Joy 101: Joanna Gaines

"I worked for my dad for 10 years at his Firestone automotive place, and Chip was a customer. He saw me on my dad's commercials. He came in, asked for a brake job. He didn't need a brake job. And I was like, 'who is this guy?' -Joanna Gaines on her meet-cute with husband Chip Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is Presented by CVS. Shop your local CVS, right around the corner. Experience the full conversation on the "Joy 101 podcast with Hoda Kotb" wherever you listen to podcasts. For more information please visit us at www.joy101.com/podcast https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joy101.com%2Fpodcast&data=05%7C02%7CBrianBurton%40iheartmedia.com%7C40874a382d42417c9efa08df0ae25bbc%7C122a527e5b714eba878d9810b495b9e3%7C0%7C0%7C639241639643266167%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2R7mYdazP9AeD8bhGW8bTqJsyxnQ19B8%2BqTOWOpjSR0%3D&reserved=0 See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:10Hoda Kotb?

  Hi guys, welcome to Joy 101, the podcast. I'm so happy that you're here. I am so happy because I am interviewing today, not only someone you know, but someone who's a dear friend to me. She's somebody who was kind of a shy kid and was insecure and didn't know if she was going to be able to, you know, just sort of pictured us. She used to tell me she pictured a small life for herself, but her life exploded into something huge. She is one of the founders of the Magnolia Network. She was the female voice on Fixer Upper. Her name is Joanna Gaines. She's of course married to Chip and they created an

• 0:52Hoda Kotb?

  entire kind of empire. But what I love the most about her is how she is guided in her decisions. She has an inner compass that is on point and it points her in the direction she's meant to go. She's somebody who in this phase of life is experiencing not emptiness because she still has some kids at home, but two of her kids are off to college, two of her five. And so she talks about what it's like to live in that space, to be heartbroken when your child leaves to go to college, but also to be so full knowing that they're going to come back as a different person. She talks about all the highs and lows of

• 1:33Hoda Kotb?

  life, of marriage, of building a business, of what to do when you stumble and how she found her footing again. It is a beautiful conversation. I think you're going to love with my dear friend Joanna Gaines.

• 1:47Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 1:51Hoda Kotb?

  Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb is presented by CVS. I've realized that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day. I'll pop into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels and it never seems to be just a quick errant. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joy Word Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more joy. Visit your local CVS pharmacy sponsored by CVS. Every purchase is a financial decision. So it's worth asking, what am I getting

• 2:32Hoda Kotb?

  out of this? If you're using the Chase Freedom Flex Card, you can maximize your cash back on things you need. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. Sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 2:57Speaker 02

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• 3:34Speaker 02

  now at youbeauty.com. That's the letter U, B-E-A-U-T-Y.com. Try You Beauty today.

• 3:43Speaker 03

  I'm Melissa Jelton, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it and the man they suspected wore a badge.

• 3:58Speaker 04

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 4:04Speaker 03

  And you can get access to all episodes 100% ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.

• 4:22Speaker 05

  This is your girl, TS Madison, coming to you loud, live and always and forever in color from the Outlaws Podcast. National coming out day is in October and we've got stories from all your favorite LGBTQ celebrities to celebrate. Check out our episode with comedy legend Wayne Brady. My daughter was actually the one, she said, Dad, you may be pansexual. The iconic Billy Porter and Terrell Grace and I talk about family and children's family posts coming out.

• 4:48Speaker 06

  I don't like statements like that. That's Dad or that's Grandma. No, no, no, no, no. It should never come at the cost and expense of your own sanity and your own mental health.

• 4:55Speaker 05

  Download the free iHeart Radio app, search Outlaws with TS Madison and listen now.

• 5:01Hoda Kotb?

  Your hair's long. What are you doing? What's going on?

• 5:06Speaker 06

  This is, I'm now in this new era where I don't do my hair. I just, it's natural. So I let it dry naturally.

• 5:19Hoda Kotb?

  I love it.

• 5:19Speaker 06

  And it's a little more wild, but you know, now when I do my hair with a curling iron, I'm like, ew, I feel too polished. So I'm.

• 5:27Hoda Kotb?

  Know what? By the way, I love it. I was going to say whatever's happening, whatever's going on. I just came back from a vacation where I was with my mom, my brother, my sister, my kids, my brother's kids, a bunch of people. We went to the Bahamas and my mom, Jo, at 90 years old, got in the pool, walked down the steps to the pool. I was, Joel came to, he was crying. He was watching my mom get in the pool and he was crying because she didn't want to go. It's a big trip. You're 90, you got to get on a plane, you got to get through customs.

• 6:02Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 6:03Hoda Kotb?

  She did all the things. She got in the pool. We were, there's like a moment where Joel goes, I am totally crying right now, watching. But I was, I was just thinking about all of life's awesome phases.

• 6:16Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 6:17Hoda Kotb?

  And how you handle them. And which of course, it brought me to you because I was thinking about your kids and how they're growing and how it feels to be raising children who are adults, sort of in some cases. So what's it, what's that, that piece of life, that chapter of life, when you're watching your kids kind of step away? I don't know. I'm trying to figure out how I'd handle that, but what's that been like for you?

• 6:48Speaker 06

  Cause I have been thinking about you with your girls and just how I just love our conversations. Like I love them so much. Even hearing about your mom going into the pool. I went on a beach trip a couple of weeks ago with my girls and Hoda, I haven't been in the ocean. I mean, and just because the ocean, like that feels like, oh. And at one point I was like, why can't I act like a little kid and just get in the ocean?

• 7:13Hoda Kotb?

  Get in it.

• 7:14Speaker 06

  And my top is falling off. My hair, it is so messy, but it was so fun.

• 7:18Hoda Kotb?

  You loved it.

• 7:19Speaker 06

  And I was having so much fun. So much so, it was just me and my sister and our girls are on the shore watching us going, look at our mom. They're like eight years old right now. And it was so, it's like, who cares? It was so freeing.

• 7:33Hoda Kotb?

  Who cares? Why do we care? We should not be caring about anything anymore.

• 7:38Speaker 06

  And I mean, at one point I was like, I'll just swim with my, like I was swimming and my top kept falling down, but I was like, no one could even see. I just, you worry about so much, but it's like, when you stop worrying, you just, then you're a pit again.

• 7:50Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 7:50Speaker 06

  And so I love that your 90-year-old mother was going in the pool. I hope I do that at 90.

• 7:55Hoda Kotb?

  Yes, me too, me too.

• 7:56Speaker 06

  But this, so this week, Hoda, it's funny how my mood, like on Monday, I got kind of funky and Chip was like, what's going? I'm like, I have no idea. I'm just like in a sad mood.

• 8:09Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 8:10Speaker 06

  And then yesterday I was in a sad mood. And so I go on a walk. Normally the, to journal or to go on a walk is where I figure out what is happening.

• 8:17Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 8:18Speaker 06

  So I go on this walk at about seven o'clock last night and I realize it hits me. I, my body knew before even my mind had processed, this is kind of the last full week of my family being together before my kids go off. Like Drake, my oldest, left last night to go back into his college apartment and rhythm. And then my daughter leaves in two weeks. But as far as our family unit of seven, this was, this is the last week.

• 8:47Hoda Kotb?

