Capital Gaines

Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff
By: Chip Gaines

Firstly, great and clever title. Nextly, I'd say this book is probably going to be more inspiring to entrepreneurial types or people who are just die-hard-the Gaines-can-do-no-wrong types. I am neither, so it wasn't a kick-starter book for me, but having watched a lot of Fixer Upper and liking Chip and Joanna as people, I still found it interesting to read about their journey leading up to their show. I have not read Joanna's book so I cannot speak to whether this is a rehashing of the same material or not.

Here's my breakdown:

The upside: Chip is not too proud to admit his faults. He is a man who practices what he preaches and puts in hard work to achieve his goals. He's not afraid of failure. He desires to build others up and help them see their dreams to fruition as well. He's a family man and puts his trust in the Lord.

The downside: There were lots of cliché analogies and phrases. At least from what I know of him, he wasn't writing from an aloof, I-am-superior attitude so it wasn't obnoxious in that way. It actually kind of fits his personality in a (positive) way, I just prefer more creative, fresh writing.

This next observation is a little tricky to nail down. There are reviewers on both sides saying 'too much God' in the book or 'not enough God' in the book and we don't know his intentions- who his target audience really was. In this type of book I don't think it was necessary to talk about God in every paragraph by any means. What I found, I guess 'concerning', was just a little bit too much focus on individual effort. He definitely acknowledges God's hand in all of his success, but there is just so much out there from people striving for success that teach: you deserve all of your dreams and do whatever it takes to get there and that if you work hard enough and don't take no for an answer and don't allow for a plan B then you WILL get all you desire. And it's all a little too 'me-centered.'

There's nothing wrong with having goals and dreams but as a believer, our life is not our own, it is the Lord's. God is not there to serve us and our dreams- we are here to serve and glorify Him. And sometimes his will lines up with our dreams, which is awesome, but our life on earth isn't marked by our success but by our faithfulness. Chip could absolutely agree with and believe all of that- I just didn't see very much of it in his writing.

Another 'knock' on the book for me, as other reviewers also mentioned, was the very end where some of his personal assistants added some words about Chip. It is clear they all admire Chip and consider him a friend and mentor; and it is clear their contributions were not edited to make him look better than he is. But some of the tasks he flippantly put on their desk did seem a little, I don't know if arrogant is the word, maybe disrespectful? I totally understand and respect his philosophy of making his employees 'figure it out' so they learn it better- great idea. But some of the things that caused stress for his assistants seemed unnecessary or selfish. And maybe if I had a personal relationship with Chip I would perceive their stories differently. Or maybe it just terrifies me to think about being his personal assistant.... haha.

Additionally:

This book was written in 2017 so it was interesting how well parts of the book is related to what our world is going through right now with the pandemic and racial tension. His chapter 'Team of Rivals' actually seems pretty out of place in the middle of the book, so the flow isn't there but he still makes some good points:

"When contempt has become the norm and misinformation is rampant, it makes for a kind of rhetoric that may only be silenced by absolutism... Contempt and judgment clothed in concern says more about the 'concerned' than 'the concerning'..."

He also talks about fear: "fear will literally ruin every facet of your life; it cripples everything. You know how hurt people hurt people? Well, scared people scare people. And thus, the cycle of fear continues on... Fact: life isn't safe. You could do A, B, and C all perfectly right, and then bam! All of a sudden D will show up, and D wasn't even on the guest list...It's never too late in your story to take a step away from fear. And the good news is that both optimism and courage are contagious. No hand washing necessary. Simply catch and spread."

These resonated with me in the times we are living in. I've been trying to practice faith over fear. Which though his words seem to say optimism over fear, I believe his optimism is actually because of his faith and trust in Jesus. Like I said, Chip will admit his faults and failures, and for all the things his book could have done differently or better, these quotes show me that Chip's got his head on straight and understands the more important things of life.

So if you need some 'get up and go' to move forward with an entrepreneurial endeavor or a dream you keep pushing aside because of fear of failure, this book might inspire you. If you love Chip and Joanna, this book will make you feel good.

If you're neither of those, this book might not do a whole lot for you or be the literary work of the year, but it's not going to ruin your life either. There are some valuable takeaways. And you can at least appreciate this man's grit, perseverance, and adoration for his wife and kids.