Muralist and designer Nancy Hadley talks reality
Nancy Hadley was the muralist on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition when I was there and working with her often made the whole thing bearable. She is smart, funny, crazy talented and way more fun to paint with than just about anyone. Since then, she has been active all over design TV. We’ve also worked on murals and designs for lots of different clients. Here is a quick story from Nancy Hadley. -Daniel
I bolted the front end of this motorcycle to the wall, Nancy made it fly!
I have been working in reality television for five and half years. My first show was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC. It was one of the highlights of my professional life. The workload and deadlines were brutal but I expected and loved it. I had not anticipated the incredible friendships I would make while working on the road. A typical schedule for work would go as follows. Get up at 4am, shower, eat breakfast, lift two little girls out of bed and take them to the car, coax one larger 8 year old boy into the car and wake my husband. With a car-load of very sleepy people I would drive to the John Wayne airport. My husband would pull out my enormous suitcase, hand me my backpack and kiss me goodbye. With the kids it was a little more emotional. There were many many hugs and tears and I would have to peal off little hands to start my journey. At the check out counter the attendants recognized me. They would always ask where the house was going to be this time. I had the security check down to a science that is until liquids were not allowed. Computer out of bag – check, shoes off – check, jacket off – check, boarding pass and id in hand – check, avoid line with strollers – check, make joke about athletes foot risk – check, walk thru and pack it all back in my bag. In the terminal I would frequent a snack stand that sold muffins but as I did not drink coffee, I ordered it with hot chocolate. Next I would find my way to the gate and search for a seat till my boarding letter was called. Just one year prior to my travel for the show I was an extremely nervous flier. I would pace while waiting to board and roll airplane disaster stories through my head before surrendering to the fact that the plane was just going to crash. I would count seats to the nearest exit and take a baby census because maybe they could save us. Always astounded to land safely I would exit thankful to be alive.
