Chip Gaines

“Whenever you're at a poker table - and you're betting all of your chips - you're worried, you're scared. Is it the right play? Have I thought through all the angles? That's what stinks about life and business in general. If I had to calculate 100% certainty on every deal I did, I literally would do zero deals.”

“I don't listen to music when I run; I like the quiet. It gives me time to think about my family, our businesses, the farm - there's not much I don't think about, to be honest.”

“As much as I love Twitter, Twitter feuds aren't going to work. Actually connecting requires true face-to-face time. I believe with all my heart that it's only after working side by side with another person that you earn the right to speak into that person's life.”

“I feel a little bit like a drill sergeant sometimes. Some elements of my personality, as a parent, I'm not real crazy about.”

“Capital was always the struggle. I always had these amazing visions. Had this amazing work ethic. Had this amazing work partner in my wife. But I was always struggling for capital. I owe a lot to local banks who were willing to take chances on Jo and I early in our career.”

“Getting up at four in the morning to tend the farm while the world is quiet - feeding animals, mucking stalls, gathering eggs, filling water troughs, checking fences, letting animals out into the field - is a high point to my day.”

“I want my kids to date; I want them to go out. I just remember great experiences as a kid, you know? Driving your car for the first time, picking up a young lady on a date for the first time. All those were little milestones to some extent.”