Egypt Sherrod is the ultimate multihyphenate—and badass. Hands down the longtime host of HGTV’s Property Virgins and Flipping Virgins is one of the hardest-working women on television.
She’s also a savvy real estate broker, an entrepreneur, an author, a philanthropist and a motivational speaker. And if those things haven’t kept her busy enough, Sherrod, 43, is a devoted wife and mom of three. While the Philadelphia native is far too grounded and humble ever to describe her life as such, sis really does seem to have it all. But Sherrod is the first to admit that her aspirations didn’t come true overnight.
It took more than two decades of diligence and purpose-driven moves to get to where she is today. Her secret? She’s always listened to her heart and sought guidance from God. “My life is what I prayed for and planned for,” explains Sherrod, who began working as a radio personality in her teens. By her twenties she became a music director and found national success on air. “I have always kept both feet firmly planted in my relationship with God,” she says. “Whenever I’m uneasy or shaken, because maybe I haven’t found the courage to take the risk I feel I should, then I just get on my knees and pray, and I think that’s what keeps me centered.”
Sherrod has always been an open book when it comes to what goes on behind the scenes. And like so many other movers and shakers, she has faced her share of hurdles. She can recall a time when success alone wasn’t enough to sustain her. She wanted a family as well, so she reset her priorities and set her sights on manifesting more love into her life. “I was doing everything I wanted to do—making the crazy money because I was flipping houses, and on the radio, and then after the television [gig came along], it was like, Okay, I’ve got all of this money, but I have nobody to share it with,” she says. “I had no sense of purpose, so even though I was fulfilled career-wise, I’d be that girl who cried herself to sleep every single night. But I turned my pain into a plan.”
Long before creating vision boards was an Internet obsession, Sherrod was kicking it old-school and plastering images of what she desired all over her walls. “I turned my entire bedroom wall into a vision board,” she recalls. “There was not a piece of paint that you could see. I was in such pain emotionally that I started shutting [off] the relationships that were toxic for me. I was going through a rebirth. Not about who I thought I was, or who I thought I had to be, but about what was going to realistically make me happy in the light and the dark.”
Sherrod was specific about her manifestations—she wanted a healthy body and even healthier bonds. “I needed to have something to look forward to when I woke up,” she says. “I put everything I wanted on there. I put vegetables in every corner, because I wanted to start eating [better] instead of fast food. I put groups of friends and pictures of happy times in my life all over. And I put a picture of me in a wedding dress on top.”
Her prince surely did come along, and on September 11, 2010, Sherrod married the love of her life and her soul mate, Mike Jackson, aka DJ Fadelf. “When I aligned myself with my purpose and goals, the universe responded in turn, and I just started experiencing all ofthese wonderful things that were on my wall,” Sherrod says.
In January 2012 the couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Kendall, and in February 2019, the new addition to their family, a girl named Harper, was born. Sherrod is also a proud stepmother to
Jackson’s 18-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, Simone.
Shortly after giving birth at 42, Sherrod opened up to ESSENCE about her gut-wrenching seven-year struggle to conceive for the second time. Then, two days after bringing baby Harper into the world via C-section, Sherrod faced life-threatening complications from edema, or fluid overload, which traveled to her lungs and nearly drowned her. It was a close call. “I give total glory to God on this one because He knew my heart, and He knew how badly I wanted another child,” she says.
A lot of times we want to be a superwoman and do all things for all people. But in order to take care of yourself, you have to ask for the help you need.”
Now, one year later, Sherrod continues to thrive and to cherish the beautiful family she prayed for. She’s also focused on what she knows is best for her physical and spiritual healing—taking things one day at a time and calling on her village for support.
“It has been a process to get back to being me,” she admits. “This past year, taking care of myself has meant having to put work on hold for a couple of months, and I’ve also had to call in backup, which is my mom and my mother-in-law, and ask if they can come help me take care of my family. [I’ve learned] that taking care of me means taking the S off my chest. A lot of times we want to be a superwoman and do all things for all people. But in order to take care of yourself, you have to ask for the help you need.”