Illustration by Trisha Krauss
Heather and Brad Fox
It started with a marketing call. You know, the kind of call businesses often get, talking about a “great opportunity.” We were sitting at the office when my husband, Brad, answered. A man asked if we were interested in television, and Brad promptly hung up on him. Turns out, this wasn’t a marketing pitch. The caller luckily rang back, quickly explaining he ran a TV production company in town, and this time we heard him out.
Brad and I own Fox Homes, a real estate, design, and renovation company. We have lots of experience remodeling houses around the Twin Cities but zero experience in front of cameras or in TV. Apparently, a talent scout had found us on Facebook and liked our before-and-after project photos. With no training or script, and after numerous Skype calls and sizzle reels, we had a Stay or Sell pilot episode on HGTV. It did well enough that they offered us a full season.
We started filming the series in November 2018, with the bulk of our eight renovation projects happening through last May. As Minnesotans, you know what that weather looks like—snow, ice, mud. Our changing room was the back seat of our usually very cold car. There rarely was working plumbing or heat in the houses since they were construction sites. I had no idea how cold a porta-potty would feel when it was 10 degrees outside.
Then the polar vortex hit. The production team could not have been more excited. Our producer would text us, “Great news! It’s going to snow 10 inches tonight!” Or, “Amazing. Below zero on Saturday. Can you confirm?” It seems cars spinning out in snowbanks, ice-cold-ground-induced construction delays, and us sounding as if we had Baileys in our coffee during interviews because our mouths were frozen might make for a less than desirable filming experience—but it’s great B-roll for TV.
The weather became a leading cast member in this Fargo–meets–Fox Homes version of Fixer Upper.
The snow was so thick sometimes that the crew decided it was better to be inside and film us through an open window while we stood outside in our puffy snow pants and giant boots, trying to be chic from the waist up. Which isn’t to say that we aren’t used to the less glamorous side of what we do. Renovating houses can be stylish, but it’s also about choosing toilets.
Speaking of style, I had no idea how polarizing my Ashley Mary pompom earrings would be. I love big earrings and they’re part of my look, but while I had positive messages, I also got really negative comments, too. I’m sticking with them—how boring would the world be if we liked the same things?
As much attention as the earrings got, we were also hard to miss in the neighborhoods where we were filming. The production team drove giant black SUVs, and a few people didn’t love having a film crew around. The police were called a couple of times, and every day came with surprises.
Behind the scenes, things felt like a cluster to us. We were doing eight projects at once, and between takes, we were usually on a call about another project. It was chaos, but I think we hid it well.
Once we were well into the groove, Brad and I were filming 40 hours a week while still trying to run our business and be good parents to our boys. I look back now and wonder how we made it through, but we hope to do it again. It was a trip to see ourselves on TV, and it’s still not something we’re used to. I’m not sure we ever will be. (How very midwestern of us, right?)
As for our family’s reactions, our boys loved it, but for my mom, the biggest highlight wasn’t that we were on TV but that we introduced her to another HGTV duo—the Property Brothers.
Heather and Brad Fox are the owners of Fox Homes and Foxwell, a Scandinavian home goods shop scheduled to open this spring in Edina.
