Jeff Lewis Reflects On His Pandemic Experience And Finding The Silver Lining - Exclusive

If you feel as though time is moving in an exceptionally odd way, you're not alone. When March 2020 came around the corner, life as we knew it came to a grinding halt. What many of us thought would be a two-week lockdown has turned into a more-than-two-year pandemic experience, the United States having lost more than one million people to the coronavirus to date (via Statista). Beyond the deadly impacts of the actual disease, the impacts of the pandemic have been felt tenfold. From increased strains on mental health to an unpredictable economy to mass layoffs and unexpected work changes, living through a global crisis has kept all of us in a flight-or-fight state. 

For quite a while, the entertainment industry was at a standstill, given the COVID-19 lockdowns. But as soon as the wheels started turning again, famed house flipper Jeff Lewis — and the team at Amazon FreeVee — were working to make "Hollywood Houselift" a priority. As the show has dropped on the streaming platform, we sat down with Lewis to talk about the series, but amid our chat, we ventured to the topic of the pandemic. Telling us that he's done everything possible to find the silver lining, Lewis reflected on the last two years and what they have meant to him.

While many of us are wrapped up in the ongoing economic turmoil — rising inflation and interest rates, among a number of issues — Jeff Lewis remembers the 2007 market crash like it was yesterday. As a home flipper and real estate businessman, Lewis had all his eggs in that particular financial basket, making the housing crash that much more painful for him to endure. Looking back on it amid the pandemic, Lewis told us that the experience forced him to diversify his income portfolio.

"I was all in when the market crashed. I had one source of income, and when I came out of that, I wasn't unscathed, but I came out alive, and with my credit and with some money, I told myself I was going to develop multiple streams of income," Lewis told us. "Thank God I did that, because, during the pandemic, we were home for a year, [and] two of my three sources of income dried up."

Telling us that his 2020 income went down by 66%, Lewis shared that he still felt grateful to have even one source of money, given that so many people found themselves in untenable situations.

While Jeff Lewis certainly found himself in a slightly uncomfortable situation — not being able to work or get into people's homes amid the pandemic — he did find the silver lining in it all: being able to spend more time with his daughter. Telling us that he hadn't been able to spend as much time with her as he would've liked, Lewis shared that the pandemic did give him the necessary downtime to be a devoted dad.

"I felt like that's when I truly bonded with my child, who at that point was three," Lewis told us. "Now we have a very nice, close, connected relationship. I'm committed to keeping it that way."

Reflecting on the happiness that his time at home brought into his life, Lewis' conversation with us veered into a rather reflective one, with the home flipper telling us that he's never been as content in his life as he is now.

"This isn't being dramatic and this is not exaggerating — for the first time in a very long time, I'm happy," he said. You can't put a price on that.

"Hollywood Houselift" premiered on Amazon FreeVee on June 10, and will drop new episodes every Friday through July 29.