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What happened to Tom of “Mountain Men”?

Published

3 mins ago

April 18, 2024

Olivia Wilson

Master trapper and tanner Tom Oar gained a huge following when he featured in History Channel’s “Mountain Men,” which premiered on 31 May 2012 with nearly four million people tuning in. He poured on the grandfatherly charm with eyes that twinkle and a ready smile. As the reality television series introduced more people who preferred to live off the land in the wilderness in the succeeding seasons, the public’s interest in Tom didn’t wane.

Table of Contents

Early years of Tom

Tom Oar grew up in a rugged lifestyle in the country outside Rockford, Illinois. His father taught him and his brother Jack to ride horses before they could even walk. When they both turned seven, his father also taught them to perform tricks or stunts while riding a horse; it was dangerous, but his father was a true horseman so he ‘survived’ that, and was hooked on the adrenaline rush that it gave him.

When he was 15, his mom took him to the edge of town, from where he hitch-hiked to Ohio and rode bucking horses and bulls.

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In the early 1960’s, Tom rose through the ranks of the International Rodeo Association, and built a name for himself as a champion rider. However, his success on the rodeo circuit came to an end in February 1970 when he rode a bull named Woolly Bugger – it was said that their heads collided and he was knocked unconscious, but continued to be tossed violently with his hand still bound tightly to the bull’s back. His legs were underneath the bull’s hind legs and the bull stepped on them as it continued to buck. It lasted for a couple of minutes before the ropes could be cut to free him. Three hours passed before Tom regained consciousness – he had bruises all over his body, and had sustained severe concussion. The bull died two weeks later, and Tom jokingly said, ‘I think I gave him a concussion, too.’ After a month, he went back to riding bulls, but it was never the same as his success in the arena became a thing of the past.

Moving to the Big Sky Country

Tom eventually retired from the rodeo in 1981, and looked forward to some peace and quiet, as he and his wife Nancy moved to Montana. They had been there before for the rodeo, and the place appealed to them so they chose it to set down roots. The couple built their first log cabin themselves from cutting logs to splitting shakes. There was no electricity, and Nancy had to carry five-gallon pails of water from the well.

After 17 years, he and Nancy built their next home in a more remote area near the Yaak River in the Kootenai National Forest, which covers about 2.2 million acres in north-east Idaho and north-west Montana. ‘I only have six acres, but beyond that, it’s all open land. I don’t have to ask permission to hunt or trap,’ he said. There were around 250 people in the community, although most of them only stayed during the summer months in which the weather was good. They had running water and electricity, so their living conditions improved.

Tom said, ‘We really had no idea exactly what we were getting into, or how I was gonna make a living out here,’ but he knew in his guts that they would survive and thrive there. He had experience in trapping and tanning hides back in Illinois, and he knew he could earn money from selling animal pelts – he even bought his pickup truck with it. He could make moccasins, but used chemically-tanned leather for those. However, when he went on a trip to Canada, he bought a moose hide tanned using animal brains, and said that it was so soft that it felt like cloth rather than leather, and so he adapted to make moccasins that way.

When they stopped by an Indian store in Billings, they discovered the primitive art of brain tanning through a 16-page book that cost him $3. The quality of their craft had improved significantly, which meant that they could sell the tanned animal skins or hides at a higher price.

Tom Oar

He sold moccasins, clothing, hides and other items that he made, at the Black Powder Rendezvous, a re-creation of what a trade center in the 1840’s was like. The 10-day event every summer was strictly regulated that people came, sellers and patrons alike, in that era’s clothing, and they would camp in canvas tents. Back in the day, fur trappers would come to sell furs and hides to fur companies, and so replenish their supplies. Tom jokingly said, ‘I was born a hundred years too late, or maybe 200 years too late.’

“Mountain Men”

Tom’s neighbor, Tim Linehan, was the host of “Trout Unlimited” for six years, committed to preserving upland streams and rivers where fish spawned, and had been friends with one of the camera guys who established Warm Springs Productions in Missoula, Montana. The producer had an idea for a show about people living off the land, in the wilderness, and Tim mentioned to him about Tom being a perfect fit for the show’s concept.

