Home improvement world's first couple expands their empire

HGTV

Chip and Jo Gaines have their own TV network now.

She's not Oprah, but Joanna Gaines is approaching that status as the queen of home improvement and the casual Americana style that has been her trademark.

Last we last wrote of Jo Gaines in 2020, we were saying goodbye in the belief that she and her husband Chip were going to retire from the remarkably popularl Fixer Upper HGTV show, and her hectic life as a home improvement and lifestyle guru. We were so wrong.

Instead of retiring to their ranch in Waco, Texas, the Gaines were busy planning the expansion of their home improvement and media empire centered on their shopping mall, a Disneyland for her

The Gaines’ have slowly built a home improvement conglomerate, complete with a new digital and now linear network coming to your TV.

On January 5, of this year the DIY Network became part of the Gaines' Magnolia Network. The channel will include Magnolia Original content including the first seasons of the Gaines’ new show Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines, plus new series Growing Floret, The Lost Kitchen, Homegrown, Family Dinner and Restoration Road with Clint Harp, along with the complete Fixer Upper library that made the Texas couple household names. 

“It wasn’t long ago that watching TV meant time together as a family. It was a place where people of all ages could gather and be informed, entertained, and inspired by the kind of honest, authentic programming that brings people closer,” Chip and Joanna Gaines said in a press release. 

This linear launch comes after Magnolia Network’s digital debut last summer, with Magnolia content making its way to the Discovery+ lineup. Additionally, the Gaines launched the Magnolia app which includes original series and over 150 hours of unscripted content about home, food, gardening, design, entrepreneurship and the arts.

The amiable couple have built up a huge following attracted to their obvious chemistry onscreen: he with the corny jokes and she with the deadpan delivery and "are-you- kidding-me?" looks. Hey, it works.  

Although both attended Baylor University, they didn't meet each other until after college where Jo  majored in communications and Chip graduated from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business with a marketing degree.

The couple wed in 2003 and later began their career in remodeling and flipping homes. 

"I knew when I married Chip in 2003 that our life would be an adventure, but through all of the ups and downs I would never have imagined we’d land here," Joanna said in her book "The Magnolia Story."

The Gaines have meticulously expanded their presence in the home improvement and lifestyle world with nary a ripple of controversy. There have been accusations of an  conservatism and an apparent lack of people of color on their shows and questions raised about their membership in a church whose pastor believes in conversion therapy. Those rumors gets Jo riled up to the point she responds, "That really eats my lunch because that's so far from what we are," she said in a TV interview.

They fended off that slice of negativity with donations to Black Lives Matter and one of their shows is hosted by a gay man. The rumors and accusations apparently have not hurt their homespun image.

Although the never really avoided the topic of race, (they just didn't bring it up) only after they established their huge following numbering in the millions, making their shows one of most watched shows on HGTV did Jo give us peek into her Korean American lineage.

Instagram

A past photo shows Joanna Grimes with her mother, left, and  the new media mogul today.

Jo previously spoke out about growing up in a half-Korean household last November, when her book, "The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be"
 — which is all about celebrating who you are and embracing your gifts — hit the bookstores.

"My mom is full Korean and my dad is Caucasian. Kids in kindergarten would make fun of me for being Asian, and when you're that age you don't know really how to process that; the way you take that is, 'Who I am isn't good enough,'" she said 

Jo, whose mother is of Korean descent, wrote on Instagram a memory of the behavior her mom encountered when Gaines was a child and her own hopes for the future.

"I remember as a little girl being out with my mom and seeing how in a moment, a person's harsh look or an underhanded comment would attempt to belittle her rich story and her beautiful culture," she wrote. She included two photos: a throwback pictures of her and her mom, and a photo of her second children's book, "The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be," which was translated into Korean.

"We can't take lightly the power that our words and actions carry. The world needs who we were ALL made to be and all the amazing and beautiful differences we each bring with us," she continued in the social media post. "Maybe if we say it enough, it will ring true and become the message that softens even the hardest of hearts."

"Fast forward to today and my Korean heritage is one of the things I'm most proud of. I'm trying to make up for that lost time – the culture is just so beautiful. I think discovering who you are and what you were made to do is a lifelong journey," she continued.

