my gym time around being able to watch the show when it comes on.
LOVE THEM! My dream is to have them come and renovate my house! Thanks so much for reading!
I love Joanna Gaines. She is a great model.
When things don’t go our way, we tend to lose hope easily. People like Joanna and Chip set examples of overcoming obstacles and making the most out of it. Amazing post!
When things don’t go our way, we tend to lose hope easily. People like Joanna and Chip set examples of overcoming obstacles and making the most out of it. Amazing post!
Exactly, they were on the brink of disaster so frequently but they persevered. Thanks so much for reading!
I loved her book! It had some very great lessons in it!
Compelling article! Expecting more such articles! So please keep writing! 😀
I will , thank you so much for checking it out!
i love her. she is such a good, positive role model for so many people.
Great lessons for life ! Love this story 🙂 Thanks
I heard about the book but did not get a chance to look into it. Thanks for sharing
Great article, I feel like it’s a different and more interesting way of doing a book review- a more in-depth way of presenting the characters and storyline and what you took away from it.
Thanks so much! Thank you for reading!
Very encouraging. I am going to amazon right now to check this book out. Thank you for sharing.
You will love it! There is something in there for everyone. Let me know if you happen to read it!
Thank you. I will ☺️
This was great. I’ve thought many times about reading the book but have never picked it up. I honestly forgot about it until now. Maybe I can get a copy soon!
You should check it out! It has something for everyone. Thank you so much for reading!
This book was already on my summer reading list! Can’t wait to get into it!
I’m so glad I read it, totally worth the time. Let me know what you think when you do read it. Thanks so much for reading!
Awesome review! I love and admire Joanna so much, must read this!
Love your post, I will definitely have to get that book! It sounds like something anyone can read and relate to and learn from. Thanks for sharing…
So true that your attitude affects your outcome! I’ve experienced this first hand and try to make sure that when things go wrong or seem to be going wrong that I don’t fall into a funk where it just gets worse! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book!
Totaly agree. Thank you so much for reading!
You had me hooked with this title! I never realized how much I was actually learning from her. Such an awesome article and point of view, sharing this with others I know love Jojo as much as I do!
Juliette | https://namastaytraveling.com
LOVE her! Thanks so much for reading!
Love chip and Joanna! Great post
Me too! Thanks so much for reading!
Oh, I absolutely LOVE this family! I actually didn’t know they had a book! I had never read anyone’s book that I watched on tv until I read Caitlyn Jenner’s book a few months ago and I loved it!! I will most definitely have to check this out- thanks!
I stumbled upon it myself and I LOVED the book. It was such a fun, easy, and inspiring read! Thank you so much for reading!
I love Joanna! I haven’t read the book yet but it’s on my wish list to read. I like your last note of stop cleaning the house. I’m sure for someone like Joanna things can get messy QUICK so it’s refreshing to see her be honest about it.
Kimberly
www,brunchandgloss.com
I highly recommend reading the book. Such a fun and inspiring read. Thank you so much for reading!
Some very valuable points about life. I really like the last one that validates that you don’t need a clean house all the time to have a good life. Thanks!
Heather | http://www.heatherleguilloux.ca
I think that is my favorite! Thanks for reading!
I love Joanna Gaines. There’s a Facebook post going around that states: “We need more Joanna Gaines and fewer Kim Kardashian in this world.” After reading your review, I’d say this is doubly true.
I agree! LOVE HER! Thanks so much for reading!
I love this so much!!! Northern Michigan is beautiful! I grew up in Grand Rapids and I miss it there. I love Chip and Joanna… I think they’re such amazing role models and so fun and genuine. I need to check out their store and magazine. I love all the tips you wrote about here! Great post (:
Its quite interesting learning from other you have read a lot
I really do welcome all the points that you learnt from Joanna especially the one about cleaning the house. I am a recovering clean freak and would spend my time following my boys around wiping off fingerprints and stuff. Now i have time to myself and have learnt that a little dirt do not harm anyone. LOL. I am also following the work hard ethic. Cheers!
I can sympathize with you on the clean freak thing! It’s so hard! Thank you so much for reading.
Its quite useful and interesting learning from others
Very intresting learning from others
This is very inspiring 🙂 I’ve heard lots of rave reviews for the book!
The book is awesome. Anyone would love it! Thank you so much for reading!
Really encouraging post and I really like your website!!
Aw, thanks! You made my day. Thank you so much!
She is my favorite! I love how inspirational she is.
LOVE HER! Thank you so much for reading!
Wow!! This review truly makes me want to read the book. Felt like you were recommending this book directly to me. Like you know my life (hehe)…especially with this line, “…you need to let go in order for life to work its wonders”.
It was an awesome book, it will definitely speak to you! I have a hard time with letting go as well. Thank you so much for reading and for your thoughts!
I love this so much! I’m a huge fan of Fixer Upper, and a huge part of the reason (besides the awesome transformations) is that Chip and Joanna are so inspiring in their work ethic, their relationship, and everything! Great post <3
I just love them! They are just nice, wholesome people. Thank you so much for reading!
Great piece…
Be kind to others, its all we need to achieve greatness!!
Exactly! Thank you so much for reading!
Great how you managed to get all these great points out of this book! You should upload some of your thoughts on Amazon as a review too!
That is a great idea, I will definitely do that! Thank you so much for reading!
I’ve been dying to read this book! But…three 3-and-under. Love the takeaways you had after reading!
You are a rock-star, 3 under 3! Luckily this is a super quick and easy read. In fact, I read most of it on my ride home from our trip. Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
So many great life lessons in here! Going to start looking at this list first thing every morning…making sure to get the most of each day 🙂
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you found it helpful. Thank you for reading!
Her books are fantastic! Great post
Love her! Thanks so much for reading!
I love this post as it really literally can be applied to just about anything you do in life. A great look into the essence of what it is to be a mindful citizen and a compassionate human in any vocation. Thank you for sharing this wisdom today!
I totally agree, it can be applies in so many situations. I’m glad you enjoyed and thank you for reading!
love this post, beautifully written, and very important lessons to be learnt or taken on board. Thank you for sharing with us
http://www.ontheothersideofdepression.com
Well, thank you so much for reading! I am so glad you enjoyed it! Can’t wait to check out your blog!
I didn’t know her and now your post made me want to read this book!
She is awesome, she has a home improvement show on HGTV. Such a down to earth and inspirational person. You should definitely check out the book. Thanks so much for reading!
I love this roundup! I listened to it this book on Audible, and I definitely left with some valuable lessons I wasn’t expecting to take away. I recommend this book to everyone!
It was an awesome book! Thank you for reading.