There’s no such thing as a perfect work-life balance—just ask Chip and Joanna Gaines.
The multi-hyphenated couple, who have built an empire from their Waco, Texas home that includes a hit HGTV show, product lines, books and, now, their own television network, tell PEOPLE in this week’s cover story that juggling everything — and parenting — is had to be reshaped.
“When people ask, ‘How do you do what you all do?’ Or, ‘How do you balance work and home?’, we always say pretty much the same thing, which is ‘Balance is an elusive thing. Good luck,'” says Joanna, 45. “Balance is not something I think is possible to achieve in this life. We all do our best.”
The couple, who will mark 20 years of marriage in 2023, “allowed us to kind of break away from that idea, that there is such a thing as work-life balance,” says Chip, 49.
Along with their extensive business portfolio and their five children — Drake, 18, Ella, 17, Duke, 15, Emmie, 13, and Crew, 5 — Joanna and Chip recently opened a 33-room boutique hotel, Hotel 1928, on Nov. 1.
Chip and Joanna Gaines Joke About the Reality of Raising Teens: ‘They’re Not Known for Compliments’ (Exclusive)
Chip jokes that the idea of an “impossible” work-life balance is a decades-old marketing ploy, teasing, “I think someone lied to us when they created that thought.”
Find out more about Chip and Joanna Gaines in this week’s issue PEOPLEon newsstands on Friday.
Kimberly Salmon
However, in the face of the impossible, Joanna says the couple and their family have found a format that works for them. “It’s about prioritizing, constantly waking up every morning and understanding what your priority is,” he explains to PEOPLE. – For us, it is obviously our relationship, and then our family and our children.
Joanna Gaines Jokes ‘I’ve Been A Little Dumb All Those Years’ To Chip As She Embraces Her Adventurous Phase
Also in the interview, Chip and Joanna tell PEOPLE that despite their high-profile successes, they mostly try to maintain normalcy at home for their kids.
“What we’ve realized about our kids is that they want to feel as normal as possible. So they never talk about it. I think they like the idea of going under the radar, feeling normal,” explains Joanna. “We get that. But maybe one day they’ll be proud of this.”
Fixer Upper : Hotel is now airing on Max and the Magnolia Network.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education