Wow. Just Wow. I really, really loved this memoir! Chip Gaines wrote this book to inspire and motivate me. I know, I know…that’s not really true, but sometimes when you read a book, it feels like the author was thinking of how to motivate you, and that’s how this one felt to me.

I haven’t ever watched Fixer Upper, which is the TV show that Chip and his wife are known for, so I wasn’t drawn to this book because of the fame, I was drawn to it because of the blurb about hard work. It sounded interesting. But it’s not just interesting, it’s filled with commentary that really made me pause and think about my life and the way I am living it.

Chip asks early in the book that people don’t put this book in the business section, and I noticed that people are filing it that way on Goodreads. This is NOT a book about how to succeed in business. This is a book about how to take your life by the horns and live it to its fullest. It’s the only one you’ve got, so get everything you can out of it. It’s an absolutely amazing book, and I cannot explain just how much I loved it!

I listened to the audio of this book, and I would highly recommend it. Chip narrates this one, but it’s not just him! His parents each have a section, and his wife speaks. He really brought his whole network into the book, which is what he’s talking about in the book. Your network is there to support you, and you for them. It’s amazingly done!

To Read or Not To Read:

I would recommend No Pain, No Gaines: The Good Stuff Doesn’t Come Easy to readers that enjoy a memoir that speaks to your full life’s plan. Pushing you to think about what you want and how you will get there.

Where to Find This Book:

No Pain, No Gaines: The Good Stuff Doesn’t Come Easy by Chip Gaines available at these sites.

Goodreads | Thomas Nelson | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble
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Chip Gaines likes to sweat. 

That’s been true ever since he was a little pint-sized hustler selling candy and Capri Suns down at the public tennis courts in northeast Texas. You’ve probably seen him sweat on his television show, Fixer Upper. Deep in his bones he has always known that hard work yields great results, even when there’s little observable evidence of it. On the cusp of launching into what might be the hardest work he and his wife, Joanna, have ever done—building a network—Chip realized that none of it would be possible without his network of people. 

Call it a network, a community, a home team. We’ve all got one. Today it might be made up of your family, your neighbors, the people you work with. But if you want a network that will pull you into a life of meaning, a life of joy and connection, you need to be intentional about choosing the people in it. People who are enlivened and electrified by the power of living according to their purpose, who are always in pursuit of lifelong learning, and who have a sincere belief that relationships are more than transactions. Chip Gaines has been building that kind of network his whole life, and he can tell you, it doesn’t come easy.

To say it requires sweat equity would be an understatement. It requires faith in people. It requires hope. And it requires a willingness to grow even when it hurts. From hard-won lessons and personal stories from Chip, No Pain, No Gaines is a by-the-bootstraps manual for building a network you can count on.

Just the Facts:

No Pain, No Gaines: The Good Stuff Doesn’t Come Easy by Chip Gaines
Genre: Memoir
Page Count: 224 
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub Date: March 16, 2021

Chip Gaines is the co-owner and cofounder of Magnolia and a New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Story and Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff. He is constantly reinventing the wheel on what we can achieve together and is always eager to give back to individuals and communities.

Born in Albuquerque and raised in Dallas, Chip later graduated from Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business with a marketing degree. An entrepreneur by nature, Chip has started a number of small businesses and has remodeled hundreds of homes in the Waco area.

But more than any good adventure or hard-working demo day, Chip loves an early morning on the farm and a slow day spent with Jo and their five kids.

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I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

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