  And I've been like, holding on to it all summer. It's Hoda, the richest when they're together. Cause now you're like, you know, anyways. And so, I'm, my body is moving through that emotion of letting go again. And then I'm processing on the walk and I'm crying and there's the cows and the goats watching me as I'm like, and, and in my mind, I'm like, get all this out. Cause when you walk in that door, I never want my children. Yes. I want them to know I love them and I miss them, but I don't want them to feel guilty for leaving. Yes. Processing all that on my walk at the farm. And, and so, Hoda, it's all a bunch of that. It's a bunch of constant recalibration of expectation, of change is good.

• 9:32Hoda Kotb?

  And how can you find the beauty of the change in the season? Because for so long, I was holding on to what we had. Yeah. And feeling like it's never going to be the same again. But then finally getting to the point of even this morning, as I'm journaling, every year is the best year. Even though now I've got two kids that are in college, the, the, the new iteration of them that I get to experience when they come home for Christmas or summer as like a new person, that's more joyful than holding on to them every day and knowing, you know? So it really is this like, this is a weird thing, but a few years back, I prided myself in family dinners, five nights a week, us around the table.

• 10:16Hoda Kotb?

  And now it's like, the recalibration of expectation of maybe this year, it's five times, five to 10 times a year as a full family versus five times a week. And then you think about, even when they have their own kids and it's like, it just keeps dwindling down. But, but once you know that and you understand that that change is beautiful, it's just, that's it. It's just like, every season is just a readjustment of expectations. But also, what's the new beauty in that season? And I'm finally there where it's like, my kids are leaving again. Yeah. I have a, my son Duke is gonna be a senior this year. My daughter Emmy K is gonna be a junior. So for the next two years, I get to do this again. The goodbye, the goodbye. And it's just painful.

• 11:00Hoda Kotb?

  But it's also knowing now what's on the other side of like, when I get to see them and how much they've grown beyond me is like, the best joy. You're so good. I mean, you're so good to see it that way. Because I think, I have friends whose kids are going off and they are basket cases. They don't want them to go, they want them to go close by. They, and some of them verbalize, which, I mean, everyone's got their own trip. Yeah. But I think the idea that you're appreciating them when they come back, but you're going through the stuff, like setting five seats instead of seven is different. You know, it's just like, a table gets reconfigured. You're like, oh, now we're gonna, who's sitting there? Who's seat? Do you leave their seats open? They're open. They're open.

• 11:44Hoda Kotb?

  They're right. But I mean, I mean, I could talk about this the entire time, Hoda, because I feel like it's such a, what I'm moving through now. But you know, there's one thing about letting your son go, he's our oldest. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh, that second one. Not because I love her more, it's just my daughter. Yes. Last year, Hoda, I didn't think I was gonna recover. So when I hear you say your friends are going through this, holy cow. I, when I was letting Ella, when I was dropping her off, the wave of emotion that comes with, and this is why I think about you with your daughters, like, all the things that come with being a mother and letting your girls go.

• 12:27Hoda Kotb?

  And I had never cried that hard in my actual life. And for weeks after that, I kept telling Chip, my heart is sore. Yeah. My heart is so sore. Yeah. And that soreness kinda never goes away. Like now, as I realize, okay, in two weeks, she's leaving, it's starting to like, reawaken. Feel it again. Like that feeling I felt a year ago. Again, there's so much beauty, so that's what I wanna hold, is there's so much beauty in the letting go, but the soreness of, and then the mom guilt, Hoda. Like, again, there's so many things we could talk about today, but, but the only reason why I think it's important to talk about the mom guilt, is I was with a friend the other night at dinner and she's raising her two-year-old little boy. She works.

• 13:10Hoda Kotb?

  And she's trying to balance that with her little boy. And she started talking about mom guilt. And I, out of nowhere, it came out of my mouth. And I'm like, ooh, that's kind of scary. But it's like, mom guilt never goes away. It, it, it's something you have to manage, you have to always work through. And I remember when Ella, when I was taking her to the airport, we were about to fly to where she's going for college. I remember just crying a little bit and thinking, okay, this is the moment I can just like, say I'm sorry for anywhere I wasn't pre, like, and so I remember, Hoda, for months, what I was grieving was, I, I wasn't home the whole time.

• 13:51Hoda Kotb?

  Like, I, I, I was a stay-at-home mom for a portion of her childhood, but then I, I grew this business. Yeah. And, and so there were months leading up to me saying goodbye to her, that I held that mom guilt of, oh, is she thinking I wasn't there enough? Is she, so I'm, I'm, I'm creating this narrative. Yes. And we're in the car and I just quietly start crying and I'm like, hey, I just, I wanna ask, and you can be honest, but I also wanna say I'm sorry, if there's any way where you ever felt like I just wasn't there enough? Or because I was working, like, I'm sorry. And she kinda got mad. Like, it wasn't like, I thought this was gonna be this beautiful mom. You know, like, and then me getting to, you know, receive and say I'm sorry and her accept the apology.

• 14:36Hoda Kotb?

  She got upset and she said, um, mom, are you serious? She's like, all you've taught me is I can do anything and everything. And so, the narrative she's built up over the years, is not the mom guilt that I've been holding of like, oh, instead it's one of strength and empowerment and beauty. And right there, it was, it was a life-changing moment for me that you just, you need to talk more. Like, if there's an insecurity in my, I should've brought that up three years ago. Oh my god. Cause I've been holding it for three years. But here's the thing, what you said is like, cause I think this, my mom worked all the time when we were growing up, and my dad did, they would go off to work and they would come home and we were supposed to have dinner on the table, which was always terrible. And they would eat it, you know, they would do it.

• 15:20Hoda Kotb?

  But I remembered thinking, like, I watched how my mom worked and I knew that if she could do that, you know, then I could do this. I remember my mom ran, at 60, she decided she was gonna run a marathon and we were like, wait, what? So my brother, sister and I went to watch her and we knew she had run some, but she was like, I can do it. I'm like, okay. Anyway, so she decides she's gonna run a marathon and she ends up doing it. It was like this incredible thing. Believe it. And I ran the last few miles with her, cause she was definitely having a tough time. But at the end, I stopped at the bottom of the Iwo Jima Memorial, which it was, it was at, in DC, it was the Marine Corps Marathon.

• 16:02Hoda Kotb?

  And I had a towel and I was like, I was doing this and I was watching her run up that hill. My brother and sister were at the top, my sister was crying, my brother was crying, but he said he was hungry, because, you know, he, I wasn't crying, I was just hungry. I'm like, okay, whatevs. Anyway, but she crosses the finish line and I remembered that. So for every mom that's crossed the finish line, whether it's a Marine Corps Marathon, or whether it's starting a business, or whether it's hosting a TV show, or whatever, or doing any job, working at the Library of Congress, which is where my mom worked, and I knew her, I knew her cubicle, I know exactly, but I, when we watch our moms do something. Wow. We're proving like, it's possible.

• 16:47Hoda Kotb?

  Yes. And your daughter, isn't, isn't she into what you're doing? Isn't she all about what you're about? Yeah, she's, yeah, creative, business. She's a creative, yeah. Um, all the things. Yeah. So she's, she's following her mom all the way through. The guilt though is real and it can be crippling. I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments, the birthdays, the vacations, the milestones. But the truth is, some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So, like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow, the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-market snack, or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward

• 17:32Hoda Kotb?

  Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts, and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in. I have to tell you, if you're an Extra Care member, you're gonna save on things you're already buying and those extra bucks really do add up. Just watching that total go down at the checkout, never, ever gets old. I know life's busy, we're all juggling a lot, and that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So, the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter.

