Are you a fan of Fixer Upper? There are a few business tips that every Girl Boss can learn from watching this show, not that we need an excuse. Check out these 10 tips and how you can apply them to your business!
10 BUSINESS TIPS EVERY GIRLBOSS CAN LEARN FROM FIXER UPPER
Happy Friday Friends!!! I’m so pumped for this weekend and you can find out why at the end of the post.
I am equally, if not slightly more pumped, to share this post with you today. If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, I always have a word or two to say about the TV I’m currently watching. I tend to have it playing as background while I work in the evenings. Fixer Upper has been my show recently, except, thank you Netflix for having the entire first season but not the second. What gives? I’d seen Fixer Upper so many times before, in fact, even though I just watched the first season, I had already seen most of the episodes.
Does anyone else want to be just as stylish as Joanna Gaines? Like fashion wise and with home decor. She perfectly embodies the fashion and home decor that I want. However, because I live in fitness clothes and have a tiny little apartment, I’m not up to her level yet. #dreams
Anyway, I was watching the first season and I realized there are SO MANY business tips every Girl Boss can use from watching Fixer Upper. I only noticed a few at first but then my list grew and grew. And because the tips were just so good, I had to share. This is the perfect excuse, not that you need one, to go watch the show and see each tip applied in the episode!
[bctt tweet=”10 Girl Boss Business Tips From Watching Fixer Upper! #sweatpink #girlboss @themagnoliamom”]
1. They have a simple mission and purpose. The opening of Fixer Upper has Chip talking about how they want to give people the home of their dreams. That’s it. That simple. That is their ‘WHY’. How do they give people the home of their dreams, you ask? The take the worst house, on the best block, work their magic (use THEIR GIFTS & TALENTS), along with some of the other tips down below and they give their client a ridiculously amazing house. Seriously, I haven’t seen one that I didn’t like.
What is your mission? What are you passionate about? I spent forever trying to figure out my mission and vision. In the end, I want to help people be their most awesome self. Don’t complicate it. Just live it.
2. They see the potential. Ya’ll (putting on my southern accent for this post), some of the houses they pick are disgusting. Like gross and bad. But the finished product is the beautiful home. When clients come to me with fitness goals or wanting to revamp their nutrition, it’s my job to see the potential. And I can usually see it after taking the time to get to know them (see tip #5). I have a client now that is overwhelmed with where to start on the nutrition front, but I see so much potential she has to really live her best life.
You might not be a fitness / nutrition coach. Do you see the potential in your clients? Do you let them know their potential?
3. They sell clients when they are on the fence. Now, if I got lucky enough to be on the show (hello dreams!), I’d pick the nastiest one they showed me, because I know that they can make it look amazing. However, I’m sure when they first started out and people couldn’t see amazing finished products on TV, they really had to sell the client. There was an episode where the house had bullet holes and was full of so much clutter, I could almost smell the filth through the TV. But, because of their simple mission and the fact that they can see potential, they can more easily sell the clients when they receive push back.
Think about your business. What are some of the push backs you get on a consistent basis? Will cutting out cardio really help me lose weight? You are saying I have to eat more if I want to lose weight, that doesn’t make sense. How do you approach clients with these push backs? Does your mission and the fact that you see potential come through in your communication with your client?
4. They get just as excited about a client project as the client: This is really evident throughout the entire show, based on the work they put in and the care the give to the project. When Joanna shares the visual plan with the buyers is when I see this most often. It seems every time there is a cool aspect of the house that she is really pumped to do and it usually is tied something the client said they really wanted in the house.
Do you love what you do so much that you get just as excited to help a client as they get to make a change? I love when things ‘click’ for a client – when you can see that lightbulb go off. Having them see results and ‘get it’ is really what gets me pumped.
5. Joanna will say, ‘Something I’m excited about with your project is…’. I love that wording. I love it. She is just as invested in their project as they are and she let’s them know it.
With every training or nutrition plan, I try to pick out one aspect that I’m excited about for them to either try or find success with. It makes creating a plan and working with that client a little more fun. Is your client just another client? What makes them unique? Why do you want to work with them? What can you get excited about for them and WITH them?
6. They build a relationship with their client. On more than one occasion, they have invited their clients over to their house to discuss project details. This is not to say that you need to invite your client to your home or that you should. But strive for that level of comfort.
Aim to get to know your client well enough that you would be willing to have them over for dinner. Now, this might not be possible for some that sell online products or have passive income streams, but you get the idea. I LOVE getting to know my clients. I love asking them questions. Getting some of their recipes. Finding out about what they like to do for fun.
[bctt tweet=”Making tough calls, being in the details and getting excited about client projects! Biz tips from Fixer Upper! #girlboss”]
7. They make tough calls. It never fails, about midway through the episode, there is always a big issue that costs money that was not in the budget and one of them, usually Joanna, calls to let the client know. Those calls cannot be fun because they usually involve a good chunk of money.
Tough things might come up when you are working with a client. Maybe they are not in the game and you need to call them out on it. Maybe a difficult situation arises and you need to talk it out. And at the end of the day, they make the tough calls because…
8. They want what’s best for the client. When one of these issues arise, part of the conversation always includes ‘so it an be done the right way’ or ‘so they don’t have to deal with something worse in the future’. They have the client’s best interest at heart when they make the tough calls.