Tom said the production called him up, and the crew came to take photos as he went about his day. When the TV project was approved, a five-man film crew followed him for at least a week every month for six months during the winter season until spring – ‘They filmed us for five days to get a segment, and the segment lasts seven minutes,’ he said in amusement.

The couple watched the show, and although they were in it, they didn’t know what to expect, but Tom was happy with how it turned out, saying ‘It hasn’t embarrassed me.’ He did say that some of the things that were shown were exaggerated – ‘They always have to make it seem more dangerous. I’m too boring otherwise,’ he revealed.

Being on the show made him popular, and as a result, he continued receiving orders for his moccasins. saying ‘There’s not enough moose left in the valley up here for me to supply all the moccasins people want.’ When he made a primitive bow or a stone-blade knife in the show, people would call wanting to have one as well.

What living in the wilderness was like for Tom Oar

Preparing for winter

Montana winters last seven months, so the couple had to prepare well to ensure that they had enough firewood and food, as the closest supermarket was around 160km away. As they were both getting on in age, things that they used to do were becoming more challenging as each year passed. Stocking up on food meant hunting to harvest meat. He was sometimes accompanied by his dog, Ellie, and his friend Will. To attract a buck, they used an old hunting trick of rubbing antlers to make sounds that imitated two bucks fighting over a doe.

While Tom and Will went out hunting, they could see signs of bear activity, such as a tree being killed by a bear scraping its bark, as well as a number of bear scat. Bears were also looking for food before they hibernated, so an encounter with one was a real possibility. Tom said one of the greatest worries living there was being mauled by a bear. It was said that the bears run towards a gunshot, as if they had become aware that it meant an easy meal.

https://www.facebook.com/mountainmen/photos/a.372010942898565/641077455991911/

Predators stalking his home

One morning, Tom found bear tracks just 45 meters from the house; a bear also tore open their pigeon coop, and grabbed a couple of birds. They put an electric fence around it, but it wasn’t enough to deter the bear, so they increased its voltage. They called for help from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and the game warden came. He deduced that the bear who was a frequent visitor to Tom’s place, was around 300 to 400 pounds.

After winter, the bear biologist warned them that the bear would be back. True enough, it came back one night and attempted to enter his shop, despite the high-voltage electric fence, but was only unsuccessful due to the door latch. Tom took a warning shot to scare-off the bear. He couldn’t afford for livelihood to be compromised, saying jokingly that if the bear destroyed his work, he’d be moving to Florida.

However, it was not just the bear that was getting too close to their home, but also wolves. Bears and wolves were protected species in Montana, so their population had grown. It seemed that these wild animals were getting hungrier, and they were running out of food – maybe the smell of fresh blood when Tom was skinning a deer and fleshing its hide attracted these predators. Wolves traveled and hunted in packs, so they were very dangerous. He had to force the wolf pack off his land, to go back high into the mountains.

It was one thing for Tom to encounter bears or wolves while out hunting, but to have them come near their house was a different matter, and definitely a cause for concern.

Fire season in Montana

From their place, they could see smoke on the horizon from a forest fire, and knew they had to prepare in case it reached their place.

It was a possibility, as they were surrounded by trees, and Nancy said it was like living in a tinder box. Tom had to widen the firebreak around his property, as intense fire could leap distances of many meters. He along with his good friend Tim, cleared more trees from both sides of the road and around their house.

Helping his neighbor

Tom is an experienced trapper so when Tim came to ask him for some help with the beavers in the pond and was worried about raw sewage contaminating their water source, he readily agreed to help. He set some traps for the beavers, and it took a few days before those beavers sprung them. He went home with his catch, skinned them, and stored the meat and fur.

Visiting his brother

Tom’s brother, Jack, invited him and Will to come and visit him in his ranch in Idaho – it took them eight hours driving to get there. They reminisced for a while about the last time they rode horses together with their dad.

Mountain Men

Later on, Jack asked the two to accompany him in checking his fence, to make sure that there were no loose wires through which a lion could get in. He said he spotted a mountain lion at the edge of his property and was worried about it killing his horses at the farm. Lions were known for ambushing their prey, so they were very careful. They managed to push the big cat back into the hills.