• 18:15Hoda Kotb?

  Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A 10-foot skeleton? Sure. A full-size fog machine? Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens. Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card, the savvy decision that will earn you more cash back on the everyday purchases, plus the extraordinary Halloween tricks and treats. With Freedom Flex, you earn even more treats on your Halloween and everyday needs. You get 5% cash back on popular rotating quarterly categories, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded.

• 18:59Hoda Kotb?

  That's no tricks, all treats. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. So sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex. This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  I'm Melissa Jelton, and in my new podcast, What Happened to Her? I'm bringing you new stories and conversations every week. Stories about women whose deaths were too quickly ruled a suicide.

• 19:34Hoda Kotb?

  She was starting to get worried and get scared for her safety.

• 19:40Speaker 03

  Stories of survival. The only difference between me and her, a friend. Luckily, it was a little bit of luck because by all rights, I should be dead. Cases that everyone else called closed. They can't convict her, right? Like, she has so much evidence. These stories all start in the same place, with a woman failed by a system that didn't believe her, that didn't protect her, that didn't see her.

• 20:04Speaker 02

  No child should ever experience that. And we were babies. She did all of these brave things and came out and spoke about it, and he got a year.

• 20:14Speaker 04

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 20:20Speaker 03

  Listen to What Happened to Her on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 20:26Speaker 05

  I'm Hamza.

• 20:27Speaker 03

  And I'm Martin.

• 20:28Speaker 05

  And we're the hosts of Out of Character. It's a podcast. I know, there's a lot of them going around, but why should you listen to ours?

• 20:34Speaker 03

  Well, we're only the best podcast in the entire world.

• 20:37Speaker 05

  And we talk about pretty much everything under the sun. For example, music we're listening to, underground music, trending music, drama in music worlds. Yes, sometimes we even talk about just everyday mundane situations in our lives, like the cool Uber driver we just had. Or the food we just ate that was surprisingly delicious. Or we'll talk about the Met Gala and the looks that they wore. Are they awesome? Are they trendy? Come find out. Because our opinion matters, and so does yours. And this is a place where all of our minds can come together and connect. So what are you waiting for? Come connect with us. Listen to Out of Character from Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Pods, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 21:20Speaker 03

  For more than a century, Miss America sold the country of fantasy.

• 21:23Speaker 05

  Well, are you ready, ladies? Okay, here we go.

• 21:28Speaker 03

  But over the past decade, the crown's been slipping.

• 21:32Speaker 05

  They said goodbye to swimsuits, now hello to lawsuits.

• 21:35Speaker 03

  I'm Bridget Armstrong. Last season, we took you inside the world of America's Next Top Model. Now I'm back with season two of this podcast, Curse of Miss America, investigating the rise, fall, and uncertain future of one of America's most iconic institutions, the Miss America Pageant.

• 21:55Hoda Kotb?

  I never received scholarship money to pay for my student loans.

• 22:00Hoda Kotb?

  He looks at me and goes, "You don't look like you suffered an eating disorder." She's great, but looks too ethnic.

• 22:07Speaker 03

  It's a story the Miss America Organization really doesn't want us to tell. An exploitation of our Miss Americas is treated by the Miss America Organization as an attack on Miss America itself.

• 22:25Speaker 03

  Listen to The Curse of Miss America on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 22:34Hoda Kotb?

  Um, what about these? I want to go back to dinners for a second because everyone wants a family dinner and no one can make it happen. Or that, I mean, I'm, I try to make sure there's placemats and plates. I'm like, we're all, it's, we have a five o'clock, that's our thing. But there are people who have, you know, I'm sure your kids too, practices and games and cheerleading and blah, blah. How do you get everyone in one place at one time?

• 22:58Speaker 06

  And, you know, and that's where the seasonal shifts and the expectations have to adjust accordingly. Because now that we're moving into school starting in a couple of weeks, that means practice is late for one kid. And so, and so that just means, okay, fine. One night a week, maybe, and then on the weekend, I work my, I love cooking over the weekend. So Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, that's my big meal now. And then during the week, it's like, how do I facilitate this? How do I make sure you're eating really good food? But the older my kids have gotten, that is just not the reality anymore. And Hoda, even last night, as I was being like internally sad and didn't know why,

• 23:39Speaker 06

  I knew it was Drake's last night, um, before he leaves. And he had texted me that morning. He's like, "Hey, Mom, I would love chicken enchiladas." Like, I was like, "What do you want? I want to make your last meal tonight. Tell me what you want." So everything from the appetizer to the dessert I was gonna have. And Hoda, I do not know what, because normally I'm like, oh, when my boys ask for food, it's game on. That's how I show up. I love feeding my kids. But something about yesterday, I just wasn't feeling it. And I, I took a nap. Chip was like, Joe, just, and I, and again, it was in my body doing its weird thing of like grieving before my mind would even. But this is where I allowed grace to, and I don't allow this a lot, but the older I get,

• 24:21Speaker 06

  I'm realizing, oh, this is the gift. And you talk so much about joy. Grace and joy are intertwined. When you experience grace, that's where joy comes, honestly. And so I remember Chip just said, "Hey, Joe, let me go get, let me go get food. Let me go get food. I'm gonna go get Italian food. You just take a little bit of a nap. You just get some time by yourself." Yeah. And I, I go talk to, he's like in the living room, I said, "Hey, Drakey, are you okay? If Dad just gets Italian food, I'm just tired. I'm just not feeling it." He's, "Are you serious?" I mean, he didn't care one bit. He thinks it feeds me, and it really does. But I was like, and in that moment of grace that I gave myself and that my son gave me, there was joy. Chip brings takeout, we sit at the table. That meal was so special because we were together at the table.

• 25:05Speaker 06

  Not because I made it, not because of the three hours of pray, it was because we were just together. And I experienced that moment of grace where I really wanted to be there for my kid, and I was. I just didn't get to make him his meal. But I, again, back to your question of just like, it's just giving yourself that grace and saying, if I can't show up Monday through Friday because my kids' schedules are whack and, then what can I do? And for me, it's Friday, Saturday, Sundays now, and I go all out and I love it, and it fills my cup. And hopefully they've, they're, but it's just different.

• 25:36Hoda Kotb?

  Well, what you did in that yesterday was you took a nap. You took a pause. You took a rest.

• 25:43Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 25:43Hoda Kotb?

  God, that's so good. And I think what you do and what you have done, and what I do and I have done, is we sprint until we tip over, and then we say, "Oh, my God, what is happening here?" And in your professional life, and I remember this because it was such a big deal for you guys. You guys, with your company, were going 100 miles an hour, opportunities banging on every door. And you did something that surprised so many people. You guys said, "We're stopping." Your agents, your people, your, everybody said, "Don't be crazy. Opportunities knock once." But you, you've talked about the power of pausing, of stopping.

• 26:26Hoda Kotb?

  In anyone's life, there's a moment where they should, and they don't know if they, and they, they, either they don't or they can't. But describe why you guys stopped down. What happened to you as a result of that, of that gap that you took?

