Karen E. Laine

One half of the mother-daughter home renovation team Two Chicks and Hammer, Karen E. Laine was a no-nonsense, hands-on presence on "Good Bones" (2016-), the HGTV series that showcased the team's talents. Before becoming a television star, or even a home renovator, Laine studied law at the Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law, and opened her own private practice in a home that she had purchased as an office. Upon discovering that the property required repair work, she and her daughter, Mia Starsiak, began studying do-it-yourself home repair videos; the pair was soon proficient enough to open their own "home rehab" business, Two Chicks and a Hammer, in 2008. When a talent recruiter from HGTV saw photographs of their work on Faceboo and proposed a show built around their work and their extended, often eccentric crew, which included her stepson, Tad, his stepfather, Lenny, and other members of their large family. "Good Bones" debuted on HGTV in 2016 and proved to be one of the network's most critically praised efforts; its third season debuted in April 2018.