Before HGTV Fame: The Property Brothers’ Early Careers

What you might not know about the Property Brothers is that, prior to their HGTV fame, Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott’s careers looked different. However, they were motivated to be crafty even as kids. When they were kids, they started a business decorating hangers. Speaking to Glamour in 2012, the brothers discussed how the business came to fruition: “We turned seven and our dad said we had to get a job. We were looking at the want ads, but our very first job was a company we started called JAM Enterprises [it was for Jon, Andrew, Mom] and we made those hangers that weave nylon around it and there’s a little rose on it.” Per Realtor, Jonathan and Drew earned $15,000 from their JAM Enterprises business, thanks to a wholesaler purchasing hangers to sell overseas. They told Glamour, “She bought them by the crates!”

In a 2024 Today interview, the brothers talked more about that experience. “It got us hooked on that idea of creating something from nothing,” Drew said. “We found out very early on we loved to perform … whatever else we would do, we would put on an air of confidence before we even knew what we were doing.”

That passion for performing likely helped them with their on-camera work, but it seemed to come in handy beforehand with some of their other jobs.

After the JAM Enterprises success, their father, Jim Scott, paid Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott to help work on his own renovation projects. Later on, Jonathan and Drew worked as professional clowns. Some gigs with a lot less clowning around included when the brothers were busboys at the Red Robin restaurant chain and mall cops. They were just college-aged when they officially entered the world of house-flipping. They bought a $200,000 house with $250 down payment and flipped it, earning a $50,000 profit when they sold it. “We thought this was something, while still in college,” the brothers told Glamour. A major reason they started doing their work on houses was to make money while they pursued creative passions.

Acting was something they were both interested in. However, Jonathan was also an accomplished illusionist and had a knack for figuring out how magic tricks were done and creating his own. In their Glamour interview, Jonathan said he thought that contributed to the success of the “Property Brothers” show. “It’s our charisma with each other and with the audience,” Jonathan said. “We’ve always been great storytellers.”

The brothers have also done stand-up comedy and sketch comedy, which you might be able to tell from “Property Brothers” bloopers that make us love them even more. They did have some acting gigs, even briefly appearing on shows with commercial success (for Drew it was “Smallville” and for Jonathan it was “The X-Files”).

Although renovation and real estate eventually became their main focus, another career Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott had was working for an airline called WestJet. Jonathan’s position was part of the in-flight social club. Occasionally able to work with Drew the flight attendant, they would entertain passengers. When they left those jobs due to their success with their flips, Drew was approached about using his real estate agent skills on a reality TV show. “I didn’t really want to host, but we could probably make a brand out of it,” Drew told Today. “And so we started to formulate a plan of what this could look like to build a brand.” Drew threw out a show idea for himself and Jonathan when auditioning for the ill-fated “Realtor Idol” reality show, which never got off the ground.

After a production company based in their home country of Canada asked the Scott twins to create a video showing their skills, HGTV turned them down. However, their TV dreams came true when Canada’s W Network brought “Property Brothers” to life. It was a smashing success, and when HGTV started airing it too, it was wildly successful as well. “So they repurchased the whole first season and the rest is history,” Jonathan said in their Today interview.

For more on Jonathan and Drew’s success, check out how much the “Property Brothers” are worth now.