‘Married to Real Estate’: Egypt Sherrod & Mike Jackson Open Up About Intense Season 4

Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson are back to help more folks in the greater Atlanta area for Season 4 of Married to Real Estate. The pair are a one-stop shop with Egypt, real estate broker and designer, and Mike, an expert builder. Together they’ll once again take the journey with their clients, whether it’s purchasing a property and then transforming it based on feedback or bringing additional value to a current house. Along with bringing eye-catching designs and seeing visions realized, the HGTV power couple look to stay within budget. 

The dynamic duo also return to Clark Atlanta University for renovation of campus spaces. If that weren’t enough, Egypt and Mike have a property business to run and daughters to raise. During the premiere the two work with a husband and wife from New York City who are making a big move from a tiny apartment to their first home. 

Before the March 12 premiere on HGTV, we checked in with the popular network personalities to preview what’s to come. 

HGTV

With this being Women’s History Month, I wanted to congratulate you,  Egypt, on winning the Vanguard Award at the BronzeLens Women SuperStars Awards. 

Egypt Sherrod: Thank you so much! It was such an honor and a privilege. The BronzLens is an organization I dedicated my time to in the past. Mike and I, several years ago when we first moved to Atlanta 13 years ago, I was a volunteer and then hosted one year and gave honors to other women. Fast forward 13 years later they are honoring me. It was surreal, but I’m full of gratitude. 

What is it like for you to showcase what Atlanta has to offer through your show beyond what we normally think of from the big city? 

Egypt: Mike and I have been through the North. We were in New York before we moved to Atlanta with our entire family. It’s rediscovering the city again. For the very reason we opted to move here was the incredible balance it offered. You could feel like you were on vacation in some parts of Atlanta, but you can be right in the middle of the metropolis. The restaurants, the lifestyle, parks, things to see. There is so much to offer in the city. So to be able to be essentially an ambassador for the community is wonderful. Except, now when we see people out and about due to the traffic, they are like stop telling folks about Atlanta. They want to stand on I-285 saying, “We’re full” because of the traffic. 

Mike Jackson. It’s very gratifying, but it comes with a feeling of responsibility because you don’t want to showcase the areas the wrong way. You don’t want to give the wrong information. I enjoy it. I truly do. 

HGTV

How would you describe your working dynamic and how it may have evolved over the years? 

Egypt: The way the show started in the first place was Mike filming us in our home working from our kitchen counter. I think a lot of small businesses, mom and pops, can relate to exactly that. You have to work wherever, but getting it done at a high level. It was time to level up to have a consumer and customer-facing presence and really be able to scale our business. We were strong on our own with our respective businesses, but we’re much stronger together. We’ve been able to create something pretty spectacular and evolve with that. We actually have an office family and culture. For me, it’s a long time coming to get to this point, but I’m glad we made it. 

What were the projects this season you’d say tested you the most? 

Mike: This season we return to CAU. It was exciting, but it was challenging as well because we had a small time limit. They wanted a space done in three weeks while we were still doing our other projects. So, it was a lot of 4 a.m. mornings, 24-hour days and it got intense. That will be interesting for viewers to see. 

How has it been continuing to work with this university? 

Egypt: I think every contractor, builder or designer’s dream is that a client is so happy with you they keep calling you back. Initially, we thought it was a one-off because they received a sizable donation specifically from the men’s locker room. When we got another call this season, it was purpose-filled in that they had got such an incredible response from even being on our show. They said their registrations for that school year had almost doubled, which wow. They also had a sincere purpose. When we walked into the space they wanted us to work on, and you’ll see this season, we saw why it needed to be renovated. With that said, it’s a very large school. As many colleges and universities across the country, things can get dated over time. We’re just grateful for the call and will be there as many times as they call. 

What can you say about the couples we’re going to meet this season? 

Mike: Starting with the couple from New York City, we enjoyed helping them because we could relate to them. I’m from New York and my wife from Philly, so both from up North. We could understand what they were going through. We’ve experienced it. We understand how far money can go or couldn’t go. We understand there were tight spaces in New York City, so it was fun. Then we also have other couples we help as well, so it’s a plethora and variety this season. 