• 26:39Speaker 06

  And I know you can relate to this. It's like when you start realizing you're living on a thing that's now, the intentionality is gone and you're just showing up. That's not why we want to, like, that's not, that doesn't feel fulfilling. It actually feels as though, um, we're a part of this machine that is like, what's the life here? And I would say that was our first pause of like, we're doing all this and, and seeing great reward. Like, this is wonderful, but also never at the expense of like our, like livelihood, our happiness, our, our souls. And so stopping in that moment was basically us saying, it's, nothing is worth,

• 27:24Speaker 06

  what's worth it is like, are we healthy? Are we good? Is our family good? That's the most important thing. So that was really a very pivotal moment for us. And then I think, you know, every year, it, like, three years ago, I feel like me and you talked about this.

• 27:40Speaker 06

  Chip and I, you know, we've been doing this business for almost 25 years. So that was the show we had stopped temporarily, and that was a good, that was, it was wonderful, but it was also just a lot as we were building our company. But as far as Magnolia, we've been doing this for almost 25 years, and we've never really stopped down for that. And about three years ago, we stopped seeing vision. We stopped remembering like, why are we doing this? What is, and I remember, I, that was, okay, we're gonna take the summer off, which meant disappointing our team, disappointing a lot of things. Because to just up and leave means you have to, like, the commitments you had put. So it cost us something. It cost people something. But that three months was time for us to go,

• 28:23Speaker 06

  we need a break. We need clarity. Why are we building this? What are we doing this for? And so that was three years ago. And I think once you start realizing those moments of maybe burnout or you never really want to experience that again, so now the discipline is the daily discipline of, I feel it creeping up.

• 28:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 28:44Speaker 06

  But I don't, I can't pause my life for months. But like, that's not, you can't do that. So what are the daily, weekly disciplines so that you're nurturing yourself? You're feeding something that you're not gonna go dry, right? So I think now, it's just the older I get, the more conscious I am of that feeling and how, whether that's time in the garden, that's a walk, that's journaling, it's time with my kids, whatever it is, filling my tank.

• 29:07Hoda Kotb?

  How did you know it was time to stop down? Because I think, again, most of us go until we tip over. Did you have any kind of a moment that alerted you or some kind of epiphany or something that you were like, now, now is the time?

• 29:22Speaker 06

  I think, I think, um,

• 29:27Speaker 06

  dread, like when you start dreading your days, like, I don't want to do that.

• 29:31Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 29:33Speaker 06

  You start like wishing for a stomach bug or, okay, maybe back surgery this year would be. Great. Like, how do I force myself? Like, when you start, like, wishing, like, you know, okay, that's weird.

• 29:46Hoda Kotb?

  I know. I had a friend who was like, I just want to get into a fender bender with a cab. And then I want to be out for like, two weeks.

• 29:52Speaker 06

  Yeah. Um, so there's that part. But also just the, where your soul just feels weary.

• 29:59Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 30:00Speaker 06

  I'm so, I'm such a, as far as just like, um, the soul is like this deeper place that we all experience, that when you're aware of what it is, you know when it's kind of running dry, and you know when it's weary. And I had, I mean, I can, from a physical standpoint, I can work till, I, I just, I can push past the weariness, the physical. But then you get to that layer of like, the soul weariness, and that's dangerous, I think. That's really dangerous. And so there's a place for me of just, maybe a holy fear of, I don't want to get to that place of weariness in my soul. You know, that, that starts, I don't, I don't like that. So that's where I'm very conscious of. If I feel it, I tap back into it.

• 30:45Hoda Kotb?

  I feel like your partnership with, with Chip, obviously, over all these years, you guys have been through all the things. I mean, how many years have you been married?

• 30:53Speaker 06

  Twenty-three years. Twenty-three years. Yeah.

• 30:56Hoda Kotb?

  Twenty-three years. My gosh. So, um, just take me back for a little. I know some people may know the story, but some don't. So Chip wanted to ask you out.

• 31:07Hoda Kotb?

  The guy was late. Sorry. What? So what happened? You were in college or something? What happened?

• 31:14Speaker 06

  Past college. This is, this is, um, when I was still teetering on the dream of like, do I want to go into broadcast journalism? And I just went to New York and I came back, I'd worked for my dad for 10 years, at his Firestone, like automotive, um, place. And Chip was a customer. He saw me on my dad's commercials. He came in, asked for a break job. He didn't need a break job. And I was like, who is this guy? So he asked me out and, um, uh, you know, that was in 2001 and, um,

• 31:45Hoda Kotb?

  Was he late for the date?

• 31:47Speaker 06

  Our first date, he was a little over an hour late. And now that I know Chip Gaines, I'm like, he's great intentions. He's one of those that if he's in a conversation with you, but he has a meeting at two, he wants you to feel like, nothing can stop this, what we have, because you matter. And, and I was just part of that equation of his day. And so now I get it. But then I remember telling my roommates, hey, if he's not here in five minutes, do not enter that door. And within a minute, he knocked. I was like, well, shoot, here we go.

• 32:15Hoda Kotb?

  So he was, You, but you waited an hour? That's pretty good. An hour, you have a long queue.

• 32:21Speaker 06

  Chip jokes, he's like, how desperate were you?

• 32:27Speaker 06

  But it was more like, well, I was in this apartment and, and, you know, I just remember the first time we met, it was like, the first time I was talking to a guy and I wasn't thinking about like, what's, I was just like, gosh, the dude is like a really great, he asks good questions. And who is this guy? He was fascinating. Um, so, yeah, I, I waited an hour. And I do not, if my girls waited an hour, I'd be really upset with them. But now that I know Chip, I'm like, God just gave me the grace from day one. That Chip is just built different. And, and really, it's just indicative of our life, of just how we are. It's like, he's got a good heart, he's got great intentions. And so, that was kind of maybe a test on my end, honestly. So.

• 33:08Hoda Kotb?

  Was he your type? Or was he not your type?

• 33:10Speaker 06

  No, I mean, we joke that we're, we were both not each other's type. Chip was always drawn to like, the, um, extroverted, like the life of the party, even though he was the life of the party. I mean, y'all would have killed each other, like honestly. I, and I was drawn to the mysterious, quiet type, that you didn't know what they were thinking, and that were really quiet. More like my dad. And so, when Chip came into the picture, I was like, this is, I was very, um, confused, because I was drawn to him, but I was like, this is not what I've liked my entire life. So.

• 33:43Hoda Kotb?

  How navigating the highs and lows of life, because someone said, I was interviewing some guy, I think it was a pastor, and he said, every seven years, you have to reintroduce yourself to your partner. You know, I don't like Applebee's anymore. Stop taking me there. I like other things. Now I've, I'm, I like Outback, or I like, because we're, we evolve and we're different. So you've changed 100 times since you guys have met, so has he. How do you guys stay in sync that way? And it's not like, wait, you're not the guy I married, or wait, you're not the girl I married? Because you're not. You're different and he's different.

• 34:20Speaker 06

  You know, it's fascinating, because even now, in the season that we're in, we have completely switched. Personalities and we look at each other, and like even yesterday, Chip was like, who are you? I'm like, who are you? Like, I'm like, I'm Chip right now. And, um, I am more extroverted. I love taking on big, challenging, scary things. And I, I, and, and Chip is like, quieter. And, um,

• 34:51Hoda Kotb?

  What?

