Joanna Gaines' mother is her most ardent supporter.
The Magnolia Network CEO told TODAY hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie that her mother cried when she learned she and husband Chip Gaines were going to the White House for a state dinner.
"My mother found out that we were going — I mean, she cried immediately," Joanna, 45, said on the show Tuesday.
"She was like, 'I would never have thought that my daughter would meet the Korean president,'" she added. "It was a great honour." It was definitely a dream."
Joanna, who is part Korean on her mother's side, went on to describe a recent journey she took with family members to Seoul, where she was able to honour her heritage.
"[It was] just this full-circle moment of understanding where my mother was from, walking the same street she walked," the home-goods tycoon explained.
"It kind of completed something in me, and it's even hard to explain, but it was so special for our family to all be there with my parents," Joanna said. "That's where [my parents] first met in 1971."
"So just all of the stories, everything about it, was definitely a trip of a lifetime," she continued.
Joanna published a series of images on Instagram last week from her evening at the White House, when President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee.
She displayed images of herself and her husband posing outside the White House, as well as selfies taken within the event. Chip, 48, harmonised in a slick black suit and tie, while she donned a floor-length, asymmetrical off-the-shoulder gown.
"What an honour it was to be a part of tonight's State Dinner to celebrate the 70-year alliance between the United States of America and my mother's home country of South Korea," Joanna captioned the photo.
"Coming off the heels of our incredible trip to Seoul, this evening was another reminder of just how proud I am to be a Korean American🇺🇸🇰🇷❤️," she added.
