When the real-estate bubble burst, it took down more than housing prices. For house-flipper Jeff Lewis, it meant reworking his business model.
This season, the reality show “Flipping Out” is back to follow the entrepreneurial adventures of out real-estate investor Jeff Lewis.
When we left Lewis and company last season, Lewis, who for the first two seasons had been making a pretty penny flipping high-end houses in Southern California, had to face the fact that the economy wasn’t going to be helping him unload million-dollar houses like it used to. So he decided to branch out into his own design business.
This new season finds Lewis — whose obsessive-compulsive disorder and other personality quirks have long been a source of guilty pleasure for viewers and somewhat of a bane to the people who work for him, like longtime assistant and newly promoted chief operations officer Jenni Pulos — in full swing.
“Things are a little better for my business,” he said. “I think the main thing is that, last year, we were concerned about drumming up business. I was certainly concerned about money and that was the underlying stress of last season. This season is a little different. It’s kind of the opposite. It’s not that I have so much money but it’s that I have a lot of work coming in. I want to take on as much as I can but we’re a small office and we can only take on so much. It’s another problem, but it’s a better problem to have.”
After four seasons, Lewis is well aware of how he comes across on screen, but he insists that he’s understood.
“I think there are a lot of different sides and facets to my personality. We see a lot of one side of me. It certainly would be nice to see more of the softer side because there is a softer side once in a while. I don’t know if I’m necessarily misunderstood. I just think I’m a certain personality during that day. That’s when we do most of our filming. So we’re filming between 9 and 6 every day. I think that I’m very different outside of work and on weekends. Wouldn’t you say, Jenni?”
“Um … [hesitates] … yeah,” said Pulos.
“That didn’t sound too convincing,” Lewis replied.
“You’re an intense person at work but that’s just the deal,” Pulos added. “There is another side. What we saw is from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are other sides to him. You see that this season actually with Zoila [Chavez, Lewis’ full-time housekeeper]. There’s definitely moments. What I will say is that you are as intense as you are. I think sometimes people think it’s turned up for the camera. You are that intense. I’ve known you for a long time. But that’s also why you’re the best at what you do. When he’s in work mode, he’s in work mode. He’s definitely a perfectionist and wants things done a certain way. That’s when the conflict comes, when he’s feeling like it’s not done the way he wants it to be done.”
Both Lewis and Pulos admitted that Lewis had to rein in his personality a bit when he shifted his focus from flipping houses to design.
“When you are working for yourself there’s a certain amount of flexibility,” Pulos said. “And now that doesn’t exist. There’s a new set of drama and interesting twists this season.”
“Also, we have a lot to do in a very short amount of time,” Lewis chimed in. “Remember that now we’re on the client’s business. We’ve got people breathing down our necks wanting to move back into their homes. A lot of times, there are construction delays that have nothing to do with us that are completely out of our control. These clients get upset. I’ve certainly been humbled because we eat a lot of shit now where we didn’t have to before. When you work with clients, you have to put up with a lot and I have to bite my tongue. But I feel I know where people are coming from a little better now.”
Pulos added that she has noticed how much Lewis has changed since the show began.
“I think that Jeff has a few more grays,” she said. “He’s changed a lot. His business has completely changed. The people that really watch our show watch our show. We have our niche and that’s because they’ve seen Jeff’s journey. Season one, he was flipping and I’ve known him so long and seen the dramatic change in his business. He’s had to adjust. I also think he looked at himself and said I don’t like a lot of my behavior. I don’t like how I go into a blind rage. I don’t like the certain things I do. For him, I think it was therapy. Now we’re at 30 hours total of his life. It’s odd. When you see your life edited into this package, I think he has changed a lot. I think having to deal with clients more and having this booming design business has helped more with relationships, dealing with different personalities and learning not to have outbursts.”
On the one hand, the show gives Lewis an advantage of heightened visibility in the field of design, but it also has the added bonus (or detriment) of people knowing his personality before they even meet him. Lewis explained that the benefits of having his own TV show outweigh any negative effects the show might have on his business.
“I think that there are certain people that believe that once you have a reality show, you lose credibility. But I think in my case we have a good following and there are people that believe in my work ethic and my talent, and my business has grown as a result. I really can’t be concerned about people who criticize. I’ve gotten very used to … Let’s be honest, I get a lot of negative criticism, let’s be honest, with the press and the blogs. I think the reason I handle it so well is because I was born into a world of criticism. I think that for me, I’m a little more resilient than most people. That being said, everybody wants to be liked and every now and again there’s some biting criticism that will actually sting a bit, but I just try to move forward and stay focused.”
When it comes to relationships outside of work, both Lewis and Pulos agree they’d rather keep that aspect of their lives off the show.
“I went through a divorce in season two,” Pulos said. “So now, last year, I was joking about my dating life. Now I’m with someone and we both chose that he not appear on the show. So I was done with that side of it.”
“She didn’t want to get dumped again on camera,” Lewis teased.
“You’re so sensitive today,” Pulos shot back. “Yeah, I guess that’s what it was. I respect this person that I’m dating immensely and whatever happens will be meant to be, but I don’t want to put him on the show.”
“And he’s a doctor, so we don’t want to screw this up,” Lewis said.
“My mom is real happy. Let’s put it that way,” Pulos replied.
Unlike Pulos, Lewis chose not to have his relationship play out on screen from the beginning.
“I’m dating someone also. But when we first started the show, I had been in a relationship for about four years and this person did not want to be on camera at all. That established the whole structure of the show and it ended up being almost exclusively about my business life, which is the majority of my life anyway. The people that surround me are my employees and that’s kind of my family. When the other relationship ended and the new one began, it kind of felt like the show had already been established, and I don’t think that this person wants to be on television either. I think that it would be a red flag to me if somebody did want to be on the show because people, as I have found out, will date you for the wrong reasons.”
So there you have it. Jeff Lewis is a happy, successful and changed man. But before we believe there isn’t much left of the old Jeff, we leave you with this quote:
“I think I have an inflated sense of self and I think someone poked a pin in me. Sometimes I feel a little beaten down and beaten up, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for me in the long run. Even though I hate working so hard for my money now. Because I work really hard. I work three times as hard for half the money and I’m tired.”
Poor baby.
“Flipping Out” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo. For more information on Lewis, visit www.jefflewisdesign.com.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].