• 34:52Speaker 06

  It's, it's different. Like, I, we were going out to eat this week, and he was like, Joe, I just, and I go, babe, we, we're going, get up. We're going out to eat. This used to be me. And he's like, I just, I don't want, you know, and, and then the next day, he's like tired from the extrovert, like, um, so we have completely switched. But, but what I love is, kind of like I was saying with children, and how your expectations just shift. You, you, you hold not, you don't grieve what's gone. You, you hold with gratitude what was. But then you're also like, what is? And, um, there are times where I'm like, wow, Chip, like, the guy I married, you're completely different.

• 35:34Speaker 06

  And he says the same to me. But it's kind of fun that I get this new iteration of Chip. That because he's changing and evolving, it's a gift. But to assume that he needs to be the same guy that he was when I met him 23 years ago, isn't fair. Just like, it's not fair to assume my kids need to stay who they are at 18. So it's almost like this unraveling of this human. And the gift that I get to experience him at 52, as kind of a quiet soul, is like, that's fun. And then him seeing me in meetings now, going, Joe, I'm so proud. Like, you, that was not you five years ago. Like, it's, it's fun. And again, it's just letting go of,

• 36:14Speaker 06

  of your expectation of that person, and really going, man, as you're evolving and unfolding as this human being, like, this is not what I was expecting, but it's, it's beautiful, because you're evolving. And so, I, I think that's just the gift. And we laugh all the time, because Chip is like, this is a Twilight Zone. He's like, the fact that you're me, and I'm really, he, we, it's hilarious. Hoda, I, I honestly, I'm like, I don't know what happened. But we've rubbed off on each other so much, that now I'm more of him and he's more of me. And it's kind of cool. It's fun. And my kids are so confused.

• 36:50Hoda Kotb?

  Mom, dad?

• 36:50Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 36:51Hoda Kotb?

  How did you, how do you manage difficult times in a marriage? Like, how, who starts the conversations? Because every marriage goes through stuff, and some people sweep it away and say, it's not that big of a deal, and we'll deal with it later. I only want to deal with big things. How did, how do you guys iron out your kinks?

• 37:09Speaker 06

  Um, what I love about Chip is, um, every morning, every morning, you can bet, when I get up, whether it's early or late, he's sitting in a chair waiting for me. And whether it's, he woke up at four and it's 4:05, or it's, he woke up at four and it's eight. He's like, it's about time. And so, it's like, I'll stumble in there with my coffee. He's been waiting. It is so important for him that we connect. And we always joke, you know, it's like, he's, he's the emotional one. And he just, and in the mornings, it's hard for me, because I'm still waking up. But there is this thing of getting in sync. Um, and a lot of the times, like even Crew, because he'll wake up halfway in between that.

• 37:53Speaker 06

  And he's like, why are you guys always talking? And always figuring things out. And, um, you know, he went on a town a couple of weeks ago, just for three days. And I realized, you know, again, this is kind of, it's taking it a little too far. But in my mind, this is how you hold things well, when you have them. It's like, one day, I'll go to that chair, and he won't be, like, one of us won't be there. Like, that's life, right? We, we're not gonna get to. It'll be different. One day, one of us will be without each other. And when, even for the three days he wasn't there, I just sit there and I'm like so thankful that he waits for me in that chair. And, and what I mean by that is he cares about that connection point every day. It is not one, one night a week, we're gonna connect via date night. It's, how are you, Jo?

• 38:37Speaker 06

  What do we, and I tend to be very conflict over, I'm like, ugh, I don't wanna talk about hard. And even this morning, he kinda challenged me on something.

• 38:44Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 38:45Speaker 06

  And I always start with defensive. I'm like, because as a perfectionist, you hear that and you're like, ah, I failed. And I'm still learning every day to just like, take it. Like, this is, there's good here. So this morning, he challenged me on something. And then by the time I get up and leave, I'm like empowered to go, Jo, this is, it's so good. So, all, all that to say, I don't know if that even answered your question.

• 39:07Hoda Kotb?

  It did.

• 39:08Speaker 06

  I am grateful that I have someone that pushes that in my life because I think, I, I'm not good at that. I'm really not. I tend to just, we go, let's go. Hey, if you need something, let me know.

• 39:20Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 39:21Speaker 06

  But, gosh, every day, we gotta dig deep.

• 39:24Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah. Why are y'all talking about things?

• 39:27Speaker 06

  Deep. And, but, again, because even this morning's conversation, he could, he was like, I can tell you're teary eyed, I can tell you're mad. I can tell you're whatever. And I'm like, I'm actually not mad. I'm, you're, you're calling out some really true things that even I, you know, so. Yeah, man, I just, I, I always say, he's my best life coach. He's my best friend, but my best, he, he cares so much about me being my best self. That he's willing to challenge and say, you've got this. And that's how he was loved, when his coaches shook him with his helmet and said, you do.

• 40:03Hoda Kotb?

  You got this.

• 40:04Speaker 06

  That was the way he received love. And, and now I'm, I'm realizing, he's gonna challenge me, but, gosh, what a gift.

• 40:12Hoda Kotb?

  One thing you brought up, which I loved, is you talked about your, the intentions. Cause I think, no matter what is out there in life, the intention that you have with your relationship with your daughter after she leaves and comes back. The intention you, intention you have with your business. Setting an intention and knowing what that is going to be, is super important. And I think sometimes we don't do that. You know, that's why we're thrown off. When it comes to your life professionally, you, you know, you said yours, talking about your why, why are we doing this? So, what's your intention these days? What's the why?

• 40:49Speaker 06

  Uh, when I go all the way back to 2003, when we first opened Magnolia. Um, and it was just this little retail store that Chip encouraged me to do. Even though I had no idea of how to design, how to buy, how to run a retail store. Um, when I think about back then, what I cared the most about was that when people stepped in, they had a sense of place, a sense of knowing, a sense of home. And that was all I could, I could muster up was the feeling. So, when they, when the customer would come in, and she would say, oh, this feels like home. That was, it meant so much, that I was hitting on that for her, that in that place where she had dropped her kids off of, you know, at Mother's Day out.

• 41:30Speaker 06

  And she had three hours to herself, that when she was with me for 45 minutes, her cup was filled, that she was inspired, something. So, when I go all the way back to then, and then I think about what we're doing now, it's always the same. It's that people feel the sense of home, that at Magnolia, when I think about all that we've become. Still a retail store, still have the silos here, and, you know, the books, and the network, and the magazine. Like, that's, it's, it's really grown in such a beautiful way. But the intent and the purpose of why we do what we do is to truly make space for meaningful moments in people's lives and homes. And so, that's the filter of everything we do.

• 42:12Speaker 06

  And the fact that we get to be a part of people's lives and in their homes is truly one of our greatest honors, that they invite us in. And so, you know, the older I get, the more I feel like that's my purpose, is to create that. How do you create, like, when I think about the silos here in Waco, Texas? And every now and then I'll go on the grounds and I see these families, I'll see generations, I see children to their grandparents. And they're all holding hands, and I'm like, the fact that we got to create a space that was a meaningful moment and a memory. And I was like, wow, that's one of my greatest honors. Like, that is why I do the work that I do. It's not just about the mug that I sell. It's about that woman in the corner of her home, holding that mug and having that moment to herself, reading, journaling.

• 42:56Speaker 06

  Like, it's so much beyond a product and selling a candle, that, that, that's the thing I have to re-up every year. And remind the team, this is why we do what we do. This is not for this huge, it's truly because we get to be a part of people's lives. And so, how are we doing that in a very intentional, thoughtful way? And, again, if it was just to grow for growth's sake, Hoda, I wouldn't be interested. Just like when we stopped Fixer temporarily in 2018. I mean, you wanna talk about growing for growth's sake, if we were smart, we would've, smart in a business sense, you stay on that trajectory. And you've never, like.

