See The Commercial From Before This HGTV Star’s Fixer Upper Fame
Long before her Fixer Upper Fame, Joanna Gaines from HGTV, starred in a tire commercial for her father’s Firestone Tire Shop. It was this visibility that lead to her meeting husband, Chip Gaines and starting on the business adventure of a lifetime!
Before Joanna Stevens was married to Chip Gaines and starring in HGTV’s Fixer Upper, she had a dream of being a broadcast journalist. Joanna studied Communications at Baylor University. She later interned for Dan Rather at CBS News in New York. But before that, she found a family connection to put her natural camera abilities to use.
In high school and college, Joanna starred in a handful of local commercials for her father’s Firestone tire store. It was during this time that Chip Gaines came to the store to have his car worked on. Joanna was working at the counter and the two hit it off. Chip began finding excuses to have his car worked on at her father’s shop in order to visit with “the girl in the commercials”. Countless oil changes and maintenance checks later, the couple married in 2003.
Since then, Chip and Joanna have gone from flipping houses to owning retail space and raising their four children. The Gaines’ now boast four successful branches of their Magnolia business:
- Magnolia Realty, which helps clients buy and sell homes in Central Texas
- Magnolia Market, Joanna’s retail store (storefront and online)
- Magnolia Homes, through which they design, build, and renovate houses
- Magnolia Villas, a gated community of houses they’re building
Joanna says about her experience: “I was actually a communications major and had never done design. I had always had a dream to open up a boutique of some sort. I didn’t know what kind of boutique, but we found this little fixer upper building and tackled that project together in the first year of marriage, and that’s when Magnolia opened, our retail location. I sold a bunch of products that would go in the home.”
WATCH: Commercial Before HGTV Star’s Fixer Upper Fame
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Hollywood Actress Kicks Out Parents In Tear-filled Surprise