Jack, a falcon trainer, took the two out into the field, and let his falcon hunt grouse. The falcon would dive-bomb and get its talons into the prey, and the dog would retrieve the birds. However, the hunt wasn’t successful that time, and they headed back to the ranch. Tom and Will were just happy to see how fast the falcon flew; they stayed at the ranch for five days.

Later on, Jack moved to the Yaak Valley so he could be nearer to Tom.

Covid-19 pandemic

Due to the restrictions brought on by the pandemic, such as social distancing, Tom had to do everything alone without a friend or an apprentice who could help him. Things were much harder since he’s in his late 70s, but he knew he had to continue working. He set up traps for bobcats, martens, weasels and even wolves, then checked them every day to see if he’d caught anything. He also didn’t go to the ‘Rendezvous’ to sell their work, but brought them to Will’s trading post.

Retirement and moving to Ocala

Tom’s children Chad and Keelie, from his previous marriage to Jan Frazer, wanted him to retire and move to Florida, even before “Mountain Men” started airing. In his 70’s and living in the Yaak River Valley wasn’t easy, from the harsh climate to the wild animals in the area. His son knew the danger and difficulties because he had been going there since he was 15, for Christmas and summer vacations and said, ‘I’ve lived what they are showing. That was just my life growing up.’ He’s worried about his dad.

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Tom and Nancy went to Florida to visit his kids, and Chad took him fishing while Keelie brought the couple to Chad’s workplace; he is a co-owner of Horse Country Carriage Company, which offered horse-drawn carriage service in historic downtown Ocala. Tom’s mom, Mary Jane, was there waiting to see him. He took his mom, Keelie and Nancy on a carriage ride, as Chad had work to do.

The couple later toured a retirement home, and gave it serious consideration. They talked about the time Tom retired from the rodeo as he said, ‘it just isn’t as fun anymore, and if it isn’t fun, then I’m not going to do it.’ Nancy advised him that if he’s feeling that way about their way of life at the Yaak, then it’s time to change.

He knew that moving to Ocala to be near his kids would be a big change, one that would totally change his way of life – trapping, for one, would not be an option.

Look out for all new episodes of #MountainMen coming soon on The @HISTORY Channel pic.twitter.com/QtIzqPUfps

— Mountain Men (@MountainMen) April 23, 2021

He didn’t see himself reading newspapers while sitting on a porch and doing not much else. ‘That doesn’t appeal to me at all. I don’t want that kind of retirement,’ he said. Tom admitted that while Ocala was a pretty place, he would have to find something to do. Nancy, on her part, found the place gorgeous and said, ‘It’s like I’m on a different planet. The flowers and the birds are different. I love being home, but this is certainly a treat.’

According to some reports, Tom has retired, as he and his wife have left Montana, although not exactly when it happened. It was said that although they’d been staying in Florida, it was only during winter. He hasn’t retired, as he continued to do what he loves doing in Montana throughout the rest of the year. He still appeared on the show’s 10^th season in 2021.

A sign outside their house in the Yaak Valley read ‘He is free who lives as he chooses.’ His son had said that his dad has always lived life his way, and that’s the way it would always be. His mom knew that Tom belonged in Montana, and wanted him to be fulfilled in his own way. Tom said, ‘I love being a mountain man…I’ll be a mountain until the day that I die.’ adding, ‘If anybody tries to take it away from me, it’s going to be one hell of a fight.’

Olivia Wilson

As the Freelance Writer at Net Worth Post, I steer producing riveting stories about the lives and triumphs of influencers. With an unwavering commitment to precision and a flair for weaving compelling tales, I guide our content creation, from the depths of research to the pinnacle of narrative excellence. My responsibilities encompass the full spectrum of editorial management, including the meticulous investigation, narrative development, and upholding the integrity and high standard of our output.

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My Lottery Dream Home: Where Are They Now?

Published

25 seconds ago

April 18, 2024

Olivia Wilson

Let’s not kid ourselves – at least once in life, everyone has imagined what it would be like if they won the lottery. While that stays as an unaccomplished dream for many, there are some people whose dream life has actually been achieved with just a lottery ticket.