• 43:30Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah.

• 43:31Speaker 06

  That wasn't interesting to me.

• 43:32Hoda Kotb?

  No.

• 43:33Speaker 06

  I didn't wanna grow for growth's sake. Um, but now that there's meaning and there's purpose, and I see Magnolia as a generational business. Like, I see this as not a flash in the pan. I see, hopefully, this is something that can be a part of people's lives. Whether it's when they're a little kid and they watch Fixer with their parents, cause that's now what I'm experiencing when I'm on the streets.

• 43:51Hoda Kotb?

  Oh, really?

• 43:52Speaker 06

  My parents used to make us watch your show when I was a little kid, and now, you know, so now, I'm capturing them, like, and they're, now it's like, maybe their wedding registry. Or their supper table, like, their supper club, like, it's like, I get to be a part of the, the, these moments in their lives that are beyond just them watching a show. Um, that means so much to us, cause that, that's the point of all this, is that, um, that there's a tangible takeaway, that home is the most important place on earth. How can we help you with that intentionality, help guide you through that? Like, that's just, it's my favorite thing, so.

• 44:26Hoda Kotb?

  I think it's so cool, because I think inside all of us, like, I'm, like, we were, we were talking about how when you were gonna stop the show, and people told you not to. And somehow, even with all the facts and data that tells you this is right, something inside you tells you it isn't. Something inside you has guided you here. This is why you're here. Something, despite all of the people and all the brainiacs who've come to you with data and stuff. You followed some other path that brought you here. Something, um, that is your spirit, I think, more than anything.

• 45:03Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 45:04Hoda Kotb?

  But how did you learn to trust that voice? Because when five Harvard dudes are telling you one thing, and you're over here, I'm over here, and you're like, this, but it just doesn't feel right. They're like, what do you mean? Look at the, look at the, look at the numbers. You know, how did you know to trust that part of you?

• 45:24Speaker 06

  Well, you, you've opened up a large can of worms. I'm like, where do I start? Cause, like, with the, the question you asked, to start with my children, it's like, I'm living this right. And I'm like in the thick of this idea of, um, instinct, intuition, faith, versus like, what everyone else is doing.

• 45:44Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 45:45Speaker 06

  And, um, this is an interesting, I'm at an interesting point in my life, because I've always been known as CEO, founder of Magnolia. I mean, this is, but for 10 years, Hoda, I dug in to the creative foundation of this business. Like, I didn't do the operational side. And the irony that when Chip met me in 2001 at my dad's store, I was my father's bookkeeper, basically his accountant. I did the numbers. I loved the business side. I loved the operational side. I was not, never thought of myself as a creative. When this Fixer Upper thing happened, it catapulted me into this creative lane, that I was like, oh, shoot. And for years, had this like imposter syndrome of like, I'm not really a designer, I'm not really, you know, whatever.

• 46:30Speaker 06

  But for 10 years, when you start exercising that muscle and you nurture it, I mean, creative was like what I lived and breathed for. So, for 10 years, I really gave my life to the creative side of Magnolia. And I let other people run the operational side. And last year, Chip, as only Chip could do, was like, hey, I don't know why, I just feel like, I just want you to remember something. And I was like, what? He's like, remember when I first met you, who you were? And what your gift and what your talent was. And I was like, what do you mean? And he was like, you love the business side, you love the operational. And what I did, Hoda, for the last 10 years. Was I never wanted the operational or the knowledge of numbers to affect why I created.

• 47:13Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 47:13Speaker 06

  So if it was for profit or for a margin or to, I was like, that feels like I don't want. So I stayed away from it. But the last couple of years, like I said, I've lacked vision for what's next for Magnolia. I'm like, why can't I see past today? Like, that's just not like me. God has always given me a vision and then we go towards it. Like, I've always waited for that permission or that vision. And it's been pretty quiet for a while. And so Chip starts challenging me and I start digging in to the operational business side. I took on the role of president now. So now I'm in the day to day. For the last eight months, I've been like, or six, I don't even know. Now it feels like five years. I don't want a before and after picture. Oh, gosh. But now I'm more in this president.

• 47:58Speaker 06

  The day one of me stepping in as a role of president here at Magnolia, something happened. And I felt like God said, the thing you've been avoiding for the last 10 years is the very thing you've needed to see what's next. So I've been protecting my creative side at all costs. And all of a sudden, I start seeing the operational side and I see, and I'm like, and now day one, I see the vision. And I felt like God was like, you can operate both sides. Like, you can actually, and so now I'm like on fire because I'm like, I see it, Hoda. I, because again, the thing I was avoiding was the very thing I needed to see the full picture. And so all that to say, what I'm realizing is yes, there's instinct, there's intuition,

• 48:43Speaker 06

  there's also data and knowledge. And you bring all that together and that creates magic. But the point about what you were saying about I, to be completely transparent and honest, I feel like a very little girl at a really big table. I was a communications major. I was not a business major. Day one, my entire team is saying things like AOV, AOP, EBITDA. And I'm like Googling under the table. And I go home and I'm crying and I'm like, I don't know any business acronym. And I'm literally bawling to Chip. And he's like, babe, you've got this. Like, you keep showing up. You can run this place. And, and I've now, the last six months, I know every freaking business acronym. And I'm also like, don't use them, guys. Just say the terms.

• 49:27Hoda Kotb?

  Say the word.

• 49:28Speaker 06

  Acronyms. But what I'm saying is like, what, when this started a few months back, I, this is where it gets down to that level of faith for me. I asked God, I'm going too deep into this, Hoda, and I'm so sorry. But, but I haven't shared this out loud, but I thought this next three years, I was gonna step out because I was like, I can't see the vision. Do I need to bring someone else to help me bring the vision? And so I was willing to just be like, I'm gonna step out and let someone else, whatever. And I felt like God kept saying three years. So I was like, okay, God, I'll step out for three years. Gosh, and I was like heartbroken. So for a month, I'm like, okay, but willing to do it because that's what I felt like God said, I heard three years.

• 50:10Speaker 06

  And that moment of clarity that I got, this experience I had with God, I'm, now I'm like, is this weird?

• 50:23Hoda Kotb?

  No, it's not weird. It's not weird.

• 50:25Speaker 06

  The day I decided I was gonna do this, I got home and Hoda, we have this piano in my house that no one plays. It's like decoration. I love it. I felt like God said, get on the piano. And I was like, come again? I get on the piano and I start playing something with my left hand and then all of a sudden my right hand. And I, it's a spiritual moment that I'll never forget. I played a song and I don't play the piano, Hoda. And I was playing with my left and my right hand and this melody, this like beautiful song came to be, I had the chills. And I was like, what is happening? It felt like one of those like Bible moments where it's like God comes down. And I felt like God was like, you can, you can use your left and your right hand. And we're gonna make beautiful music.

• 51:09Speaker 06

  And I'm asking you to do this for three years, not step away to dig in. And I'm like, so it's kind of like that moment of like, yes, God, I'll give it to you. You can take this from me. He was like, no, I'm asking you to step in more. So the tears come and again, as only Chip can do, instinctively push in an area where he knows, Joe, maybe look into this. And so for the last six to eight months, I'm in this new space of, it's more an act of faith for me to take on the role that I'm taking.

