WEBVTT - Thriving through challenge, with Jenny Marrs 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:14.360 This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:16.759 episode is going to be a longer one part of 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:20.040 the series where I interview fascinating people about how they 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.040 take their days from great to awesome and any advice 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.560 they have for the rest of us. So today I 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.200 am excited to welcome Jenny Mars to Before Breakfast. Jenny 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.840 is the co host of the show Fixed to Fabulous. 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.240 She is also the author of the brand new book 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.760 Trust God, Love People. Jenny, Welcome to the show. 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:39.880 Thank you so much for having me. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:42.360 Yeah, excited to have you here. 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:42.960 Yeah. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:44.559 So why don't you tell our listeners a little bit 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:45.280 about yourself? 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:52.040 Okay, I live in Bentonville, Arkansas, originally from Florida, but 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.120 I've been here for twenty years, so this is home. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.680 I have five kids, ranging in age from fifteen to six. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.160 I think you have five kids too, don't I do? 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.480 Eighteen to five? So we're sort of, you know, overlapping 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.119 a big shop. Yes, you have the same, the little 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:12.479 one that's like keeping us young. Yes, I love that, okay. 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:16.600 And we live on a farm. We have animals, we 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:21.080 have a nonprofit blueberry farm where families come and pick 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.680 blueberries in the summer and we donate the proceeds from 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:28.920 that blueberry farm. And we have a trade school for 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:34.240 orphaned and vulnerable teens in Zimbabwe. One of our daughters 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.120 is I was originally born in the Congo. She was 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:43.160 adopted and we through the you know, God connections, we 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.120 were working in the Congo, and then we had friends 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.960 in Zimbabwe and so this whole it's a long story, 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.840 but we're now working in Zimbabwe and the Congo actually 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.120 as well. Let's see, I have my husband and I 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.120 have been building and remodeling homes here in our area 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:02.120 and well, he started in two thousand and four. I 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:07.880 joined him full time in two thousand and eleven, twenty twelve, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.840 and we had HDTV approach es in twenty and sixteen, 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:18.359 I think, and so we've been We reluctantly said yes. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.080 We didn't really know about doing a show. We're like, 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.320 that's kind of crazy, we don't know if we want 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.160 to do that, but we felt like it was something 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.679 that God was asking us to do and he would 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.079 use in some way. We didn't really know why or how, 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.839 but we just trusted that he would, and now here 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.960 we are. We're now currently filming season seven. Our show 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.480 is called Fixer to Fabulous and we renovate homes in 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:46.640 our town. And yeah, it's been a wild journey and 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:48.960 we just are, you know, plugging along. We just do 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.000 life like everybody else. It's mass chaos right now, summer 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.880 break and it's complete chaos in our house, and we 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.760 sometimes have cameras following us around, but otherwise we're just 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.959 normally going to work and doing life. 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:06.880 Writing HGTV host wasn't on your list of things you 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:08.600 wanted to be when you were growing. 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.640 Up, No, not at all. I did actually want to always. 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.000 I always wanted to be a writer and an author, 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.920 and so I've always been and I've always been very creative. 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:22.600 I was in advertising, and that was my original path 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:26.040 that I thought advertising, public relations and along there because 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:32.000 I liked writing, have always loved photography, and design just 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.960 sort of happened because my husband, I didn't study it. 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.760 My husband was a builder. He grew up his dad 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.400 was a builder, and he went into corporate America because 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.160 he didn't want to do what his dad did. And 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.040 then that's actually when we met out right after college 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:49.120 and then he decided, no, I really don't like corporate America. 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.240 I need to be doing something with my hands and build, 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:54.360 and so we moved here. He started building homes and 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:57.240 I just helped him because he can build really, really 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:01.680 well and build pretty much anything. He's incredible. He's incredible craftsman. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.760 But he doesn't really care about things like paint, colors 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.360 and countertops and you know, the pretty details that I 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:11.680 really care about, So I would just help them. On 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.360 the side. I had the full time job and then 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:17.440 eventually quit my job, and we did build the business together. 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:21.440 But no, never had that. I never even thought this 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.080 would be my job, much less have cameras following us either. 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.960 So yeah, definitely not on my radar. