Sabrina Soto from HGTV talks w/ Mark & Theresa
Mark: Hi Sabrina, welcome to MyFixitUpLife.
Sabrina: Hi, thank you very much for having me.
Theresa: And I’m jealous of your boots.
Sabrina: Oh thanks, they’re new. I usually don’t wear boots on these sites and I learned my lesson. Now third episode.
Theresa: Yeah, they’re definitely a hot pair of boots. And I’m jealous because I’ve got old ones.
Sabrina: Yeah they’ll look like that by the end of this week.
Mark: Now did you wear heels on the first ones?
Sabrina: I wore inappropriate shoes.
Mark: So you sunk in four inches?
Sabrina: I ruined the shoes and looked like an idiot…so I learned my lesson.
Theresa: We’re talking to Sabrina Soto and you can check her out online — sabrinasoto.com. Or you can follow her on Twitter, we do @SabrinaSoto. And you’ve probably seen her on HGTV because you’re on well everything. You’re on ‘HGTVed’, ‘The High Low Project,’ and you’ve guested on lots of other shows too.
Sabrina: ‘Get it Sold,’ ‘Real Estate Intervention,’ and ‘The Green Home.’
Mark: It might be easier, Sabrina, to list the shows you’re not on.
Theresa: Oh and if that’s not enough, and you aren’t an HGTV fan, she also is on commercials for Target, too. So you have seen her lovely face on many, many stations.
Sabrina: Lots of fun stuff, lots of fun projects.
Theresa: Yes, and how do you juggle that? Working for Target, working for all of these other TV shows, and then being on Extreme Makeover too?
Sabrina: I have no life.
Mark: Oh cool.
Sabrina: All of my plans are dead. No, it’s fun. For me this isn’t work, it is fun. Being about to build these homes on this capacity — I never dreamt in a million years I’d be able to have this opportunity, so it’s fun. And you know, obviously you guys love your job so it keeps you going. It doesn’t feel like work or a burden.
Theresa: Now this is your third project?
Sabrina: Right.
Theresa: What is it like for you to meet the family and to hear their story for the first time?
Sabrina: Do you know the family from this week?
Mark: Just the basics.
Sabrina: They are amazing. Dale, who runs a soup kitchen, I think she is one of the most angelic people I’ve ever met in my entire life.
Mark: Angelic? Wow.
Sabrina: Yes, she is. She gives and gives and gives to the community and to the homeless people in the neighborhood so much. She’ll get a gift for herself and give it away the next day. There aren’t many people in the world that would do that.
Theresa: No, unless you don’t like the gift that you’re given and then you re-gift it. But no, that is amazing. So has anyone cried yet?
Sabrina: On this episode? Yes, Michael cries, but Michael always cries. I mean you can’t help but get teary when you hear these families’ stories. It’s a very emotional show, but what’s so fun is it’s emotional but you get to be creative as well. So it’s a nice balance.
Mark: Now do you get to meet the family and then just go back and ponder for a few minutes and be like ‘Boom this is it, this is what I’m doing for them.’
Sabrina: We have time. Usually we meet the family in the morning, and that evening — like last night we all were in one big room and got our entire design plan together.
Theresa: That is absolutely amazing. And while you’re doing that, they’re putting in the walls for the house in the middle of the night.
Sabrina: Right.
Mark: And the opposite, kind of totally rough excavators and bulldozers and concrete is happening here. It’s an incredible dichotomy.
Theresa: We were here last night watching it all happen and it was really hard for us to leave, it’s amazing.
Sabrina: It blows my mind how much work these guys get done. Every morning when I come back to set I have to stop and go ‘What happened? I can’t believe that this is already up.’
Mark: Yeah where did that 150-foot-long stack of lumber go?
Sabrina: Yeah, where have you been all my life? I need this back on HGTV too.
Mark: That’s right, that’s right.
Sabrina: We don’t get this help.
Theresa: So you’re also doing ‘HGTVed,’ so how’s that been?
Sabrina: That’s fun. It’s sort of like this but on a smaller scale, where it’s a huge makeover, these soft of extreme rooms, which is a lot different than any other HGTV show I’ve done. So that’s fun — I built a coffee house in somebody’s house.
Theresa: Really?
Mark: Espresso machine and the whole thing?
Sabrina: It was a commercial coffee bar inside somebody’s living room.
Mark: Did it come with a barista?
Sabrina: Um, that was me. Ha ha. And I was only there for a day.
Mark: Are you a coffee drinker?
Sabrina: I am.
Mark: Are you an espresso drinker?
Sabrina: Yes, well I’m Cuban so of course.
Mark: So you don’t call it ‘Ex-presso,’ just so we’re all on the same page.
Sabrina: No. Ha ha.
Mark: Yeah, just wanted to clear that air.
Theresa: Now ‘The High Low Project’ that’s on HGTV, has it started airing?
Sabrina: They did a sneak peak but it’ll start airing on September 3rd.
Theresa: Okay, so explain it to me. Explain the whole high/low…what is the gist of that?
Sabrina: I meet a client and they explain to me what their dream room would be if they won the lottery. So after I meet with them, I install that dream room. It could cost $75,000. The couple walks in, and if they love it I take everything back out — because I’ve borrowed it, and recreate that same look for whatever they can afford. Sometimes their budget is $2800 and sometimes it’s $5000.
