Chip Gaines doesn’t want five kids to equate success with finishing projects

Former HGTV star Chip Gaines is teaching his five kids a valuable lesson. 

While he and his wife Joanna Gaines raise their large brood and expand their growing Magnolia empire, the couple recently opened up about struggling to find balance and peace “within the tensions of life.”

Chip, 50, recently shared how he wants their children to embrace “the joy of the journey” rather than focusing solely on success. 

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“For me, the reward isn’t when I make it to my destination. It’s how I rode out the waves,” Chip wrote in the latest issue of Magnolia Journal. “How many times I was willing to take big swings even if it meant losing my footing. How often I dared to pivot not for the sake of danger but deep delight.”

He continued, “While there’s nothing inherently wrong with moments of comfort and reprieve, sometimes I worry our world has put those ideals on a pedestal. Happiness has started to look like ease and success like finish lines.”

“I already know these types of images will be fed to my kids every day of their lives. I don’t want them to have an unrealistic or discouraging grasp of the alternative: the joy of the journey.”

The “Fixer Upper” star added that everyone is going to get the ending they’re destined for and believes the person you become depends on the choices you make in life. 

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“Despite what’s commonly thought of as the good life — one where you’re resting on the beach with a piña colada and a fat 401(k) — we are happiest when we’re rocking and rolling and figuring out complicated things,” he penned.

The couple share five children: Drake, 19, Ella, 18, Duke, 16, Emmie, 15 and Crew, 6.

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Chip and Joanna, 46, were already parents when they were launched to stardom in 2014 with “Fixer Upper” on HGTV, which originated out of the home flipping business Chip started and Joanna joined after they were married in 2003. Joanna’s blog about their experiences drew the attention of producers.

After five seasons, the Gaines moved on from HGTV and launched their own media enterprise with Magnolia Network in 2020. A version of “Fixer Upper” was relaunched on the channel, as well as other home improvement shows.

With their growing Magnolia empire, Joanna admitted she previously felt she “hasn’t succeeded at balancing her life,” as she struggled to juggle five kids and a booming business in her 20s and 30s. 

“It didn’t seem to matter how often I reorganized my schedule, chose this over that, or simply said ‘no.’ There were very few seasons that felt like I’d nailed it—like I was flourishing on every front in brilliant, shimmering unison,” she penned in the Magnolia Journal.

“Balance, to me, was the light at the end of the tunnel, the antidote of sorts for whatever chaos was swirling nearby. In my 20s, for instance, I was mothering small children and a small business, and I longed for the secret to make it all achievable,” she remarked. 

“I was exhausted, so I sought balance for the promise of peace. Then, in my 30s our business grew overnight, and our dreams were taking off, and I longed for the secret to savor every moment.”

The Magnolia Journal Spring 2025 Issue hits newsstands on Friday, Feb. 21.