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.960 Yeah, well we'll talk about the cameras in a minute, 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.200 for sure. But your new book I actually want to 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.479 talk with you about is trust, God, love people. A 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.599 lot of it is about waiting for various things. Yeah, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.960 and this is obviously a show about time. Is a 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.760 time management show, and waiting is one of those awkward 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.680 topics in the field of time management, and particularly your 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.680 book is about, you know, waiting for things with uncertain timelines, 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.279 particularly about like growing your family. 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:03.200 Can you a little bit about that. Yes, I know, 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:08.320 it's it's it was fun to write about now, you know, 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.200 with it in the rear view mirror, but it's not 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:15.960 fun when you're living in that season of uncertainty at all. Yeah. So, 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.159 I mean went through a lot of uncertainty first trying 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.200 to have a family, trying to you know, start our family. 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.920 Then I had our twins, which that's a whole long story, 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:31.080 but then we started our adoption process and that was 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:36.960 another very tumultuous time. Basically what happened was we started 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:38.960 the process before I got pregnant with the twins, got 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.640 pregnant with the twins, restarted our process, and then we 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:47.240 had this little girl come to I mean, we just 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.560 got I got an email from a waiting child website 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:56.440 that I had been I'd been receiving these emails for 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:59.160 years at this point. And it wasn't that I was like, oh, 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.360 you know every wild oh that's my you know, that's 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.440 my child. But this one was we knew when we 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.680 saw her face, it was we knew something was you know, 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.520 we were stirred and thinking this could be our daughter. 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.120 And so it was very we had to switch everything, 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:18.080 We had to actually we were in the program for Ethiopia, 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:19.479 and we found out she was in the Congo with 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.599 a different agency, so we basically had to start over 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:28.039 once we decided to pursue her adoption. But when we 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:33.000 started that process again with her, we thought, okay, it'll 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:35.680 probably take based on timelines and based on how long 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.359 everything takes, because everything does take a long time and 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.040 there's a lot of work things and all of that. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.480 We thought about nine months would be the full timeline 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:47.680 we would have her home, and everything just kept getting 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.840 delayed and getting delayed. But once we finally had her 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.599 adoption finalized, we had her US visa, we were officially 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:59.400 her adoptive pearance, and we visited her for the first 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.840 time in person after that because we didn't want to 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.320 meet her to meet us until we knew this was 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.160 legal and we were because it was all very uncertain 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.360 up until that point if it was even going to happen. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.280 And when we left there that was in August, and 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.640 we thought we'd be back in about a month to 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:21.120 come back and then bring her home, and right after 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:26.320 we left, the country shut down adoption, letting adoptive kids 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.920 leave the country. Still to this day, I don't really 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.080 know all of the ins and outs. There's a lot 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.920 of political stuff happening that we didn't know about or why. 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:41.840 But it then took us another about year and a 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:46.440 half to get our home, and so that I think 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.840 was that period was probably the hardest because we had 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.840 seen where she was living and in the condition she 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.960 was living in, and she was sick a lot. She 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:01.400 wasn't being fed very often, and we got her moved 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.080 to a foster home. But it was still very hard 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.920 because we never knew Sorry, I think that's my dog, 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.880 Will you let Jack out? Sorry you heard a noise 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.360 in the background. I'm so sorry. Okay, So we never knew, 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.760 you know, if she was okay. Every day we would 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:21.240 I would wake up in the morning and check. I'm like, 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.160 did we get any news house Sylvie? And you know, 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:24.600 she was in and out of the hospital a lot, 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:29.960 and so just trying to just that weight was awful. 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.040 My husband ended up flying back and forth several times. 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.720 I ended I actually I was pregnant with our daughter, 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:41.720 our youngest daughter, Charlotte. I had no you know, that 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.240 was a total surprise. And so then I couldn't go 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.160 back because I couldn't travel because I had a high 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.520 risk pregnancy, and so Dave was going back and forth 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.439 and we facetimed her all the time. But we got 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.360 to a point where we really didn't know if she 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:56.920 was going to be able to come home ever, and 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.640 so we were starting to set up okay, continue plans. 