• 51:41Hoda Kotb?

  Yes.

• 51:42Speaker 06

  Also, it is not, hey, team, we're gonna keep growing. Actually, we're gonna kind of simplify. We're actually gonna, I, it's, and, and what, this is the, the point, is I feel like God is like, I've called you to a new season of life where it's, it's reckless faith, where a lot of people would look and say, Joe, you don't have like a, someone who's done retail for 30 years running, you're running your business? Like, I feel like, it feels like, again, I'm a little girl at a really big table, but I've got God as my kind of partner. I've got Chip as my coach who's like really good at going, you've got this. And I'm showing up to the table and what I realized for the first time is like, Hoda,

• 52:24Speaker 06

  the last, how many years I've had a calculated faith? Oh, yes, God, I'll do that. But then I'm like.

• 52:30Hoda Kotb?

  Can I, yeah, can I, is that really gonna work?

• 52:32Speaker 06

  Yes, I got you. We'll do this. This feels reckless, where it's like, oh my gosh, I don't know what tomorrow's gonna hold. I don't know what I'm doing. Like, whoa. But I have never felt more fulfilled in my life by not knowing the outcome, not weighing all the, just going for it because I feel like God said, go for it. It feels a bit reckless, but it feels right. And I think that's more how faith is supposed to feel.

• 52:56Hoda Kotb?

  Okay, I have chills too from your entire story.

• 52:59Speaker 06

  Which is not, not the way that I look back and I'm like, this is, this is real faith. And it's hard, Hoda. And it is like this, like my emotions.

• 53:11Hoda Kotb?

  But by the way, I feel it too, from just you telling me the story. I have chills all over since you started. So beautiful, lovely, amazing you. I think we spend so much of our lives waiting for the big moments, the birthdays, the vacations, the milestones. But the truth is, some of the happiest moments show up on the most ordinary days. So like this, I'll stop into a CVS because I need one thing. Somehow, the best part of the trip is never the thing I came for. So maybe I'll grab a delicious well-market snack or maybe I'll wander over to the Joyward Collection. It's really full of fun, cool, seasonal decor, thoughtful little gifts, and those little discoveries that make you so glad you stopped in.

• 53:56Hoda Kotb?

  I have to tell you, if you're an Extra Care member, you're gonna save on things you're already buying and those extra bucks really do add up. Just watching that total go down at the checkout never, ever gets old. I know life's busy. We're all juggling a lot. And that's why I think those little unexpected moments of joy matter so much. So the next time you're running errands, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You may go in for something you need, but don't be surprised if you leave with something that simply makes your day a little brighter. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS. Halloween has a funny way of making you buy things you'd never normally buy. A 10-foot skeleton? Sure. A full-size fog machine?

• 54:41Hoda Kotb?

  Why not? Three bags of candy that somehow become six bags of candy? It happens. Which brings me to the Chase Freedom Flex Card, the savvy decision that will earn you more cash back on the everyday purchases, plus the extraordinary Halloween tricks and treats. With Freedom Flex, you earn even more treats on your Halloween and everyday needs. You get 5% cash back on popular rotating quarterly categories, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. That's no tricks, all treats. More ways to earn, more ways to get rewarded. So sign up for the Chase Freedom Flex Card. Learn more at chase.com/getflex.

• 55:25Hoda Kotb?

  This is a paid collaboration with Chase Freedom Flex. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change. Terms apply.

• 55:36Speaker 03

  I'm Melissa Jelton and in my new podcast, What Happened to Her? I'm bringing you new stories and conversations every week. Stories about women whose deaths were too quickly ruled a suicide.

• 55:48Speaker 02

  She was starting to get worried and get scared for her safety.

• 55:54Speaker 03

  Stories of survival. The only difference between me and her, frankly, was a little bit of luck because by all rights, I should be dead. Cases that everyone else called closed. They can't convict her, right? Like, she has so much evidence. These stories all start in the same place, with a woman failed by a system that didn't believe her, that didn't protect her, that didn't see her.

• 56:19Speaker 02

  No child should ever experience that. And we were babies.

• 56:22Speaker 04

  She did all of these brave things and came out and spoke about it and he got a year. You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 56:34Speaker 03

  Listen to What Happened to Her on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 56:41Speaker 05

  I'm Hamza. And I'm Martin. And we're the hosts of Out of Character. It's a podcast, I know, there's a lot of them to listen to these days. How are you gonna get to us? Well, there's a specific reason why you should listen to us. We are the best podcast in the entire world, I swear. I know, bold. But why don't we list some of the things we might talk about on a regular episode? So sometimes we'll talk about, I don't know, the Uber driver we just had. And how nice they were, or if we tipped them or not. Come and find out. Sometimes we'll talk about that weird news story from last week. It's the one you're thinking about, trust me. Or maybe we'll talk about music and what's happening in the underground, or drama in music, or TV shows, or the Met Gala and what the actors wore. What we're saying is we're not afraid to talk about everything under the sun.

• 57:25Speaker 05

  And if you want to see what that's like, come

• 57:27Speaker 03

  Join us. It's a place where everyone can hang out, anyone. Wherever you're from, whatever you're like, you're welcome. Listen to Out of Character from Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Pods, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more than a century, Miss America sold the country of fantasy.

• 57:46Hoda Kotb?

  Well, are you ready, ladies? Okay, here we go.

• 57:50Speaker 03

  But over the past decade, the crown's been slipping.

• 57:54Speaker 05

  They said goodbye to swimsuits, now hello to lawsuits.

• 57:57Speaker 03

  I'm Bridgette Armstrong. Last season, we took you inside the world of America's Next Top Model. Now I'm back with season two of this podcast, Curse of Miss America, investigating the rise, fall, and uncertain future of one of America's most iconic institutions, the Miss America Pageant.

• 58:18Speaker 03

  I never received scholarship money to pay for my student loans.

• 58:22Speaker 03

  He looks at me and goes, you don't look like you suffered an eating disorder. She's great, but looks too ethnic. It's a story the Miss America Organization really doesn't want us to tell. An exploitation of our Miss Americas is treated by the Miss America Organization as an attack on Miss America itself.

• 58:47Speaker 03

  Listen to The Curse of Miss America on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 58:56Hoda Kotb?

  I mean, to be able to sit and get guidance from God and to ask for it, because I actually was talking to this lady recently and I was like, I feel like I, I feel like my spirit's not with me, I don't know. And she said, hold on, she kind of closed her eyes and she goes, she's, your spirit is laughing. I go, what? She says, your spirit's cracking up. She's basically saying, how can you hear her if you're always running? And so I was like, oh. So it reminded me just to, just to communicate there, I feel like I have conversations with God all the time, but I feel like my inner like compass wasn't clicking.

• 59:34Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 59:35Hoda Kotb?

  And that's what, but it was just a reminder, like for me to stop sprinting, the fact that you sat, your left and your right hand is like, okay, as we wrap this up, which I don't want to, but life goes on and we must, first of all, can I see your coffee mug for a second? It's super cute. Oh my God, I love it so much.

• 59:52Speaker 06

  It's speedy, cutie, cutie pie.

• 59:53Hoda Kotb?

  It's so cute. We call this podcast Joy 101. So just tell me, what is bringing you joy these days? That's it.

