“He’s my little sidekick,” Joanna, 40, says of her 9-month-old youngest child in the latest issue of PEOPLE, out Friday. “He comes to work with me every dayand goes to all my meetings.”
For Chip, 44, and Joanna’s four older children — daughtersEmmie Kay, 9, andElla Rose, 12, plus their brothersDuke, 10, andDrake, 14 — the Magnolia headquarters in Waco, Texas, is like a second home.
“They love being here,” she tells PEOPLE. “I always try toinvolve them with what we’re doing at work.”
Chip Gaines/Instagram
Joanna’s latest project — her first children’s book,We Are the Gardeners— is co-written with her four older kids. “Just like we did this with our houses when we were renovating, we did the same with our children’s book,” she says. “I want them to feel like they’re a part of it.”
PERRY HAGOPIAN
In addition to the book, the Gaines children also have their own impressive business endeavors.
“Each kid has their own thing,” Joanna tells PEOPLE. “Drake loves the production side, so in the summer he’s up with the guys, and they’re teaching him how to edit.”
“Then Ella is like me,” she adds. “Ithink she’ll follow in my footsteps andhave her hand in a lot of things. Right now she wants to cook, be a lead designer and have a donut truck.”
Perry Hagopian
Duke and Emmie, meanwhile, are more customer-service oriented, wanting a farmtruck where they can sellvegetables and eggs.
“We printed labels for them, and once a week they go out and sell,” Joanna tells PEOPLE. “They’re just like Chip: They don’t take no for an answer!”
Joanna’s new children’s book,We Are the Gardeners, is available now onamazon.com.
For more on Chip andJoanna Gaines, pick up the latest issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