The Gaines have expanded their single Waco store into a Disneyland for do-it-yourselfers and the Gaines army of fans. Magnolia employs hundreds of workers and is one of Waco's chief tourist attractions.

“That’s what we’ve set out to build with Magnolia Network, and we’ve been amazed by the stories and storytellers we’ve found, people whose lives are living proof that our world is full of beauty, hope, courage, and curiosity. We can’t wait to see these stories brought to life on cable this January, and we’re hopeful about the impact it might have—to help reclaim the best of what television can be.”

In the Magnolia Manifesto, the couple writes:  “We believe in human kindness, knowing we are made better when we work together.” Now, how can you argue against that?

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, new, views and tips from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Miss America talks about being Korean American and representing

Korean American Emma Broyles was crowned Miss America Thursday.

As Miss Alaska, Emma  Broyles is the first Korean American to win the Miss America competition Thursday in the pageant's 100-year history.

"Being the first Korean Miss America, that we know of, is really cool because I think about when I was younger and I was growing up and not really seeing Korean women who looked like me in popular media," says Broyles, 20 in an interview with People. "I remember I was ashamed of my heritage and I was avoiding embracing it at all costs.

"Now that I'm older, I've really been able to embrace my ethnicity and embrace my background, embrace the journey that my grandparents made 50 or so years ago," she continues. "And I think that having a woman who's kind of an underdog — being only 20 from Alaska and being half-Korean — is representative of all that Miss America stands for."

Broyles, 20, is a Service High School graduate in Anchorage and currently in her junior year at the Honors College at Arizona State University where she’s majoring in biomedical studies and minoring in voice performance, according to the Miss America Organization.

Broyles said being crowned Miss America is “an incredible dream come true,” according to a statement announcing her win from the organization.

"I hope at least one person out there feels like they can see themselves in me and feel inspired," she said.

In an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, her hometown newspaper, she was asked about her Korean heritage and family.

"Being what we know of to be the first Miss America of Korean descent is another really cool thing because I think it represents all of the the positive change that we’ve seen in Miss America in the past 100 years," Broyles told the ADN.

"I mean, even just in the past decade, we’ve seen such a diverse group of Miss Americas, and to be representing Asians all over the United States is a really, really cool and a really special moment for me.

"My grandparents, they came to America about 50 years ago — right before my mom was born — with this idea that they wanted their kids to be able to live that American Dream and have every opportunity possible. They actually moved straight to Anchorage, Alaska, so they’ve been here for quite a while, which is why my family has our roots in Anchorage, Alaska, and all of their other family members came from Korea to Anchorage, Alaska.

"So I have a huge Korean family in Anchorage, and it’s really, really neat because my grandpa was actually the president of the Korean Alaskan organization.

"And it was a really cool win for my grandparents as well, I think, to see their Korean granddaughter making strides and being in a competition like Miss America. And you know, there were so many other Koreans on that stage with me, which — it was a really cool experience, and I feel so grateful for my heritage and for the ability to represent other Korean Americans all across the country. And I think my grandparents are especially grateful and especially excited.

“As a Korean American, I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete alongside so many brilliant, talented women,” she said. “I hope to live up to the legacy, serve as a positive role model for women of all ages and make the Miss America Organization proud. It’s been an honor to represent the great state of Alaska and I look forward to making a significant impact through my social impact initiative on the national stage.”

For winning the Miss America crown, Broyles, a first-year student at Arizona State University, will get a $100,000 scholarship and earn a six-figure salary during her one-year reign.

The Miss America pageant, which has moved away from the emphasis on physical appearance to placing more importance on leadership, talent and communication skills, was not held last year because of the pandemic and it wasn't held for several years in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was moved from its traditional site in Atlantic City, N.J. and held at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. 

Broyles is unusual among pageant winners in that she openly talks about her flaws.  "I think that people tend to put Miss America on this pedestal and say, 'Wow... she's living this fabulous, glamorous life.'"

During the contest, she told the judges and audience that she wants people to view Miss America as real person. Broyles revealed that she has ADHD and suffers from a form of OCD. "I am real. I have flaws... and because of that, I am a better person."