• 1:00:02Speaker 06

  I love that. I will say that this time that I got to spend with my kids on our break this summer, like the, the joy that, but beyond that, the joy of seeing my children become dear friends. We just went on family vacation last week and watching them prefer each other and say, hey, you come with me, like the brothers and the sisters wanting to shop together. Like, oh, the greatest joy to see your children enjoy each other.

• 1:00:34Speaker 06

  So that's what's bringing me joy is just watching my kids as they grow up and the relationship that they're developing with each other. You know, it's just like so many years we were in it. We were in it, we were building it, we were four kids, four and under, I couldn't see straight. And then you look up and they're all like leaving the nest and you're like, oh, it was so worth it. So worth it.

• 1:00:53Hoda Kotb?

  I love you. I love you so much.

• 1:00:55Speaker 06

  I love you too, Hoda.

• 1:00:56Hoda Kotb?

  All right, we'll talk soon. I'm sitting in our beautiful office, thanks to you. I love you.

• 1:01:01Speaker 06

  Love you too.

• 1:01:02Hoda Kotb?

  Bye, honey.

• 1:01:03Speaker 06

  Bye.

• 1:01:05Hoda Kotb?

  Thank you guys for listening. Isn't Joanna amazing? I mean, she is one of one. What a great human being, a lovely person and a dear friend. Okay, so shall we do a little Joy 101 practice so you can march off into the world and feel really good? This is a way to clear your busy mind. You know, sometime your mind gets muddled, it gets crazy. And Richard is one of my favorites. He actually lives in Fiji, but he is on our app and he's amazing. So let's clear our minds. It just takes a few minutes.

• 1:01:41Hoda Kotb?

  Hello, everyone. It's Richard here with Joy 101. I hope you are very well. So today I'd like to talk to you a little bit about sighing. What's so interesting about a sigh and what research has shown is that it acts as a very real, physical and mental reset for ourselves. So if we already have this natural reflex within us that happens without us even needing to think about it, well, why don't we use it on purpose? For any time that we feel like we need to create a reset for our system, perhaps before starting a big piece of work or starting an activity that we really need to focus on, let's use the sigh to our advantage.

• 1:02:23Hoda Kotb?

  So what we're going to do is a few sighs together, taking a nice, big, long inhale through the nose and then just sighing it out, relaxing through the mouth. So look a little something like this.

• 1:02:42Hoda Kotb?

  Yeah. So we're going to do maybe eight to 10 repetitions of this and then we're just going to notice how we feel for a moment. So I invite you now to do this either in a seated or lying down position. And if you feel ready, you can close your eyes.

• 1:03:01Hoda Kotb?

  And so in a moment, we're going to begin with our sighs. So I invite you now to exhale out.

• 1:03:09Hoda Kotb?

  And slowly through the nose, take a nice, long inhale in, filling up the chest, filling up the belly, all the way up, holding for a moment. And through the mouth, just sigh, relax out. And again, through the nose, nice, long inhale in, all the way up to the top as much as you can. Hold the breath in for a moment. And through the mouth, just sigh it out. Through the nose, nice, long inhale in, filling and expansion through the belly, through the ribs, hold at the top for a moment. And let it go. Through the nose, nice, long inhale in, all the way up to the top, filling up the lungs as much as you can.

• 1:03:53Hoda Kotb?

  Hold and relax, let go. You're doing great. Just a few more. Nice, long inhale in through the nose, really getting a nice stretch through your entire torso, holding the breath in. Through the mouth. Just soften your entire body, let it all drop down. Again, nice, long inhale in, filling up the lungs, all the way up to the top. Hold for a moment, lungs are completely full.

• 1:04:22Hoda Kotb?

  And relax, let it go. Okay, final time. Nice, long breath in, fill up the lungs, all the way to the top as much as you can. Hold at the top. Through the mouth, just relax, exhale.

• 1:04:41Hoda Kotb?

  Now let the breath come and go naturally as it pleases once more, but still with your eyes closed, just notice your body for a moment. Notice the, the edges of your body. Notice the skin, the thing that holds all of your body together.

• 1:05:02Hoda Kotb?

  Now, as you notice your skin or just notice your edges, your boundaries, I want you to imagine as though they're getting stronger, like they're becoming fortified, like they're feeling more protected.

• 1:05:21Hoda Kotb?

  More whole.

• 1:05:24Hoda Kotb?

  Just like you're drawing in your energy and consolidating it within your body, really feeling the edges, the outside of your body, feeling them strong, feeling them vibrant.

• 1:05:35Hoda Kotb?

  Perhaps you can even attach a light to it. It could be a golden light, a white light.

• 1:05:44Hoda Kotb?

  Just feeling the boundaries of where you end and where the rest of the world begins. Feeling very present, very solid.

• 1:05:54Hoda Kotb?

  And just holding that feeling for a few seconds.

• 1:06:07Hoda Kotb?

  And when you feel ready, I invite you to open your eyes. Welcome back. I think you're ready. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope to see you again very soon. Thank you, Richard. Oh, that felt good. All right, let's take that practice and go out into the world. You guys, thanks for listening to the Joy 101 Podcast.

• 1:06:33Hoda Kotb?

  I've realized that joy doesn't always come from those big moments. Sometimes you find it on the most ordinary day. I'll pop into a CVS for toothpaste or paper towels and it never seems to be just a quick errand. Maybe I'll grab a delicious Well Market Trail Mix or wander over to the Joy Word Collection. That's part of the fun. So the next time you're checking something off your to-do list, stop by your local CVS pharmacy. You might go in for one thing and leave with a little more joy. Visit your local CVS pharmacy, sponsored by CVS.

• 1:07:03Speaker 03

  I'm Melissa Jelton, host of the What Happened to Her podcast. We're kicking off the season with the Sandra Birchmore story, a case the police wrote off as a suicide in a snowstorm. Her family never bought it and the man they suspected wore a badge.

• 1:07:18Speaker 04

  You never know who that devil is because he's wearing a disguise. Sometimes it's a police uniform.

• 1:07:23Speaker 03

  And you can get access to all episodes 100% ad-free with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription exclusively on Apple Podcasts, available only to iHeart True Crime Plus subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus and subscribe today.

• 1:07:43Hoda Kotb?

  October is Black Fiction Month and the Black Lit Podcast explores the minds of Sebo Campbell. How speculative fiction works is you enter into a story with a question. Nisi Shaw. What kind of world would it be if these people had not perished? And Octavia Butler. In science fiction and fantasy, I can do absolutely anything. As they posed the question, what if?

• 1:08:06Speaker 05

  Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, on iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On recent episodes of The Questlove Show, I chatted with JoJo about her music and Wallow267 about his story and everything in between. Don't invite me to karaoke. I'm going to make it weird. Someone's going to try to sing Leave, Get Out or Too Little, Too Late or Baby, It's You. Oh, no. And I'm going to be like, okay, cool. Check out my conversation with JoJo, Wallow267 and more on The Questlove Show. Listen to The Questlove Show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Peace.

• 1:08:42Speaker 06

  What happens when romance gets a little monstrous? On Radio 831, a romance podcast, join us, St. Joanna Basker and Tyler McCall, as we host our own Monster Romance Extravaganza. We're joined by The Villain Edit author, Rosie Dannon, and sentient object romance expert, Gracie Delgado, to explore what these unexpected love stories can reveal about desire, fantasy, and what we actually want. Listen to Radio 831, a romance podcast, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:09:12Speaker 01

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.