Though some of those lucky ones spend their newly-acquired fortune on luxuries or founding business, “My Lottery Dream Home” centers around those who want to make their dream of buying an ideal house come true.

Even if it’s not always easy finding a house that fits the winners’ taste, has a good location and is well priced, the show’s appeal and overwhelming success lies in how rewarding the experience turns out in the end.

Nonetheless, it’s impossible not to wonder what happened to those who appeared in the show, and if they’re still living in those properties, or changed their mind afterwards. If you want to know the whereabouts of “My Lottery Dream Home”s participants, then keep with us!

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Table of Contents

Where Are “My Lottery Dream Home”s Guests Now?

Danielle & Pete

For a show that has aired for as long as “My Lottery Dream Home”, it’s not easy to choose which participants are the most memorable ones. However, there’s no doubt the first season’s lottery winners are the ones we remember most dearly, just for the sake of nostalgia.

This is the case of Louisiana couple Danielle and Pete Blakeney, who appeared in the series ninth episode aired back in 2016. Just a year before, the pair had won a $1 million prize, and after taxes, their $700,000 was enough to pursue their dream of buying a vacation home in Alabama.

Although they had pictured themselves living in said area even before winning the lottery, they didn’t jump into buying the property right away. That played out well in the end, as when the Blakeneys were contacted by the show, what they wanted was clearer than ever.

Choosing between three equally gorgeous houses isn’t easy, but for them the right one from the start was always the Beach house, a property they still own nowadays, as they affirmed during a special episode of “My Lottery Dream Home” aired back in 2020. As well, Danielle currently works as a physician, while Pete is still working independently.

Nick Costello

While many simply spend their fortune on luxuries, there are others who use it to ensure themselves and their families a better future. The latter definitely describes Nick Costello, who won the “The Fast Road To $1 Million” prize with only one ticket from a gas station.

After tax reductions, Nick and his then-fianceé Jenna had $650,000 to buy whatever they wanted, but instead of spending it on fanciness as many other 20-something year-olds would have done, Nick took a different route.

My Lottery Dream Home

As seen in their episode of “My Lottery Dream Home”, the Massachusetts couple’s $500,000 budget allowed them to buy a nice, modern-looking Wilmington family house.

However, as Nick admitted in an interview with YouTuber Timothy Schultz, the rest of the money was invested on three other properties which could afford his family a comfortable life for decades to come, allegedly providing them with income of $90,000 a year on average.

After their goal of financial stability was accomplished, Nick and Jenna finally tied the knot in October 2020. They currently live happily together with their two children in their Wilmington home.

Brian and Tuk Kutz

Some dreams come true in unexpected ways, at least that’s how it was for Brian and Tuk Kutz from Coupeville, in Washington.

The ticket that made them winners of the “Game of Life” prize was bought in a gas station by Brian, who was not only a long-time lottery fan, but also loyally watched “My Lottery Dream Home” with his wife. Though he usually scratched his tickets with a lot of mental preparation, the day he won $200,000 he was unusually careless about it.

Knowing the money wasn’t enough to live on for the rest of their lives, the Kutz put the fortune into making their dream of living in a central Whidbey Island house come true. That’s why they sent a request to be cast in “My Lottery Dream Home”, and while they had low hopes of succeeding, thinking that a low-budget property like their future house wouldn’t catch the show’s audience’s attention, but the response was positive, and so was the experience of appearing in their favorite series.

With the help of the host David Bromstad, the Kutzs bought a beautiful Victorian property featured in the show’s seventh season. In 2021, the couple celebrated their 17th marriage anniversary, and though they don’t reveal a lot about themselves on social media, it’s known they still own the property.

Michael Buinicky

Most people don’t win the lottery even once in their life, so winning it twice is an even more unlikely possibility. That is unless your name is Michael Buinicky, the man who is not only one of the few guys in the world who has won two big lottery prizes, but he also did it in less than three weeks.

After spending decades serving in the Army, luck was quick to ring his doorbell following his retirement, with a $100,000 “Mega Millions Quick Pick” prize. As expected, his initial excitement was great, but it was nothing compared to what happened when two weeks later he scratched another winning ticket, which this time contained a $750,000 prize.

