Chip Gaines - No Pain, No Gaines: The Good Stuff Doesnt Come Easy

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No Pain, No Gaines

2021 Chip Gaines

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

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Any internet addresses, phone numbers, or company or product information printed in this book are offered as a resource and are not intended in any way to be or to imply an endorsement by Thomas Nelson, nor does Thomas Nelson vouch for the existence, content, or services of these sites, phone numbers, companies, or products beyond the life of this book.

This is a work of nonfiction. The events and experiences detailed herein are all true and have been faithfully rendered as remembered by the author, to the best of his ability. Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Cover photo by Mike Davello. Interior illustrations by Mary Grace Greene.

ISBN 978-0-7852-3794-5 (audiobook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-3793-8 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-3791-4 (HC)

ISBN 978-0-7852-5361-7 (ITPE)

Epub Edition January 2021 9780785237938

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020952509

Printed in the United States of America

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My life has been shaped by the people in my network. People who say yes to life, yes to hard work, and yes to risk, but who arent yes-people. People who have fought for me and beside me as I have for them. People who I trust with all my heart and who trust me with theirs.

This book is for them.

To Jo. Win or lose, its always you and me forever.

To our kids, Drake, Ella, Duke, Emmie Kay, and Crew. You five are daily reminders of all that is possible in this world when we live and love and trust one another with everything in us.

To my parents and sister and Jos parents and sisters. You were our earliest networks and our first cheerleaders. You have shaped and continue to shape us into the people we are.

To everyone else who has come alongside me over the years. Who has taught me what it looks like to expect greater for myself and to seek the extraordinary. Who has extended kindness to me even when its been uncomfortable. Who has been willing to bet on me and shown me the reward that comes with being willing to bet on other people.

You all are a part of my network, and I wouldnt be who I am without each of you.

Thinking of times Chip has done things differently isnt hard. When I sat down to write this chapter, I thought I knew exactly what Id say. I figured I could talk about the countless times Ive watched him close a deal with a handshake when it mightve been safer to sign a contract. Or the times he has hired on a few guys just to help them get on their feet. I thought Id tell you all about how, for as long as Ive known him, hes been a serial business card collector. Early on in our relationship, wed be out at dinner and hed end up talking with the owner, asking him questions about turnover and operating costs, and wed walk out of the restaurant with the proprietors card. Hed run into a painter at the hardware store and add another card to the collection. One time, I watched him exchange cards with a stranger hed struck up a conversation with while pumping gas. Apparently, the guy knew how to lay tile. Its been nearly twenty years of life together and those business cards continue to fill the big black binder stowed beneath the front seat of Chips truck. Theyre every bit a part of his daily rhythm as his well-worn drive into town.

One day a few years ago, as Chip hopped back in the truck from what was supposed to be a quick errand and filed away yet another business card, I asked him about it. You never know when we may need it, hed said. I sat there thinking, I dont know anyone who needs the number to six different plumbers. Chip and I saw the value of those cards differently. Id always thought of business cards as a means to an end. But Chip saw them as a beginning. A potential connection worth having and holding on to.

In a way, that says it all. To Chip, those cards carry a currency far more valuable than what there is to gain from the information printed on them. They represent connections hes made with people hes met along the way whose lives have become stitched together with his simply because he chose to say hello, to ask what they do and what they care about. Simply because he was open to seeing them not for who they are in relation to him but for who they are all on their own.

The thing Ive realized about Chip is that its never really been about how he does anythinghow he networks, how he does business, how he connects with people. He has never set out to do things differently. He is the thing thats different. Because for Chip, its always been about the why.

Whether someone looks and acts and talks like Chip, or is different in every seemingly possible way, when he engages with them its not with the intent to reinforce who he has always been but to sharpen who he is still becoming. As much in our life as in our business, Chip is always looking for ways to move forward. He never wants to be stuck. Hes never content with the status quo or the way things have always been done. Growth is the measure of his life. Thats his why.

This feels especially important at this moment. Never in my lifetime have I felt such a dissonance in our country. Ive watched as our culture has made it acceptable to mute people or unfollow those who arent like them. People who challenge their thinking, who call them out before theyre ready. Social media has offered the convenience of making new connections but just as quickly shows how fragile those relationships were to begin with if they fracture when faced with a difference in perspective.

Chip just does not operate this way. He genuinely desires to understand and learn from those around him. He seeks out opportunities to interact with someone who is different from him. To ask questions and then be willing to answer questions in return. He wants to be challenged if theres a chance for growth and a chance to build something better. Something real.

I get that we all have different comfort levels when it comes to putting ourselves out there. Chip is a born connector. And me? I am naturally wired to be more reserved. But what Ive realized is that its more our insecurities than anything else that hold us back from taking a chance and trusting someone new. And what Ive learned watching Chip engage with people is that when we can push whatever fears we carry to the peripherywhether its a fear of not fitting in, of getting burned, of being wrongits with renewed clarity that we can see the beauty of what other people bring to the world and, in turn, better appreciate what we have to offer.