TV stars at She: Pioneer Woman, Property Brothers coming to She

Friday, June 20, 2014

photo Drew and Jonathon Scott can be seen on HGTV's "Property Brothers." "Buying and Selling" and "Brother vs. Brother."

IF YOU GOWhat: She, An Expo for WomenWhen: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, July 26; noon-6 p.m. Sunday, July 27.Where: Chattanooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St.Tickets: $12 online, $15 at the door adults; $7 online, at the door for children 5-12 years old; children under 5 are free, one ticket is good for the whole weekend; Pioneer Woman VIP tickets are $75 each and include event admission for both days, VIP meet and greet with photo and autograph opportunity, reserved, priority seating for cooking demonstration, a limited number of VIP tickets are available.Information: Visit timesfreepress.com/she for stage schedules, speaker bios and a list of participating vendors or call 757-6498.

photo Ree Drummond

She grew up in a house on a golf course in Oklahoma, headed to Los Angeles for a college degree, planned to study law in Chicago as a grad student.

Then she met "the Marlboro Man," fell in love, got married and turned into a pioneer.

Or, more accurately, she turned into The Pioneer Woman.

In 2006, Ree Drummond started a blog, thepioneerwoman.com, to dish out her advice and insights on cooking, home and gardening, homeschooling, her dogs and just about any other subject that hit her mind. She took up blogging after she moved onto a cattle farm in Oklahoma with her husband, whom she calls the Marlboro Man Since moving there, she has had four children and collected a host of animals (both pets and livestock). The Pioneer Woman blog now generates about 13 million page views per month.

Drummond will be sharing some of her insights and stories as the headlining guest at She, An Expo for Woman, set for July 26-27 in the Chattanooga Convention Center and hosted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. On Saturday, July 26, she will be doing a cooking demonstration and taking questions from the audience.

But she's not the only celeb guest. Also scheduled are Drew and Jonathon Scott, the hunky house-flipping twins on HGTV's "Property Brothers," "Buying and Selling " and "Brother vs. Brother." Drew is a licensed real estate agent while his brother Jonathan is a licensed contractor. On Sunday, July 27, they'll be taking photos with fans and also giving homebuying and renovation tips.

"We are excited to continue the wonderful tradition that She expo is in our community," says Jason Taylor, president and general manager of the Times Free Press. "The overwhelming response from our readers was the desire to see the Pioneer Woman and the Property Brothers. We are so fortunate we were able to deliver. It should be a great weekend of shopping, fun and entertainment for the ladies in our area."

Besides being house flippers, the Scott brothers are both actors (Drew appeared on "Smallville," Jonathan on "The X-Files"), have their own TV and film production company and, offscreen, Jonathan is an illusionist, which most folks know as magician. Oh yeah, both are single, although Drew has a girlfriend.

"We're excited to be presenting in Chattanooga," the brothers said in an email. "We always love meeting our fans and look forward to see everyone there."

As for Drummond, back in the '90s, she left her life in Los Angeles and returned to Oklahoma for a rest-up before heading to Chicago. Her life in LA was singularly urban and upscale.

"I attended college in California, then got a job and wore black pumps to work every day," she writes on thepioneerwoman.com. "I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures on a semi-regular basis."

But she was derailed by Ladd Drummond, a cattle rancher in Pawhuska, Okla. They married and now live on the working ranch.

In 2009, the Pioneer Woman blog was named Weblog of the Year at the Annual Weblog Awards, also known as The Bloggies, then won the same award again the next year.

Her audience, she told Forbes magazine, tends to be a mix of both city and country folk, something that surprises her.

"Maybe it's people who grew up in rural areas but moved to the city and for them it's nostalgic. I don't know," she told Forbes. "I was actually surprised to find out the distribution of people reading The Pioneer Woman is evenly distributed between city folks and country people. I would have thought that there were more rural-minded people, but it turns out all people can find something to relate to on the site, whether it's the food or the ranch life or the photography."

Along with the celebrity guests, the She expo also features shopping, two fashion shows and vendors for foods, clothing, massages, plastic surgery and others. Memorial Hospital is sponsoring the She expo for the sixth straight year.

Seating cards for the Pioneer Woman and Scott brothers events are first-come first-served; the earlier you arrive at She, the closer you'll be to the stage.

Contact Shawn Ryan at sryan@timesfreepress.com 423-757-6327.