Though the dream of buying his own house was almost a reality, Michael preferred to buy his daughter Tiffany a home for her family first. Later on, “My Lottery Dream Home” contacted him after knowing that he was on the lookout for a townhouse in his native North Carolina, close to his daughter’s house in Charlotte.

Though back then when the show aired in 2019 Michael looked pretty pleased with his house, in 2021 he sold the property to move to the Algarve Region in Portugal, giving this story an unexpected but interesting turn.

Nate and Dixie

Can you imagine turning $25 into $10 million? Regardless of how impossible that sounds, it’s exactly what happened to Nathaniel Waldrop, when in 2018 he won a multi-million lottery prize, thanks to a cheap ticket from “World Class Cash”.

After tax deductions and a lot of thinking, Nate and his then-fianceé Dixie ended up appearing in “My Lottery Dream Home” to buy their family the best house ever, something David Bromstad was more than pleased to help them with, as he was looking for his ideal house in the Orlando area as well.

Some of their house’s specifications included it being located near a lake, having several bedrooms and bathrooms, and a pool.

My Lottery Dream Home

With a budget of almost half their initial lottery prize amount, the Waldrops ended up buying a $1,470,000 Orlando house that had everything they dreamed of, and more.

Fast forward to present times, Nate has actually founded his own business Waldrop Investment Group, and works in a local enterprise named Olympus Executive Realty. As well, in 2019 he and Dixie tied the knot after being together for several years.

Although it’s unknown if they still live in the same property featured in the show, it’s nice to know everything looks great for the Waldrop family nowadays.

William Polochak

Despite being a realtor himself, William Polochak actually needed some help to buy his ideal house back in 2016, during the first season of “My Lottery Dream Home”.

William is a sort of lucky guy through and through. While being an already successful business man might have been good enough on its own, winning $9 million with a ticket bought in a convenience store was just the piece which completed the puzzle.

While his “Florida Lotto Jackpot” ticket made him a multi-millionaire, deductions left him with barely over $6,000,000, enough for most people, That didn’t stop him from buying not one but several properties, very true to his business-like mind.

So whatever happened to him? Though William isn’t much into social media, his LinkedIn profile tells us he’s still pretty much active in real estate. Since 2017, he’s been the owner of Fair Realty, a highly successful home-selling business based in Jacksonville. However, it’s unknown if he still owns the properties seen in the show.

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Joe and Rhonda Meath

Money can change everything or nothing at all, which is something Joe and Rhonda Meath from Minnesota know very well.

After winning $11.7 million thanks to “Hot Lotto” in 2015, it was somewhat expected for the couple to just retire right away. However, going against all predictions, the only big change money made to Joe and Rhonda’s life was to move out of their old house.

Knowing they were looking for a new property, and that their newly-acquired status as recent lottery winners meant their budget was quite high, the production staff of “My Lottery Dream Home” didn’t lose time in inviting them to appear in the show.

Despite the unusual invitation to appear in an internationally famous TV show out of nowhere, the Meaths accepted, to be part of that experience described as ‘easy’, ‘friendly’ and ‘accommodating’ by Rhonda.

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While their previous 10-acre property wasn’t bad at all, their new 7,400 square foot mansion set in a 38-acre property was admittedly better.

Nowadays, they still live in the same house, and even managed to retire regardless of their initial reluctance to leave their old jobs. While not much is known about Joe’s everyday occupation, Rhonda is a proud member of the local German Shepherd Dog Club.

Yassannah And Jesus Fernandez

This couple’s story of how they suddenly became multi-millionaires is nothing unusual. As a worker in a Miami-based financial enterprise, Yassannah Fernandez’ life was pretty much normal until 2018, when she scratched a $15 million lottery ticket she bought in a convenience store.

After tax deductions, her money earned thanks to the “Florida Lottery”, was still over $11 million, but it was enough to buy a house and quite a lot of other stuff. However, Yassannah and her husband Jesus didn’t want to go over the top, and with a budget of $700,000, their only request was a house with an open concept, three bedrooms and a pool.

Though choosing between a gorgeous city apartment, a cozy but modern cottage, and a very Floridian-looking family house shouldn’t have been easy, the Fernandez’ choice to buy the house couldn’t have been more perfect-fitting for their family and friends.