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.800 Can she live full time with her foster parents and 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:05.559 we'll pay for her to go to school and all 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.600 those things. So yeah, in that period, I mean we 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:12.240 really just were It was very uncertain, and it was 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.920 very hard because again we didn't have an end time 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.520 and sight. It wasn't like we have this timeline and 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.520 this is what's going to happen. It was literally day 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:24.880 to day just praying and begging God and begging every 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.439 person we could and that I mean anybody that would 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.680 possibly have any connections that could help us. We were 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:35.240 just constantly advocating and trying to get her home just 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.320 because we wanted her to. I mean, we wanted her home. 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.679 There was an ache in our family because we were 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.320 waiting for her. But then also we didn't know if 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.480 she was safe, or eating or any of those things. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.040 So it was that was probably Yeah, that was a 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.960 very difficult time. But at the same time God taught 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.880 us like I look back on that period and all 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.440 the things that happened in our lives and what He 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.160 was preparing us for and the way, you know, I 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.160 talked about a blueberry farm, but the way He orchestrated 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:06.840 relationships during that period so that we became very deeply 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:11.520 connected with so many people. We have deep friendships and 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.040 relationships with families in the Congo and in Zimbabwe and 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:19.360 in South Africa because of that waiting period. So there 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.160 was a lot of good that came out of it, 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.960 and I wouldn't have known that at the time. I 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:25.600 was just. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:30.640 Absolutely waiting for something that is uncertain, and you have 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.400 to hold the end point in your mind that there 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.440 will be something an outcome of this. We just have 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:38.280 no idea of the tuneyline. 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.280 So yeah, all right, We're going to take. 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:41.800 A quick ad break and then I will be back 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:51.440 with more from Jenny Mars. Well, I am back talking 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.160 with Jenny mars who is the co host a Fixer 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.880 to Fabulous on HDTV. It is also the author of 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.520 the brand new book Trust God, Love People. I was 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.760 practicing before and I kept mixing that up Love God, 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:03.360 Trust People. 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:04.920 I guess we can do both. 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.959 So let's talk a little bit about though, you know, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.360 your work with with HGTV here, because I know a 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.920 lot of listeners will be fascinated this, and I, Jenny, 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.760 I can tell you I recently renovated a historic home 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.040 that I'm living in now, and it was a sixteen 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:30.400 month process. Yes, each meeting with the Historic Commission is 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.000 longer than an episode of Fixer of Fabulous. So maybe 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:35.880 you can talk a little bit about the difference between 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:40.000 renovating for television and how renovating normally works. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.840 Yes, well, I will say there's on average, for each episode, 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.840 we film about one hundred and twenty hours worth of 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.560 footage and then they have to edit it down to 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.079 a forty two minute episode. So there is a lot 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.600 that happens that is not included. Because when you see 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:58.960 the you know, there's always a section where it's like 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.680 they're playing music and there's all we call you know, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.160 the b roll of the work happening like that is 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:09.080 not happening in a day. That is happening over a 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:13.800 lot of long period of time. Even still, I think, 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:17.320 you know, when we're renovating a home, our own home 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.640 or for clients outside of the show. Yes, it typically 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:24.720 takes at least a year, and Historic Home is going 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.440 to take longer even you know, two years is very 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:34.520 reasonable for a big restoration project. But for the show, 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.840 we have to film you know, sixteen twelve to sixteen 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:42.840 episodes in we pretty much are filming year round. It 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.840 takes us about a year to film the whole season. 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.000 So there's twelve to sixteen houses depending on the season, 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:54.840 usually sixteen that we're renovating in that period of time. 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.760 So it's usually about ten to twelve weeks for a 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:04.079 house renovation. So it's definitely different. It's very different. Everything 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.000 has to and it took us a long time to 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.040 really figure it out. Honestly. The first season, well the 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:14.120 pilot episode was insane because we we renovated a historic 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:18.320 home in I think it was five weeks and we 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:20.600 just had the one and we were like, this is 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.840 this is the hardest thing we've ever done. Like it's insane. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.640 And so when we started season one, we realized we've 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:31.839 got to We've got to figure this out. How can 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.880 we possibly do multiple houses? Like this is just crazy. 