Joanna Gaines

Joanna Gaines has been married to Chip Gaines since 2003. They have five children: Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie and Crew. The couple met in 2001 at Joanna's father's Firestone Tire store in Waco, Texas, after attending Baylor University at the same time without meeting there. Chip recognized Joanna from television commercials for her family's business.

Joanna is the middle daughter of Nan Stevens, who is from South Korea, and Jerry Stevens, who has Lebanese and German ancestry. Her sisters are Teresa Criswell and Mary Kay "Mikey" McCall. Mikey and her family appeared on Fixer Upper in 2018 when Joanna and Chip renovated their home.

Joanna Gaines was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was raised in Texas. Her parents met in Seoul, South Korea, while Jerry Stevens was serving with the United States Army. When Joanna was 12, her family settled in Austin, Texas, and later moved to Waco, where her father opened a Firestone Tire franchise. Joanna appeared in commercials for the business.

As a child, Joanna experienced bullying and discrimination after often being the only Asian American student at her schools. After the family moved to Waco, she was named homecoming queen. She graduated from Baylor University in 2001 with a degree in communications, completed internships at Waco television and radio stations, and spent a semester in New York City as an intern on 48 Hours, which was anchored by Dan Rather.

Shortly after her wedding, Joanna joined Chip's house-flipping business and handled the decorating for renovation projects without formal design training. The couple's blog and a short promotional video, known as a sizzle reel, helped bring their work to the attention of HGTV. Their home-improvement series, Fixer Upper, premiered in 2013 and ran for five seasons, with the final original season airing in 2017.

On the show, Joanna and Chip helped clients find houses and then renovate them. Joanna's design approach became associated with modern farmhouse style, combining neutral colors, existing architectural features such as shiplap, and industrial accents. The popularity of Fixer Upper helped spread that style and contributed to tourism and economic development in Waco. HGTV also identified the couple as having worked on more than 100 homes together.

In 2003, Joanna and Chip opened the original Magnolia Market, a home-goods store, while continuing their renovation work. They later developed Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, a complex that expanded to include retail stores, a bakery and a coffee shop. Their broader business activities included Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Realty, Magnolia Table and residential rental properties.

The Magnolia brand also grew through design and publishing partnerships. Joanna launched the Magnolia Home furniture collection and, with Chip, introduced the quarterly magazine Magnolia Journal in 2016. In 2017, she introduced Hearth & Hand with Magnolia at Target, and she later created a collection of rugs and pillows for Anthropologie and rug collections with Loloi.

After Fixer Upper ended in 2018, Joanna and Chip returned to renovation television with Fixer Upper: Welcome Home. Their Magnolia Network debuted in 2022, carrying programs focused on home improvement, gardening and cooking. Joanna also hosted Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines, and the Fixer Upper franchise expanded with Fixer Upper: The Castle and Fixer Upper: The Hotel.

Joanna's books include the memoir The Magnolia Story, written with Chip Gaines, the design guide Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave, the Magnolia Table cookbooks, and The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters. She has also written children's books, including We Are the Gardeners and The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be.