So whatever happened to them? Ever since their “Florida Windfall” episode aired in 2019, neither of them have revealed much on their whereabouts. However, judging by some online registers, it’s confirmed Yassannah and Jesus are still living in their North Palm Beach paradise.

What a great show it would be if @bromco could take Matt on a hunt for his dream home on @hgtv 's#MyLotteryDreamHome
(Show has had all kinds of money winners getting help from David finding dream homes.) pic.twitter.com/agJ6OGaZxE

— Stan Kastrava, MSW, LCSW (Ret.) ?‍♂️ (@stantherunner) October 2, 2021

Rick and Lorie

Few things are as important for a show as its first episode, and “My Lottery Dream Home” surely gave us everything with theirs.

Showcasing Rick and Lorie Knudsen from California, the series sold us quite well on the dream of winning the lottery, affording a dream life and buying an amazing mansion with it. At the time, the Knudsens had recently won the “Mega Millions” jackpot of $180 million, but instead of wanting to spend it on nonsense, the humble and hard-working family opted to stay ‘grounded’, despite their fortune.

With the help of David Bromstad and the series, the Knudsens were initially on the lookout for a South Californian home with a price not to surpass their modest $2.5 million budget. However, at the sight of a mega mansion in the mountains they just couldn’t say no, even if its $5,800,000 cost made them doubtful at the start.

https://www.facebook.com/HGTV/photos/a.124250244212/10158475540809213/

Though they bought the property anyway, only a couple of years later they put it up for sale at an impressive price of $26 million. Their sudden move was due to their son Ricky’s heart condition, which required him to ‘move to a lower elevation’. In the end, it’s unknown if the house was actually sold, but in 2019 the family already had plans of moving to a 100-acre ranch in another state.

What Happened To David Bromstad?

If you happened to watch the series throughout the years, you surely know “My Lottery Dream Home”s host David Bromstad has been chasing the house of his dreams for a long time.

As good things come to those who wait, David finally achieved that milestone in his life by buying a beautiful Orlando house, shown in the 2021’s special episode “David’s Dream Home“.

Besides showcasing David’s dream becoming a reality, in 2021 “My Lottery Dream Home” aired on TV with great audience ratings, a very fortunate fact for the show’s audience who want to keep on seeing people living the dream for years to come.

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The Untold Truth About “Hidden Potential”: Where Is It Filmed?

Published

27 seconds ago

April 18, 2024

Olivia Wilson

“Hidden Potential” is admittedly everything we want from a home renovation show. While series of this genre usually give us a lot of inspiration and ideas, what makes “Hidden Potential” different from those is how much emphasis is put on the originality of every design featured in it.

Everyone who has ever been involved with a renovation project knows well that sometimes uniqueness is forgotten for the sake of utility. However, if there’s something “Hidden Potential”s host Jasmine Roth has taught us well, it’s that there’s nothing more valuable than building and creating things by ourselves, to suit ourselves.

Needless to say, “Hidden Potential”s huge popularity over two seasons has prompted its audience’s need to get to know more about Jasmine, the show, and whatever happens when cameras are off.

So you want to know the secrets behind “Hidden Potential”? Stay with us to discover them!

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Table of Contents

Its Filming Location It’s Not Hard To Guess

If you’ve been following reality TV for a while, you surely know that no matter how genuine or real some things might look, this genre often manages to deceive us.

However, if you expect the same treatment from “Hidden Potential”, then you’d be pleasantly disappointed. If you pay attention to the show, it’s not hard to notice most houses renovated in it are located in California, specifically in Huntington Beach. This is convenient for both the HGTV’s filming staff, and for Jasmine Roth who lives near the area.

This probably sounds disheartening if you’re living far away from California, but while it’s uncertain if “Hidden Potential” will ever venture to renovate in other areas or cities, those who really wish to have Jasmine’s designs in their houses can make it a reality by contracting her Built Customs Homes business directly.

Filming Times Are Unexpectedly Long

If there’s something we need to keep in mind about the entertainment industry, it’s that everything we see on our TV screens usually takes a long while to produce and for the filming to become a reality.