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.280 So now that we're doing this sistar seventh year, we 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.960 kind of have a better handle on it. But like 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:46.000 right now, we're run. We have eight houses going right now, 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.600 so and we're actually starting another one on Monday, so 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.920 we'll have but we're revealing another one on Tuesday, so 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.160 we'll go we'll start one close one, so we'll have 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:59.360 eight again. And so it's just kind of this like 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.480 rolling and so you have the house construction, but then 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.400 you have the production schedule, and so you have to 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:09.240 make sure when things are important things are happening, that 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.439 we have cameras there or else it's a problem, right, 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.800 Like wait, the cameras show back up and there was 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.080 no staircase, and then there's a staircase, and we never 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.200 showed the staircase being built. So we've learned. We've had 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.280 to learn like you have to wait on certain things. 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.440 And that was really hard for my husband as the contractor, 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.360 because he's like, I'm hiring these guys, I'm paying for 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:31.960 my guys to be here, I'm paying them by the hour, 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.600 and I have to tell them to just wait because 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.640 we need to film something, you know. So it was 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.480 a process to figure out how we finish the house 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.120 and actually how we make the show because the show 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.480 is more telling a story, which I love. I love 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:53.040 that part of it. It's the logistics that are really challenging. 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:59.640 And even from my perspective, I'm ordering and choosing all 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:05.280 them materials typically before we even start the house, before 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.200 we even begin demo, so everything has to be there 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:12.840 because we have to just it's it's so fast and 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.440 once it starts, it's like a fast moving train down 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.840 a mountain and you're just clinging on. So a lot 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.800 of times, you know, things will show up and they're broken, 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.400 or once we get into it, we change. You know, 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:27.960 as you know, you renovated a historic home, things never 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.760 go to plan, so you always have to pivot and 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:35.120 problem solve. And you know, we had this plan, but 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.440 then we got into it and this this everything changed 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.720 and so now all of the lights, for example, that 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.600 I ordered no longer work, you know, and you have 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.480 to just pivot and find something that you can Like 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.000 a lot of times we'll dig out things from our 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:52.520 barn of like, oh wait, I have this light, we 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.280 can use this. It's a lot of problem solving more so, 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.000 not even problem solving, I would say, it's a lot 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:02.680 of putting out fires more so than a traditional renovation 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.640 where you have the time to process and choose as 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:11.000 you go and make changes. And you know, it's from 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.800 my perspective, it's just constant putting out fires and constantly 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.680 just like okay, all right, well okay, that's not going 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.400 to work. Let's do this, and you just have to 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.120 sort of go with it. But from home owner perspective, 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.320 they get to literally walk away from the house. So 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.200 it works for certain personalities and for other people like 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.440 for me, I couldn't do it, definitely, but it works 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.160 great for people that don't want to have to make 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.480 all those decisions. They want to say, here, you guys, 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:38.880 figure it out, I'll be back in eight weeks. And 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.720 that's truly what happens. They sign a contract that says 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.400 they will not come back to the house, so it 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.240 really is a surprise, and they come back and it's done, 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.480 and they get a house renovated. Like you said, you know, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.200 typically you're waiting a year and a half two years 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.000 for a house to be renovated. They get it done 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.600 in two months, so it's amazing. Yeah, so there's a 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.520 lot of benefits, but it's also they really do turn 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.120 over control. I mean, we have a lot of meetings 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.080 behind the scenes where I find out. Okay, what do 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:11.800 you like? What do you do you like? You know, 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:13.840 I get there's a lot of stuff that happens in 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.240 the pre planning, so that because it is their house, 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.760 we're not doing stuff that you know, we think is 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.399 just cool for TV that they wouldn't really like, you know, 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.879 so we have to make sure. But it is different 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:29.240 because typically when you're working with a client, you're walking 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.919 through the process together and you're choosing things together and 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.359 you're making choices. We're this it's like I just I 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:36.240 have to make all the choice. I get their information 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.480 and then I just make the choices. Fascinating. Yeah, it's different. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.960 It's good. Yeah, but I know what lights you're going 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:43.600 to wind up with. 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:46.359 But there will be lights, so that's good. So I 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.359 mean you've got this going on, you know, this this 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.120 business that is all sorts of moving parts. You also 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.680 have five kids, as we mentioned, How do you organize 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.520 your schedule? I mean, do you have like a planning 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:57.200 time where you sit down and do it? I mean, 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:58.359 what's how does that work? 