Joanna Gaines' oldest daughter's big news just before leaving home revealed | HELLO! (2025)

Joanna Gaines is a proud mom-of-five, one set to send the second oldest of her children, 18-year-old daughter Ella Gaines, off to college in a few months.

The 47-year-old DIY magnate shares her children with husband Chip Gaines, and it looks like their parents' proclivity for home renovation and design is rubbing off on them too.

During a recent appearance on the Business of Home podcast, Joanna spoke about balancing parenting and motherhood with the challenges of running a business, the Magnolia Network, which has become a lifestyle empire of sorts in recent years.

The former Fixer Upper host also discussed her desire to carve out some more family time, away from the office, explaining that taking a sabbatical with Chip during the summer of 2024 proved to be monumentally useful for her mental health.

In fact, as it turns out, one of the people most instrumental in making that decision happen was none other than Ella, who was employed by Magnolia as an intern at some point last year.

"One of my favorite moments that was so pivotal for me as a mother, but also as a business owner, was my daughter, my oldest daughter, was in on a lot of these conversations before our break in June, that I was having with the team," she mentioned.

Joanna mentioned that Ella was an active participant in several of these meetings, doing so out of sheer interest versus a responsibility to her parents.

"She was interning with me, so she'd be in these meetings where I was like, y'all, I need vision," she continued. "Like, we need to get back to why we're doing what we're doing. And so she was listening and she was interested."

Joanna remembered one night when she and Ella stayed back in the office to come up with ideas to manage the sabbatical. "She was writing things as I was saying, okay, if we do this, if we do that," she proudly recalled.

The mom-of-five has often dubbed her oldest daughter the most like her in terms of creative vision, and told People previously that she had a feeling Ella would go into a profession most similar to her mom's.

"I think she'll follow in my footsteps and have her hand in a lot of things. Right now she wants to cook, be a lead designer and have a donut truck," she mused.

In 2018, Ella made and sold baked treats at the Magnolia office and Joanna couldn't have been prouder. Sharing the story on her Instagram page, she gushed: "Her new summer business is selling baked goods at the office when she goes to work with me."

"Tonight we stayed up late and she made Aunt Opal's banana pudding and the chocolate chip cookies from my cookbook. She's going to make a heck of a business woman."

Last month, the 18-year-old was also responsible for decorating the entire family home for her mom's birthday. "I went to bed at about midnight, and some time between 12-7am my little fairy daughter Ella waved her magic wand and did all of this for my birthday weekend," Joanna penned.

"I woke up to my very favorite things on the table and a delicious breakfast that she made from scratch — just the most beautiful setup. I want to sit here all weekend and just take it in."