Mike Holmes, Canadian contractor, renovator, television host, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, along with his son, Mike Jr. and daughter, Sherry, allow viewers the added bonus of behind-the-scenes glimpses into their personal and family lives.

It is evident from the get-go that Canadian contractor, renovator, television host, philanthropist and entrepreneur Mike Holmes is not only supremely proud of his kids Mike Jr. and Sherry, but is also so completely confident in their talents, expertise and dedication to stepping up when needed that he is building a legacy succession plan around them.

“At first my kids didn’t want to get into the trades,” Mike says. “Michael wanted to be a firefighter and Sherry wanted to travel the world. But, after Michael worked with me for two summers, he was hooked. I was hoping that would happen. And with Sherry, I told her we were going down to New Orleans to help the people there and asked her if she wanted to come. Next thing you know, she was hooked, too. And now Michael, who was 14 when he started, and Sherry, who was 16, have been with me for 16 to 18 years.”

Holmes aficionados who want to have a deeper, more intimate experience of the interactions and interpersonal relationships of the Holmes family members can tune into the new six-part series Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy, which premiered exclusively on Cottage Life on November 12, 2024. The new six-parter is an intimate, family-centric addition to the long-standing Holmes on Homes TV series. Viewers get a bird’s-eye view of how Mike mentors and interacts with his kids, as well as clear examples of what Mike’s trademark “Make it Right” mandate is all about. The new show is embedded in strong everyday family experiences and profiles new smart-home technologies to educate homeowners about how they can make their homes healthier and more efficient. State-of-the-art film technology, including the use of drones, is also featured as the trio of Mike Holmes, Mike Jr. and Sherry work with Canadian homeowners on their renovations.

Both Mike Jr. and Sherry liken the new show to going back to their original Holmes on Homes roots.

“We are big on educating people. We want the audience to learn how we are doing it right, why we are doing it the way we are doing it,” Mike Jr. says. “And then we want to give them takeaways as to what we are doing and the products we are using. But what I am really excited about is that there is a lot more personality and personal stories injected into this show. It’s the best of Holmes on Homes and the best of everything else we have done, put together. I like to say we have all the ingredients to make a cake, and this cake is delicious.”

Sherry concurs that the recent version of Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy is a different take on the original show, Holmes on Homes.

“It is nice to get back to our roots,” Sherry says. “However, in this new show, there is a little bit more family involvement, and viewers will have a window into parts of our personal lives. We still teach some construction aspects and educate homeowners, but viewers will see more of our personal lives.”

The Holmes family mission statement, which in fact is the cornerstone of every job that Mike, Mike Jr. and Sherry are involved in, is “Make it Right.” In other words, the trio set their intentions to do the job right the first time so it doesn’t have to be redone or revamped.

‘‘THERE IS DEFINITELY ROOM FOR FEMALES IN OUR INDUSTRY AND WE MAKE IT A POINT TO MAKE ROOM FOR THEM.”
— Mike Jr.

Having worked hard for so many years and achieved the success that he has, Mike knew that if he could get his kids interested in the trades, they’d basically be good for life.

“Being a contractor, I don’t have any days off,” Mike says. “So, the only way I could see my family was to have them work with me. Michael and Sherry are good kids, and they love helping people. They’ve become so good in front of the camera that I am hoping one day they will have their own show.”

The only problem with that, Mike shared with a laugh, is that now he has to keep working.

“It launched me into working another 10 years with my kids so I can help them move in the direction they should go,” Mike says.

And while Mike has often wondered why he is still doing what he’s doing, it is the deep appreciation and gratitude on the faces of people that he and his kids are helping that makes it all worthwhile.

“It is that end day, when you give the house back, that it feels so right,” Mike says. “Michael and Sherry started to experience those same feelings. When you see the tears in their eyes, you know that they have both been affected. Helping families and changing their lives forever is a wonderful thing we do. People think it is just a television show, but it’s not. We actually change people’s lives. We make them better; we make it right. Having my family help these families — you can’t buy that feeling. You cannot put that kind of thing in the bank.”

The strategy behind Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy is focused on continuing to build the legacy of helping people — passing down that philosophy from Mike to his kids, and for them to do the same thing — to pass down the legacy to their kids.

