The Real Reason Joanna Gaines Is Overwhelmed With Emotion Every October

Based in Waco, Texas, married power couple Chip and Joanna Gaines took the world by storm with the 2013 premiere of HGTV's "Fixer Upper." Fans immediately fell in love with the duo's competence in renovating houses steeped in near-dereliction — as well as with their mutually transparent and easy chemistry. Ratings quickly rose for "Fixer Upper," but even after the show's unexpected end after five seasons, the Gaines family still had their ever-expanding Magnolia empire. 

Beginning with just a store, Magnolia Market, in 2003, Chip and Joanna originally sold items made and curated by them and have since branched into sectors like realty, with Magnolia Market gaining four sister stores. Fans eagerly made the pilgrimage to Waco to explore the Gaines' Magnolia lifestyle. In the words of Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav, with whom they launched the Magnolia Network in July, the Gaines "provide something very rare in America today: a sunshiny hopefulness that you can make things with your own two hands and your life will be better for it," he once told The Hollywood Reporter).

On October 15, Joanna herself took to Instagram to reminisce on the fond significance the month holds for her, Chip and their DIY-themed business.  

Joanna Gaines gets "butterflies" in her stomach every October. As she wrote on Instagram, this was "a feeling that returns to me every October 15th — the day we opened Magnolia 18 years ago." Considering the uber-successful business franchise she and husband Chip Gaines built together — which now also includes their Hearth & Hand line with Target and a furniture line with Living Spaces, — Joanna reflected warmly on those starting days of any small business, from the jitters to the hopefulness. "I can still hear the sound of the front door of that little shop opening," she continued, adding, "And the deep assurance that, despite how scared I was, I would never look back. Chip had pushed me to take a chance on something I believed in — so win or lose, I already knew I'd never be the same." 

"Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in yours, or a little momentum to keep you moving in the right direction," Joanna added about Chip's support, also pledging in her post to donate a whopping $50,000 to help a follower with their own dream for a small business. Joanna and Chip have already given back, with their business transforming Waco, Texas into a booming tourism town full of new companies. Per the Waco Tribune-Herald, Waco tourism has even outranked that of The Alamo's under the "Magnolia effect."