When it comes to building and running a lifestyle empire, both the Gaineses and the Drummonds are absolutely excelling.
Fans of Southern food and beautiful homes are able to draw countless comparisons between "The Pioneer Woman" star Ree Drummond and "Fixer Upper" host Joanna Gaines. They both embody what it means to be country-chic and design home goods: from Ree's line of kitchenware at Walmart to Joanna's fabulous rustic interiors at Target and Anthropologie.
They are also both proud moms who love to gush about their families and life in their respective small towns. But, according to Ree, there's a major difference between herself and Joanna — and it all comes down to her perspective on business.
"I do see many similarities, and Joanna and I have exchanged an email or two cheering each other on," Ree told USA Today in a recent interview. "But what they have achieved is amazing, and the sky's the limit for them."
However, the Food Network star divulged that she has no plans to expand in her empire in the same way as the Gaines family. Though Ree commends the HGTV star for launching her own TV network soon, she can't possibly imagine pursuing that kind of endeavor.
"That's where our paths will diverge; I think my husband and I are too tired for that," she said.
But that isn't to say that Ree isn't extremely busy and doesn't already have plenty going on.
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One of the best things about these two proud, working mamas is that they breathe business back into their hometowns. The Gaineses opened their first restaurant called Magnolia Table in Waco, Texas, last year and the Drummonds, meanwhile, recently rolled out a new ice cream shop, joining their mercantile, hotel and pizzeria in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
And these home-baked empires are worth a lot of dough.
Though Ree's exact net worth remains unknown (some estimates have put the figure as high as $50 million), a big source of her family's income actually comes from her husband Ladd's property (the couple is one of the largest landowners in the U.S.). In 2016, the Daily Mail obtained tax documents showing that the Drummond's private company, Drummond Land & Cattle Co., was paid $23.9 million in rent alone since 2006 by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. According to E! News, the Gainses had a reported net worth of approximately $5 million in 2017, but other sources have reported that couple is really worth up to $18 or $20 million today.
Of course, Ree and Joanna both have incredible husbands, who are as handy around the house as they are at sporting cowboy hats.
Needless to say, the list of these TV stars' accomplishments could go on and on.
Of course, a Pioneer Woman isn't just born ... she's made and Ree wasn't always a pioneer, per se. Even though she was born an Oklahoma girl, she's from a city (not a remote ranch) called Bartlesville and was deemed the "Pioneer Woman" by her clever high school friends when she told them she was moving to a one-horse town to marry a rancher named Ladd.
Clearly, the nickname stuck.