Indeed, the Holmes family legacy is growing, with Mike Jr. and his wife having another baby. And while Mike that senior quips that he was a little afraid at first of his burgeoning family, which will soon include six grandchildren, he says he is now embracing it as an opportunity for the family to start their own baseball team.

When Mike Jr. and Sherry started working on their first show, they were apprehensive. Working with their dad was a different world, and they were surrounded not just by the camera people, but also by people from production and construction, as well as homeowners.

“I told them to ignore the camera,” Mike says. “I kept them in the background to protect them while I was teaching them, and then after about three years, all of a sudden, they were naturals in front of the camera.”

Sherry, who has been an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity’s Annual Women Build event and a mentor for young women through Conestoga College’s Jill of All Trades and WIST (Women in Skilled Trades), has been instrumental in changing perceptions about how women in the trades are regarded, and in fact, accepted. She has been influential in sparking respect in a male-dominated industry, as well as winning admiration from the women who are coming up behind her.

“Sherry’s strength is that she is funny. She brings a sense of humour and lightness to the construction site, which eases the tension,” Mike Jr. says. “I forget that Sherry is not only my sister but also a female contractor, which is so important for young girls to see. Because it is a male-dominated industry, it has been really important to have a female contractor on the show, a positive female influence. There is definitely room for females in our industry, and we make it a point to make room for them. We want to set that bar for everyone else and show them that women can do this job as well as men.”

Just as Mike has shared his construction and renovation experiences with his kids, so, too, does Sherry want her two girls to know their way around the business.

“I’ve told my girls that they can do and be whatever they want to be in their lives,” Sherry says. “If they want to be involved — if the business is something that they are interested in doing — I will help them. They can do and be whatever they want in their life, regardless of their gender. My oldest daughter has already laid vinyl flooring.”

Because they work so closely together, Sherry — who says it’s great working together as a family even though they sometimes bicker — also says that all three of them realize that it’s “important to keep work life at work and home life want separate.”

Sherry says the greatest thing that she’s learned from her dad is that happiness is a choice.

“Dad told me that the only one that can make me happy is me,” she says. “And that if I go into a day feeling negative, that is how everything is going to turn out.”

To that end, Sherry makes it a point to wake up every day with a positive mindset and a smile on her face.

“HAVING MY FAMILY HELP THESE FAMILIES ‘‘ — YOU CAN’T BUY THAT FEELING.”
— Mike Holmes

“Smiling is my favourite activity. I like being around people, and I love that I am not doing the same thing on a daily basis,” she says. “And I’ll let you in on a secret. Mike Holmes is a giant teddy bear. When he is at home, he’s not the Mike Holmes you see on the construction site. He loves kids and music and dancing. He likes making food and playing with his grandkids.”

The legacy of passing it on to the next generations is of foremost importance to the senior Mike. Sherry shares that her dad, who always wanted her and her brother to be involved on the construction site, now wants to take a step back and let her brother and her come into their own.

The younger Mike brings to the site his expertise with woodworking and the fact that he is a licensed carpenter, not to mention, he says, “my charm, wit and muscles.” Mike Jr. also says that his dad’s superpower is that he is a fountain of knowledge and has the answers to all of their questions.

“Dad works, sleeps and dreams work and building,” he says.

As far as the best lesson that he’s learned from his dad, Mike Jr. says it is his father’s guiding philosophy. “When you’re doing something, do it right the first time so you don’t have to do it again,” he says. ‘Make it right’ has been a family philosophy since we were young; it was how we were brought up. There is no cutting corners. How we do one thing is how we do everything.”

The journey from there to here, from Holmes on Homes to Holmes on Home: Building a Legacy, has meant the world to Michael, Mike Jr. and Sherry.

“A lot of people don’t know that we grew up very poor and that we lived in my dad’s friend’s basement,” Mike Jr. says. “Dad was a contractor — he was always our hero — so to watch him grow and work his way up and build something incredible, based on helping other people, has been the best journey. And to be a part of that has been extremely rewarding. And now, along with my family and my wife and daughter, helping other people inspires me daily, allowing me to be the best version of myself for them.”

INTERVIEW BY MARC CASTALDO

makeitright.ca
@make_it_right