CAPITAL DISTRICT — Something amazing happened after Saratoga’s Jennifer Lescovich stayed home binge watching HGTV’s “Flea Market Flip” while nursing the flu.
“In her deliriousness, she told me she wanted to go on the show,” said her friend, and partner-in-crime, Crystal Pogo. “So, I humored her and told her I would find out how we could apply.” Pogo said finding a way to contact the show was as simple as a Google search. A click of a link was promptly followed by an interview questionnaire from the show’s producers. “An email sent to what I thought would be Never-Never Land. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply! … The rest is history.”
The premise of the show involves a competition between teams focused on buying flea market items, repurposing those items and then selling the items for profit. Much like flipping a house, hence the name. Professionally, Pogo is an information technology associate for SUNY and Lescovich works for the Saratoga County Sheriff. Lescovich said she’s well-practiced in the art of flipping objects, while Pogo sees her money handling skills as a factor to their team’s winning strategy.
“Well, being a single mom of two, I did a lot of “flipping” before flipping was a thing – out of necessity,” said Lescovich. “I really enjoy it. I can see a piece transformed in my head, and most of the time it works out well.”
“[I’m] just a girl with a love of turning old, discarded treasures into newer, prettier treasures,” said Pogo. “I’m really good with money and knew that would be key to doing well on this show. That, and I am the bomb creatively, and knew Jen and I would definitely be eye-candy, and maybe slightly entertaining, too.”
A single episode is shot over two days and at different locations. The “buy day” was filmed at the Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in New Milford, Conn.. The “sell day” was filmed on location at the Green Flea in Manhattan. Pogo revealed that more than one episode is filmed during a given production day. She and Lescovich did not start competing until the end of the day, when vendors started packing.
“The pressure was on big time to find some special pieces,” she said. Despite the fact, she said, “There was good junk, for sure.”
Pogo said she went into the entire experience without any expectations.
“It was a great experience overall, some days were long and hot, but that made it memorable,” she said. “The production team was amazing, everyone was extremely hospitable. I didn’t know what to expect going into it. …We can’t wait to see it on Netflix one day.”
Their episode of “Flea Market Flip” airs tomorrow night (Sunday, May 15) on the Great American Country channel. Another airing should take place later on HGTV.