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:02.360 Oh? Gosh, it's cal I would say, Okay, are there's 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:03.239 some order to it? 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.560 Because at the time pods. 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:12.479 I survived day to day, I always say, but I 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.399 do sit down. So I sit down at the beginning 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:18.199 of the month, and I'm very much like I like 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:22.159 to write. I have my you know, my calendar on 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.439 my phone, but I have I have it right here, 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:26.399 I have it everywhere I go. My little is just 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:28.920 the most simple thing. But I have my written calendar 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.600 that I can see the whole month, and then I 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.680 put details. I have another planner where I put the details, 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:37.720 but I like to be able to see it. So 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:39.199 I sit down at the beginning of the month and 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.119 just sort of map out the month, and then backing 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.840 up when we get our production schedule, which is typically 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.320 in February for the year, I go through and mark 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:54.159 production like filming days, because that's important for all the 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.720 planning of all the other things. But then each Sunday, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.480 you know, especially during the school year, because the kid's 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.520 schedule is a full time job managing that. So on Sunday, 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.320 excuse me, I sit down and map out, Okay, here's 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.560 where everyone has to be and just what the week 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:14.840 looks like in more detail. But there is definitely day 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:19.760 to day planning, monthly planning, yearly planning. But it's also 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:25.160 feels like because of production. Sometimes things get like there's 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.400 just a like my planner gets thrown into a fire 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:30.720 pit and blown up. Sometimes like I had a great 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.000 plan and now it's what is happening? 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.800 So absolutely all right, Well we're going to take one 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:38.359 more quick ad break and then I'll be back with 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:47.840 more from Jenny Bars. So I am back talking with 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.640 Jenny Bars, who's co host of the show Fixer to Fabulous. 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.359 She's also the author of the brand new book Trust God, 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.280 Love People. So I know every day must be different 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:58.240 with your life, but I'm curious if you have any 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.879 routines that you rely on, either to stay sane or 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:02.840 to make you more productive. 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:08.600 Yeah. So when we're so we're filming, we usually do 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.600 a week, so like we're filming this coming week, but 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.960 last week we weren't. So on the non filming weeks 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.280 they look very different than the filming weeks. Non filming 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:19.119 weeks or the time that we actually get caught up 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.399 on all the work and the things. When I wrote 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.000 my book, so for example, when I was writing my book, 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:28.400 I had writing days that I put into my calendar 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:32.639 and communicated that with everyone that those are days that 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:34.800 I'm not available at least for the first half of 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.080 the day, I typically had like get the kids to school, 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.560 and then I would hap until about noon was just 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.320 dedicated writing time, and I turned my phone off. I 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.040 just everyone knew you cannot get in touch with me 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:52.040 unless it's an actual emergency, and that was I had 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:53.520 to do that, or else I never would have been 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:58.160 able to write this book. Ever, so certain things like that, 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:03.720 or on Fridays are typically my day to do these 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.400 kinds of things like podcasts and schedule calls. I have 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.240 another Zoom call right after this, and then it's also 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.480 my day to like try to catch up on emails 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:17.640 because my job is weird in that I'm never at 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.800 my desk or at my at my computer. So Fridays 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.080 I always have is kind of like an office day 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.240 catch up day. But again it looks different because we're 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:29.160 finishing a house next week, so this afternoon I'm heading 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:32.000 to the house to finish getting it ready, so I'm 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:33.840 not just sitting at my computer all day. Even though 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:35.639 I would love a day to just catch up, I 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:41.040 never really have that. But during the week when we're filming, especially, 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:43.320 it's just a lot of running around because we're checking 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:45.720 in on projects, so I have my phone on me, 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.159 but then there's always you know, those emails that come 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:50.560 through that you're like, oh, I need to sit down 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:52.679 and like actually respond to this. I can't just do 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:56.520 a quick one off, and so my inbox is typically 0:21:57.480 --> 0:21:59.800 like overloaded, and then I try to catch up on 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.480 frit so I don't know it's it's not it's not great. 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:05.600 And I also am like, well, I guess if it's 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:08.560