“Hidden Potential” is no an exception to this rule, especially given that the show’s concept centers around renovations which could take long weeks of work to complete. As Jasmine affirmed during an interview with House Beautiful, an entire season of “Hidden Potential” takes on average six months to be completely filmed and edited, meaning she and the staff usually work 12 hours a day, six days a week during that period.

Considering the work schedule is already tiresome, it could actually have been worse. Before its main concept was decided, HGTV had thought that centering the show’s premise on building and designing beach houses was the way to go.

However, after knowing one of those projects usually takes Jasmine several months of work to complete, they focused the series’ on city houses instead.

Jasmine’s First Built

Every great adventure has to start somewhere, right? Sometimes people only discover what they want to do in life well into their adulthood, while in other cases, said knowledge comes when they’re still children.

In the case of Jasmine Roth, she actually tried her luck in many other fields before finding her place in construction and design. However, growing up with a carpenter father most likely influenced her career choice later in life.

As a born and raised Virginia native, Jasmine admits that not having a lot to do during her childhood resulted in her putting her hands to several crafting and building projects back then. Interestingly enough, between making furniture and playhouses in her parents’ garage, Jasmine’s first build was actually a treehouse, with her father’s help.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUaqQPMPgg8/

What Inspires Every Project

Any good designer has many ideas that only come to life through customer needs. While having fresh projects and suggestions available is obviously an advantage, it takes more than creativity to accurately cater to people’s real wishes.

Of course, Jasmine Roth has the creative mind and will to make the best designs come true, but she also has her way with people. Every project inherently requires her to understand customers’ needs, in order to meet or even surpass their expectations with her work.

As easy as that sounds, sometimes not even homeowners know what they really want. That’s when Jasmine’s best deductive tactics come into play, successfully ‘picking their brains’ and helping them to ‘unstick themselves’ to find out what their end result should be.

Jasmine’s First Job

While looking at Jasmine Roth’s gorgeous designs, and seeing her working to guide every project to complexion, it’s hard to imagine a time when she didn’t do this.

However, before finally realizing that design was the way to go for her, Jasmine worked in fields hugely unrelated to what she does today. Unexpectedly, her first real job was as a gym instructor at 15 years old.

Though it’s unknown how she ended up working there, or even if she was qualified for it, the job’s requirements only consisted in teaching the female gym’s customers how to use the machines and tools. While not an ideal work position, it was all about ‘making them feel comfortable’, a skill which admittedly served her later in her future career.

Hidden Potential

There Was A Series With The Same Name

If you’re a recent fan of home improvement TV, you might be surprised to find out that long before the “Hidden Potential” series hosted by Jasmine Roth existed, HGTV had already premiered a show with the same name, but with a different concept.

Hosted by Barry Wood and Peggy Bunker, the old “Hidden Potential” centered around people on the lookout for a new house. Every time they visited a house, the show’s staff would encourage them to recognise the property’s potential to become their dream house, with computer-sourced designs.

Of course, its whole technological factor was the show’s main attraction, as no actual renovations actually happened.

The old “Hidden Potential” premiered in 2006 and aired for three years – while Barry and Peggy hadn’t been very active on TV since then, Peggy’s replacement as host, Brandie Malay is still actively working in real estate, in addition to appearing in several other TV shows such as “Property Envy” and CNN News.

Jasmine Was Discovered With Instagram

To make dreams come true, talent sometimes isn’t enough and a bit of luck is needed. For Jasmine, remodeling houses was something she found herself needing to. However, after discovering she loved it, and was pretty good at building and construction, she slowly took it as her business. Nonetheless, it was obvious she couldn’t just build an entire city by herself, so instead of trying to expand a big company all over the country, she started sharing her knowledge on social media, with the goal of not only helping other people to build their own homes, but inspiring women with the same interest to form an online community.

All in all, Instagram served as the right platform for Jasmine to accomplish her dream. Though she didn’t expect her popularity to grow so fast that HGTV would discover and eventually propose her to host “Hidden Potential”. Funnily enough, when she was first contacted by the network, she naturally thought it was just a joke.

Her First Home

While Jasmine built many things during her early years, including her famous treehouse, or a little shelter for dogs, the real challenge to build her forever home took a long time to come.

