HGTV fans are still reeling. For eight seasons, we watched the mother-daughter duo of Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk tear down rotting walls in Indianapolis. They were the Two Chicks and a Hammer. They were unstoppable. Or so it seemed.
The good bones cast wasn't just about a family business; it was a vibe that felt more authentic than the polished perfection of Property Brothers. But when the cameras stopped rolling on the final season in 2023, the paint started peeling on that "happy family" narrative. It turns out, reality TV is rarely as sturdy as the foundations they pour.
The Core Duo: Mina and Karen’s Complicated Reality
Mina Starsiak Hawk was the engine. She’s the one who stayed late, managed the spreadsheets, and dealt with the permit headaches. Honestly, she often looked exhausted on screen, and now we know why. Karen, her mother, was the whimsical one. She liked the "soul" of the house—the weird artifacts found in crawlspaces and the garden layouts.
They were a contrast. That contrast made for great television but created massive friction in real life.
By the time the final episodes aired, Mina was open about the fact that she and her mom weren't exactly on speaking terms. On her podcast, Mina AF, she didn't hold back. She described the "insurmountable" challenges of working with family. It wasn't just a creative difference. It was deep. It was personal. People often think these shows end because of ratings, but for the good bones cast, it was about emotional burnout. Karen "retired" from the company back in 2019 but kept appearing on the show. That created a weird dynamic where she was an employee/talent but no longer an owner, which is basically a recipe for disaster in any family business.
The Supporting Players: Cory, Tad, and the Rest of the Crew
You can’t talk about the show without Cory Miller. He wasn't just a contractor; he was the fan favorite. Cory brought a level of competence and calm that balanced out the family drama. When he left the show toward the end, fans noticed immediately. There were rumors. There was speculation. But Cory has mostly kept it professional, moving on to his own projects while staying largely out of the Starsiak family crossfire.
Then there’s Tad Starsiak.
Tad is Mina’s half-brother, and he was the "demo god." He’d jump through ceilings and smash windows with a chaotic energy that made for excellent B-roll. But even that relationship soured. Mina has been candid about the distance between her and Tad. It’s tough. You see these people hugging after a successful reveal, but you don't see the legal letters or the tense silence when the producers yell "cut."
Austin Aynes was another staple. The soft-spoken guy who just got the job done. Along with MJ Coyle, the designer who helped Mina refine the "Two Chicks" aesthetic, these men formed the backbone of the production. While they weren't the names on the masthead, they were the ones who made the good bones cast feel like a community rather than just a two-person operation.
Why the "Two Chicks" Empire Actually Crumbled
Success is expensive.
When Good Bones started, they were buying $10,000 houses in Fountain Square and Bates-Hendricks. By the end, the market in Indy had exploded—partially because of them. Costs went up. The scale of the renovations became massive. Mina has admitted that the financial pressure was immense. If a house didn't sell, or if a renovation went $50,000 over budget, that wasn't just a "plot point." That was her kids' college fund or the company's payroll.
Basically, the stakes became too high for the fun to survive.
The show also faced criticism. Some locals in Indianapolis pointed to the "gentrification" effect. While the good bones cast was busy beautifying neighborhoods, the property taxes for long-time residents were skyrocketing. It’s a nuanced issue. Do you want a derelict house with a meth lab next door, or do you want a $400,000 modern farmhouse that prices out your neighbors? There is no easy answer here, and the show rarely engaged with that tension, choosing instead to focus on tile patterns and floor plans.
Life After the Cameras: Where Are They Now?
Mina is still in the game, but it looks different. She’s focusing on her store, Two Chicks District Co., and her podcast. She’s also doing smaller-scale "spinoff" specials for HGTV, like the Good Bones: New Beginnings series which followed her renovating her own lake house. It was a solo venture, which says everything you need to know about the current state of the original good bones cast.
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Karen is living her best life, seemingly unbothered. She spends her time gardening, traveling, and staying away from the renovation grind.
Cory Miller has his own construction company, Miller Built. He’s doing exactly what he did on the show, just without the camera crew following him into the crawlspaces. He’s active on social media and remains the one person almost every fan of the show still roots for.
The Real Legacy of the Show
Good Bones did something specific. It showed a gritty, messy version of renovation that Fixer Upper never did. They dealt with trash-filled houses, literal human waste, and structural nightmares that would make most contractors quit. They weren't afraid to get dirty.
But the lesson of the good bones cast is a cautionary tale about mixing "reality" with business. When your family drama becomes your paycheck, you eventually run out of emotional capital.
If you’re looking to follow the cast today or learn from their trajectory, here is how to navigate the post-show world:
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- Follow the individual accounts: Stop looking for "Two Chicks" updates and look at Mina Starsiak Hawk and Cory Miller's personal pages for the most honest look at their current projects.
- Listen to the podcast: If you want the unfiltered, non-HGTV-sanctioned version of events, Mina AF is where the actual tea is spilled.
- Visit the District Co.: If you’re in Indianapolis, the store is still a tangible piece of the show's legacy that you can visit without needing a TV crew.
- Watch the spinoffs carefully: Pay attention to who is—and isn't—included in the new specials. The absence of certain faces tells a louder story than any press release.
The houses they built are still standing, but the team that built them has moved on. That’s just the nature of the business. You can fix a foundation, but you can’t always fix a relationship.