I have you doing what feels to you like a million lunges because that builds a strong foundation for other moves. If you want to get your nutrition in check, I am not going to tell you it’s okay to keep eating all the chocolate and no veggies because that is not the best option. It’s tough yes, but if you want to be awesome and better, you gotta put in the work.
If you want what is best for your client, your actions should show it. Do you care about your clients and what is best for them and their project? Are you just going through the motions or just trying to get it done and get your money?
9. They focus on the details. One of the episodes from season 1 shows Joanna putting Crayola crayons into an old tool box as a decor for a kitchen table for kiddos. Other episodes show the family coloring pictures to hang on a wall in the kitchen. Ya’ll, she could have just left the table without anything on it. She could have purchased other pictures to hang on a wall. But in her vision, the home is filled with details. Details that might seem silly or extra work, but details make the home.

Sending me a recap each day sharing the meals you ate and how you felt might seem like extra work. But it’s in those details that I can see if you are being successful or if I need to push a little harder. I might seem like a crazy lady that is only focused on form, but those slight issues with your form will be the key to working your muscles properly.
What details are important the programs you create for your specific client? What is that one little detail that makes everything else fall into place? Do you care about the details as much as the big picture – those behavior goals that help them reach their big outcome goal?
10. They leave their signature touch. I’m pretty sure there is a magnolia tree planted at each home. At least a magnolia wreath (see how it says SIGNATURE).Fun fact: Magnolias are my favorite flower…or tree, I guess. That is a signature touch. I’d even argue that Joanna’s style is their signature touch. When you look at a home they’ve designed, you can tell they designed it.
What is your signature touch? Maybe it’s in the way your program is structured. Maybe it’s in the details and the care you give to your client. What makes you and your business unique? Do more of that!
[bctt tweet=”Watch Fixer Upper and Learn #girlboss Biz tips! #businesstips @themagnoliamom”]
And because I just LOVE Joanna, check out this awesome video.
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Now I want to go watch Fixer Upper!! And I just might this weekend because my Best Thugs are coming for the weekend! Just a small girls weekend, but a much needed one at that! Looking forward to chats and coffee and homemade popcorn and girl time.
Tell me, are you a fan of Fixer Upper? If not, stop everything you are doing and go watch an episode!
Do you watch Fixer Upper?
Are you a girlboss? What do you do?
What are you up too this weekend?!
XOXO,
Jen
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Such great points, and I love the thought process! Love Chip and Joanna–I’m a architecture and design nerd (that’s where I started), and that is what taught me to see the potential that others might not–even in themselves.
Thanks Susie! That’s so fun that you started in architecture and design!
I love this post so much that I am queuing up fixer upper tonight- have never watched it! I always wanted to be a “house person” and then we renovated our house and I realized that is NOT my calling… but I secretly wish it was! I love the last tip: the signature touch… what is mine? Thanks for the Friday inspiration!
Oh man, you will LOVE it, Hollie! I always want to be a Fixer Upper/house person when I watch the show! #dreams
SQUEEEEEEEEE! Fixer Upper is like, my favorite show. I’m designing my house like JoJo’s farmhouse [I ADORE her style!] and my husband strives to be like Chip. Seriously, our inside jokes always revolve around him doing something Chip-like and me just saying “Oh Chip.” Yep – we’ve got a spicy marriage over here 😉
Anyway, YES they are great role models for business. They have such passion, not just for what they do but for their clients. I adore them!!
Oh, so fun Kat! I want to design my future house like their farmhouse too!!
Love all these little take aways you have from this show. I do love them, they find the potential and have a way of sharing their vision that makes you just know it’s going to work out. The one thing I think I need to be constantly aware of here is they also have EXPERIENCE! Building a good foundation is great but with more and more experience, our ability to project our vision and get those clients to trust us is that we are experienced and we have a portfolio of happy clients that are willing to rave about us!! I hope you enjoy your weekend with your gf’s!!
Love that you mentioned experience, Sam! Building a good foundation is KEY! People gotta know, like and trust you!
These really are fantastic tips and definitely have given me a lot to think about. I love the tip of getting excited about each project. Goes right in line with that passion and purpose. We should all be so fortunate to live what makes us happiest 🙂
Yes, so true, Cayanne! So glad you enjoyed the post!
AHHH!! Love that show too! When I watched it on Netflix and I had no more episodes, I think I went into mourning for about a week. I love design shows. You are right, they always get really involved with the details and make sure it has personal touches. I kept thinking throughout the post that I’ve never had personal training, but I bet if you were personal training me, you’d probably get as excited about my transformation as I would! I love seeing YOU in this post…
I was so upset too! I’m having to find episodes on YouTube! Hah! I would TOTALLY get just as excited as you about your transformation!! 🙂
Such a great post! Definitely channeling the #girlboss in me. I have only watched a few episodes of Fixer Upper and have always loved Joanna’s style – both in what she wears and how she designs.
Oh, so glad, Brie! Joanna is just so great!
I’ve been watching SO much fixer upper lately! This is such a great post, and I love the pictures that you included 🙂
Yay! So glad you are watching Gretchen!
I absolutely loved this post!! I’ve never watched this show, but now I think I need to. Power to the SHE! 🙂
You so need to watch, Liz! It’s so great!!