Celebrity contractor Bryan Baeumler returns to headline the Ottawa Fall Home Show later this month, where the perennially popular TV host is sure to draw a standing-room-only crowd to the main stage.
Combining a down-to-earth personality, a behind-the-scenes look at his world and an openness when it comes to his work, his family and his fears (he suffers with anxiety and panic disorder that he has learned to “somewhat” manage) he brings a fun and relaxed presence to the stage that never fails to entertain.
We caught up with the ever-busy entrepreneur the morning after he’d returned from a quick European getaway with wife Sarah to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Despite being jetlagged, which he hid well, we talked kids, work, the home show and more. Here is an edited version of our interview.
(Jump below to home show details)
Q: You have appeared at the Ottawa Home Show as the headline guest speaker many times. What keeps you coming back?
Bryan: I like to do a lot of the shows, actually, just to talk to people and keep my finger on the pulse of what’s happening, and what people are concerned about, and issues that all Canadians run into with housing right across the country.
The real estate landscape is changing constantly. I’m not a big believer in trends, but there’s new materials and new products and services that are available all the time. And the home shows are a great spot to see (that). Everybody comes together with the new methods and materials and ideas and designs. So, it’s a really good way to do all of those things in one place.
Q: What can the audience expect to hear from you this time around?
Bryan: I always like to just take a lot of questions and interact with people and see what they want to know. There’s always a little bit of “peek behind the curtain” of 20 years and 700-some-odd episodes of TV shows and a lot of wild experiences we’ve had in Canada, in the U.S., the Caribbean, all over.
I find the last couple of years — and maybe it’s as my kids are getting older — that I’m focusing a little bit more on responsibilities of homeowners and where we should be spending money; how to turn your living quarters, your home, into a true asset long term.
And I talk about the housing crisis a little bit and how we’re going back to the feudal system in Canada where corporations and individuals are owning more and more properties and now is a tough time buying a home.
So, it’s about how to get involved in that and where to spend your money to get the most out of your home and actually build intrinsic value. We look at housing almost as disposable and a lot of people don’t factor in the real cost of homeownership long term. It’s guiding people towards making those decisions that will pay off long term rather than having the short sight that a lot of people do now.
Q: If you were in the audience, what would you ask you on stage?
Bryan: Oh, God. That’s a great question. I’d probably ask myself, ‘When do you sleep and where,’ (he laughs), which I do get asked a lot. I work a pretty crazy schedule when I’m working, but then we tend to take chunks of time off and we’ll take a month here and there and spend it 24/7 with the kids and the family.
I would probably ask myself the same questions that I asked my dad when I was younger: ‘If you had a chance to go back 20 years and do it all over again, what would you do?’ And I find myself, as I’m getting older, giving the younger people who work for us the same speech that I got when I was younger: be good to your knees, lift with your legs, not your back, make the sacrifices now when you’re young, and that kind of thing.
‘It’s a constant pendulum’
Q: It sounds like as busy as you are, you find a way to get some work-life balance in.
Bryan: I think probably the question that Sarah and I get asked most is how do you find the work-life balance or how do you balance everything? It’s funny, I just posted for our anniversary, ‘20 years of trying to figure it all out.’
And the answer is there is no answer. Balance is this fallacy; it’s this dream that everybody is striving to reach but I think you don’t really get there until you realize that balance is unattainable. Having a wife and four kids and 20-some-odd businesses and personal interests and what have you, it’s a matter of being reactive, trying to balance, but realizing you’ll never get there; there is no such thing as a perfect equilibrium.
We have bad days in our marriage where you realize, OK, I need to work a little less and maybe pursue my hobbies a little less and spend a little more time with my spouse. And there’s other days where the business needs attention. And then there’s a teenage crisis that needs to be dealt with, so you have to put everything else on hold. You don’t get to a state of equilibrium and just stay there.
It’s a constant pendulum and I think when people realize that, it takes a lot of anxiety off this quest for balance, because you might get there for a second or feel you get there for a second, but it’s not a state of being, that’s for sure.
‘Our kids are incredible’
Q: You mentioned the kids. How do they feel about having such a public profile?
Bryan: They don’t know any different, which is interesting. Now with the kids getting older, Q’s (short for Quintyn) 19, he’s almost 20, and Charlotte’s 17½ now, in her last year of school. We’re touring universities now with her. And we’ll be out places and people will come up and say ‘Oh, Quintyn, I’ve been watching you since you were born.’ And they just take it in stride because I think it’s been part of their life for so long.
To be honest, I don’t know how we’ve done it, but our kids are incredible. They’re so balanced and I guess we’ve exposed them to a lot of different cultures and travel and different things and they just take it in stride.
When we’re not filming or the crew isn’t around or we’re not doing something crazy, they’re kind of like, ‘OK, where is everybody? What’s next? What’s happening?’ So, it’s been their baseline, their normal. I think a few of the kids you literally saw their birth in the shows and big occasions in their lives and all kinds of things. It’s been really interesting and I think we’re so busy living and working and doing things, that we don’t often sit back and put an old show on and say, ‘Oh, yeah.’ They have a very different perspective on it. It’s just normal for them.
Q: Do you think any of any of them will follow you into the business?
Bryan: Well, the question there is which business? It’s funny, people ask that, too: ‘Do you hope that any of your kids will get into construction or get into television or cabinets’ or whatever it may be. And I think, very early on, Sarah and I decided our parenting style is ‘let’s expose them to everything and let them find something that they love and they want to pursue.’ And I think it’s less about directing them towards something than it is about removing all the barriers and opening all the doors so they can explore it themselves.