Theresa: Now that is amazing.
Sabrina: It’s a lot of work. It’s crazy.
Mark: So you’re really doing two rooms?
Sabrina: Yeah I’m doing two rooms. One, everything is borrowed from all of my friends and sources in New York.
Theresa: It’s like ‘The Look for Less’ that whole thing.
Sabrina: Yes, exactly.
Theresa: I love that.
Sabrina: It’s a lot of work but it’s fun.
Theresa: You don’t know what that is…he’s looking at me like ‘I don’t know what that is.’
Sabrina: Remember the one from the Style Network with Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Theresa: Yes.
Mark: Look at me. Do you think Style Network?
Sabrina: It was a cute show.
Theresa: So Target, tell me about Target.
Sabrina: I love working with them. I’ve been a huge Target fan all of my life. When I found out that I got the job I actually started hysterically crying on the train because it’s just a dream come true. So it’s fun I get to do commercials, and webisodes, and curate their catalogues — it has just been a dream come true.
Theresa: Now are you out there like arm wrestling with Ty because he’s got the whole Sears thing going and you’ve got the whole Target thing.
Sabrina: I’m not a competitive person.
Theresa: In video village you’re like ‘My stuff’s better.’
Sabrina: No, never. We haven’t had that conversation yet.
Mark: You know what that means? Celebrity death match battle.
Theresa: There is a celebrity house wears death match going on in video village.
Mark: Ty those glasses just didn’t work.
Theresa: Seriously have you seen mine?
Sabrina: We should put that together sometime.
Theresa: Like Pepsi vs. Coke.
Sabrina: I’m new so I’m just keeping a low profile.
Mark: Good for you.
Sabrina: I don’t want to start trouble just yet.
Mark: Are you enjoying the chaotic schedule? All of a sudden you’re on and you’re out here, and it’s lovely today, but it might be 100 degrees tomorrow, and then you’re off again.
Sabrina: This weather is amazing compared to North Carolina which was my first shoot and it was over 100 degrees and the humidity was 80%. I actually collapsed on set.
Mark: No way. Did the EMTs go over there and everything?
Sabrina: Oh yeah, it was awful.
Theresa: Was that the day Michelle Obama was there?
Sabrina: Yes.
Theresa: She was there too?
Sabrina: It was the day before she got there, but her people were there. It was the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me at work.
Theresa: Well I would call that dedication.
Sabrina: Um or newbie. Ha ha.
Mark: Now what part of the country are you from originally?
Sabrina: I grew up in California but I live in New York City now.
Mark: Oh okay so you’re used to the dry desert kind of? Not North Carolina which is like you can literally chain saw through the air.
Sabrina: Right. And being on a site and being in the sun.
Theresa: And in the middle of summer.
Sabrina: And having boots on, yeah…it was hard.
Mark: Had boots on for that one.
Sabrina: So now, I just don’t go anywhere without my water. I’m starting to learn.
Mark: And you look terrific so you must be taking care of yourself at some point?
Sabrina: We eat well here. Michael and I were just eating when I got pulled to here. That’s all we do is eat.
Mark: Salads?
Sabrina: No.
Theresa: Have you tried the clam chowder? I heard there’s homemade clam chowder over there.
Sabrina: I didn’t see any clam chowder…I’m gonna go look for it.
Theresa: That’s what I’m kind of fixated on. Half my brain is over there going ‘Clam chowder, clam chowder.’
Sabrina: I’ll find it for you and bring it to you.
Mark: She came all the way over here to talk to us and you’re thinking about clam chowder?
Sabrina: It’s fine I won’t take it personally.
Theresa: You know how I am. I’m like ‘I love your boots, clam chowder, High Low Project, Target’ you know. And you’re gorgeous.
Mark: Now all I can think about is I’m from Massachusetts and its ‘chowda.’
Sabrina: Yeah but they don’t like when you say that. I was there and it wasn’t well received.
Mark: Oh maybe you didn’t carry it off so well.
Sabrina: Maybe.
Mark: It’s one of those things were if you don’t get it quite right then they get all uppity in your stuff.
Theresa: Well Mark grew up in Cape Cod so he can say it.
Mark: Oh yeah. I had ten boats. I took one boat to get to my other boat to get to the bigger one that we had.
Sabrina: Nice, keep going.
Mark: And then there were sweaters. I had a lot of sweaters wrapped around my neck.
Theresa: He had like 45 sweaters wrapped around.
Mark: You know what, I did work Marine construction though, that’s where I got my start building. And we had a little boat that we drove around. My office was literally the ocean.
Theresa: And in the winter doing Marine construction.
Mark: Tough job.
Sabrina: Yeah that doesn’t sound so fun like this. Have you guys even gotten dirty yet on the site?
Theresa: We’ve walked around.
Mark: The bottoms of our shoes.
Theresa: Yeah we haven’t actually done anything yet. But we were invited to help so we’re getting excited that we can go back there.
Sabrina: Are you going to be here all week?
Theresa: We are.
Sabrina: Oh so you’re going to be able to see the house done.
Theresa: Well…
Mark: Almost, almost. The timing doesn’t work out exactly.
Theresa: But the timing does work out for us to have to take a break.
Mark: Killing me!
Theresa: But we’ll be back in just a minute with more MyFixitUpLife.
Check out the MyFixitUpLife talk show that features this interview with Sabrina Soto.