Egypt: We’re also doing two of my best friends’ houses. I think that is fun because how we deal with our friends with their renovation is a lot different than our typical clients. It helps peel back the layers for the viewers to know us in our tribe even more. 

What about your own house? Is there more work to come? 

Egypt: Not this season. Mike told me to sit it out for a while [laughs]. We added on to our house when we decided to stay here. As seen on the show, we built an additional garage and living space. After that, Mike said he was done. 

Mike: This season you do see my wife trying to get me to do more stuff around the house, and I’ll leave it at that. 

You also have children somehow to raise. 

Egypt: Kendall is 12 about to be 13, Harper is 5 about to be 6. They are developing their own personalities and developing through their extracurricular activities. They are really starting to have their own lives and narratives. You see how we navigate that. You also see how kids can manipulate their parents and play Mike and I against each other sometimes. Harper is a tot and only a few months old since everyone saw her, so she is about to go into first grade. You see so many benchmarks. With Kendall, she decided she wants to model now. Oh my goodness. What does that look like? We helped her launch her little modeling career. It’s this thing families in general go through. I think everyone will see themselves through us. 

HGTV

The diversity in HGTV continues to grow. How is it for you to be a part of that and see it reflected within the industry as well? 

Mike: We’re honored. The network has told us on several occasions to be us. We’re at this point the only black family on the network. We don’t toot our own horn  because of that. We just show up and be who we are. We get a lot of people who approach us and appreciate the fact they see themselves in us and in this show and on the network. That is across the board, despite ethnicities. We don’t take it lightly. 

Any couples you’ve leaned on over the years and been that support for you? 

Egypt: We’ve gotten to know so many through the competition shows. Everyone is usually off in their own cities, so it can be hard to meet. When we’ve gotten together for Rock the Block or Battle on the Mountain, you finally get to meet them. Brian and Mika [Kleinschmidt] are friends are ours. They have a daughter and navigating through that as well in their own way. We stay in tough with them. We laugh and pick at them and poke fun at each other on social media as well. We really think the Baeumlers are super talented. I keep in touch with Sarah. Keith [Bynum] and Evan [Thomas] out of Detroit are a wonderful couple and super talented. We all have our own story. More than anything, what everyone says is we’re just trying to keep a sense of normalcy and stay grounded. None of us really look at ourselves as celebrities. I think maybe that’s the cool part because life still feels normal wherever we are. 

Egypt, you have a background in TV and radio and entertainment. Is there anything you want to do that you haven’t? We’ve seen others within the HGTV universe do children’s books, movies, branded lines? 

Egypt: It’s interesting you ask. One of my biggest goals over the years was launch my own furniture and textile line. I’ve wanted to do that for more than a decade. This May I’m going to be in JC Penny, Kohl’s, and Wayfair through Indigo Road. I’m super excited about that. Mike and I, yes we have things we want to do together, but we’d rather do them and then talk about it. So, then it doesn’t become, “Hey, what happened to that thing you said you were going to do.” I launched my nonprofit dedicated to helping women in business and providing resources, community, coaching, mentorship. I’m super excited about that as well. 

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What are your hopes for the future of the show and beyond? Are there any projects you’d like to tackle we haven’t seen from you both yet? 

Mike: I wouldn’t say we haven’t done this yet, but the audience hasn’t seen it yet. It would be pretty cool to take on a restaurant from start to finish. To see that come to life, so people can see we are just not good in the residential space but the full-on commercial aspect of things. It would be good to revisit the podcast again. The “Married to Money” podcast we had. It has been a while since our audience has seen that. 

Do you want to venture out of Atlanta for the show? 

Egypt: We’re heading on a family vacation as soon as the show premieres. We’re going to explore. We’re talking about maybe even living overseas for a while. Just to have more experiences. Experience over materials is our motto with our kids. We just want them to be able to see the world. Time will tell. Let me just say that. 

Married to Real Estate, Season 4 premiere, March 12, 8/7c, HGTV