That being said, we’re starting to see Quintyn wants to get involved in the hospitality side a little more. He actually opened his first business last year. He’s been talking about getting more involved in that this year and opening his own business and pursuing those things. Lincoln certainly is interested in the construction side. Josephine is drawn to animals and farms, and Charlotte is really interested in the operations of a business from that side. So, I don’t know where they’ll end up.
Home sweet home
Q: Is Florida still your home base?
Bryan: We’re there, I would say, half of the time. We’re up in Canada a lot. Last year we were here (in Canada) about nine months of the year. So, we’re kind of split between Canada, Florida and still the Bahamas. We’re kind of all over the place. That’s the other interesting thing when you ask the kids. If we’re coming up to Canada, they say, ‘We’re going home.’ And if we’re going to Florida they say, ‘Oh, we’re going home.’ And if we go to the island, they say, ‘We’re going home.’
So, I think that’s really important, too — you don’t just live at a set of co-ordinates on a map, we live wherever we are. And the kids have always thought that even if we were on the boat for a month or two, to them that’s home; where they are and where they’re together. We ask ourselves that question all the time: Where is home? And I don’t know that it’s a physical place.
Q: That suggests they’re really grounded, too.
Bryan: They’ve certainly experienced (pauses), I mean, they went to a local school on a small island in the Bahamas for a couple of years. And they’ve been to school in Florida and Canada and two of them, Quintyn and Josephine, are in an online international school. So, they really go to school wherever they are. It’s been great for them.
I think more people should travel with their kids because they realize no matter where you are, it’s the same. People are the same, everybody wants to feed their kids and pay their bills and have a barbecue with family on the weekend. I think when you travel and meet other people and other cultures, you realize everyone is more similar than they are different.
Life of an entrepreneurial family
Q: What is new with you and the B team? (Bryan and Sarah often refer to their family as the B team)
Bryan: We are shooting a new show at the moment called Building Baeumler. Interestingly, it’s a little more documentary style and it shows not just the ‘befores’ and ‘afters,’ but the journey from making a decision to get to the ‘after’ and how you get there. And it involves multiple countries and locations and businesses. And it’s really just about the life of an entrepreneurial family. And, of course, there are things built and businesses operated along the way. We break the fourth wall a lot and bring people along for the ride.
We’ve acquired another hotel in the Florida Keys that we’re renovating right now. Caerula Mar in the Bahamas (the Baeumlers’ resort) has kind of matured after four or five years of operations now, so we’re doing a significant expansion down there. There are some projects up in Canada that we’re working on as well, down in Halifax and in Toronto and everything in between.
It’s not the cleaned up, heavily edited (type of show) where we’re in one spot ripping out the drywall and you see us painting and dropping pillows at the end. It’s more of the chaos of us getting there.
That’s going to come out next spring.
Q: And there’s also been a new Renovation Resort Showdown (Bryan’s show with Scott McGillivray)?
Bryan: I’ve been working on that back and forth as well. Four great teams and a $100,000 cheque at the end. Some incredible designs and craftsmanship that we’re seeing from the teams this year. And, of course, little antics from Scott and I; we misbehave together occasionally (laughs) and have a little fun with each other. So, we’re working on that as well.
And we’re always on the hunt — part of the new Building Baeumler show, too, will be part of the hunt for the next thing. And, actually, even some of the businesses that the kids are getting involved in. We’ll be seeing that as well.
Q: Do you even know how many shows and episodes you’ve done?
Bryan: I don’t have an actual number; I probably should. I think last count was 17 different shows and I think we’re north of 700 episodes now. There has been a lot.
I joke with crowds at the home shows, too. I’m like, ‘What are you still doing here?’ (laughs) It’s mind blowing, really, when you think about it. And as Sarah and I were saying this week when we were away, 20 years has just gone. It’s pretty wild.
Q: It’s also pretty wild the empire that you’ve been able to build in that time.
Bryan: Sarah and I, just yesterday morning, we’re sitting in St. Tropez (France) down by the marina at a table with a couple of cappuccinos and a croissant looking around. And we were like, ‘OK, take a minute and breathe here. What the hell just happened in 20 years? It’s pretty wild.’ And it’s been fun, and we’re not done yet.
Bryan Baeumler is appearing at the Ottawa Fall Home Show on Friday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. and again at 6 p.m.
Visiting the Fall Home Show
Along with Bryan Baeumler, there’s lots to see at the Ottawa Fall Home Show. Several other speakers will take to the stage throughout the weekend to share their wisdom and insights, including yours truly.
Besides hosting the main stage and introducing speakers, I’ll be presenting a sneak peek into award-worthy Ottawa homes, sharing trends and inspiration from a bevy of award-worthy homes.
The Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association will have a large display showcasing the 200+ finalists in this fall’s Housing Design Awards, which is a great opportunity to see the work of local companies and get both ideas and leads on who to hire for your next project. While you’re there, you can vote for your favourite for the All Things Home People’s Choice Award (and be entered into a draw for a pair of Senators tickets and parking pass).
Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa returns, with a booth offering a sampling of what you can find at its ReStore retail outlets. The Perth Brewery hosts a lounge where you can sit, relax and enjoy a brew. And there will be more than 100 exhibitors on hand to answer your questions about all things home improvement.
The show runs Thursday, Sept. 26, to Sunday, Sept. 29, at varying times at the EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Dr. Admission is $14 for adults, $13 for seniors and youth, and free for children 12 and under. You can get half-price tickets via the ad at the top of our home page. Parking is $10.
For more details, including the stage schedule and show specials, visit ottawafallhomeshow.com.
