The Real Reason HGTV's Galey Alix Loves Renovating Houses

In April 2023, Galey Alix made her HGTV debut as host of "Home in a Heartbeat." On the series, the Florida native takes over a family's residence for the weekend, delivering a total home makeover within 72 hours. While she's definitely established herself as a competent renovator and designer, Alix has admitted that these aren't the things that fuel her.

"Design isn't my passion," she told Business Insider. "It's just the emotional high that I get out of it." The DIY designer began redesigning client homes after her personal renovations went viral online, with the projects becoming a part of Alix's ongoing mental health journey. Relegating the remodels to the weekends allowed Alix to maintain her full-time job as a Wall Street executive, but the quick-paced surprises have become a key part of her brand and a source of major joy.

"When you see [clients] walk into their house with their eyes closed and then they open their eyes, and the reaction is amazing," she said on "Today with Hoda & Jenna." "There's something so invigorating about knowing that something you just did made somebody's life better." It turns out that this joy was enough for Alix to make an entire home-renovating career out of it.

Galey Alix was balancing her home makeover projects with her full-time job when she started "Home in a Heartbeat," but she has since decided to leave her Wall Street role. The self-taught designer worked for Goldman Sachs for 13 years, leaving her position as vice president and regional director of the Asset & Wealth Management department in 2023. The HGTV star opened up to Goldman Sachs Alumni Network about her departure, explaining that she was ready to channel all of her energy into renovating houses for her clients.

"The deciding factor was thinking about the happy tears I've had the incredible fortune of witnessing on my reveal days," Alix said. "Surprising a deserving family with their dream home allows my team and I to experience that euphoric feeling with them. I would likely never be able to replicate these feelings in any other career, and this is ultimately what determined my pivot." Leaving a company that she worked with for over a decade wasn't an easy decision for the interior designer, but it definitely demonstrates the deep love she has for giving homeowners the space of their dreams.

Weekend remodeling requires a lot of do-it-yourself energy on "Home in a Heartbeat," but Galey Alix, who found her "Bachelor" boyfriend with a little DIY initiative, is committed to providing homeowners with revamps that are effortless on their part. "It requires people's blind trust to do surprises like this," she told House Digest. "They don't have to lift a finger. They just have to go somewhere for a weekend and let me work my magic."

Even though design isn't the passion that drives her renovations, it's still an essential part of giving her clients home makeovers they're happy with. In this way, the HGTV star stays vigilant during house tours, paying special attention to clients' needs and the details of the existing space. "Galey Alix design is all-encompassing," she told Fort Lauderdale Magazine. "Each project is very specifically designed for that client."

While clients are on a 72-hour vacation, Alix works hard to accomplish a redesign worthy of happy tears. "To pull off these projects in a weekend, my team and I spend months planning, ordering, and building," she told HGTV. Still, the end result and the accompanying happiness are well worth it for Alix. "These families mean everything to us," she continued. "It takes a lot of late nights, talent, and grit, but it's all worth it to give these families their 'Home in a Heartbeat.'"