It all goes back to her college days, when she met her then-future husband Brett, and after taking a while to get together, they eventually married and set themselves the goal of building their own house in Huntington.

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Unfortunately, that dream was put on hold for years due to their busy careers. At some point, the couple set their project in motion, but it was going just too exasperatedly slowly that it pushed Jasmine to quit her job to build the house herself.

It wasn’t an easy way, though. Going from someone who just wanted to have her family’s house looking the way she wanted, to eventually being skillful enough to make it a reality by herself took its time. As Jasmine admits, in order to learn she ‘had to humble’ herself and admit she knew nothing about it. If a lot of patience and compromise is added to that formula, then it’s understandable why Jasmine turned out to be so successful at it.

Jasmine’s Totally An Entrepreneur

Jasmine’s career in construction and design started as a personal brand on her Instagram.

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However, as her popularity grew and finally took a high jump after her TV debut, her business expanded as a result.

Having studied entrepreneurship in Boston’s Northeastern University, Jasmine’s background career should have been enough to set her path into founding her business right away. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and from 2006 to 2012, Jasmine had several jobs in financial and real estate companies. None of those jobs fitted her wish for creativity and craft, eventually leading her to found her design firm, Built Custom Homes in 2012.

Set mainly as a beach house construction company, Built Custom Homes’ goals included helping their California-based customers in every step of the process of building and decorating their ideal homes. More recently founded, The Shop by Jasmine Roth is an online retailing project curated by herself. The Shop’s goal is to allow those who favor Jasmine’s design choices and taste, to buy articles she finds fitting to her aesthetic views.

What It Takes To Be In The Show

As a very popular home improvement star, it’s only expected that many people want their house to be renewed or built altogether by Jasmine Roth, whether it’s in “Hidden Potential” or in her other show – “HELP! I Wrecked My House”.

Unfortunately, just wishing to appear on TV isn’t enough, as most requests sent to HGTV are rejected. Knowing this brings out too many questions, Jasmine took it upon herself to explain what the selection process to appear in “Hidden Potential” and other HGTV’s shows entails.

For starters, the main requirement for applicants is to be located in an area close to where their target show films. This is both to ensure the staff is comfortable enough during filming, in addition to make the production process less time-consuming.

The second most important requirement is the project’s complexity.

If a renovation causes a big impact visually, but takes too long to be completed, the application will most-likely be rejected. In this regard, budgets for projects don’t usually play a big role in the selection process, as much as the aforementioned factors.

There’s A Blog Backing The Show

More than just a show, “Hidden Potential” is basically only one aspect of what Jasmine Roth does for a living. As her compromise with her profession goes beyond TV, she pays special attention to giving her audience the necessary knowledge to do things by themselves, in the best way possible.

It’s due to this, that her online blog has a “Sourcebook” section which explains in minute detail each episode’s project, including the articles used in it, her inspiration drafts, and the creation process’ details.

All of these resources are pretty valuable, especially for those who want to follow her steps in the design world, or are simply interested in certain items they see on TV.

Hidden Potential

Either way, it all comes down to how to compromise with what Jasmine does.

Who Pays For It?

One of the most common questions about home improvement shows is – where does the money comes from? Sometimes, shows provide its participants with financial resources to execute said projects, but in the case of “Hidden Potential” it’s not like that.

As Jasmine stated in the Question and Answers section of her website, homeowners pay completely for the renovations done to their houses. Though it’s also known that certain homewares are provided by local businesses and designers, for marketing purposes, it’s not known how much this actually positively affects the final budget.

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The Show’s Ratings Are Impressive

Though it’s not common for new shows with unknown hosts to be so successful, for “Hidden Potential” it turned out differently.

Maybe it’s Jasmine’s charismatic personality, her designs or simply the show’s concept that ended up attracting a big audience. Whatever it was, it wasn’t surprising when HGTV affirmed that “Hidden Potential” had 10,8 million viewers during its first season, premiered in July 2018.

For achieving such huge popularity, it wasn’t surprising to see “Hidden Potential” renewed the following year. Nonetheless, while the third season hasn’t come yet, and there are no records of how popular the second season actually was, there’s no doubt that the show won the hearts of many people in record time.