Courtesy of Steve Hawk/Instagram
Mina Starsiak Hawk Shares How Her Inner Circle Has Changed Amid Family Estrangement and Drama
There’s been a lot of changes in Mina Starsiak Hawk’s life since the series finale of Good Bones aired on HGTV on October 17. The home improvement personality shared that her inner circle has changed a lot after cutting certain people out of her life.
Mina, 39, referenced Brené Brown’s Square Squad idea from the book Dare to Lead, which suggests “having a small square of people in your life that you can really be your true self around.” Ideally, all of their names should be able to fit on a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of paper.
The realtor admitted it was “tricky” to “whittle down” the people in her inner circle and write down their names on the paper.
“You know I’ve had my fair share of personal challenges, professional challenges [and] moments where I question everything like my worth, my purpose, my decisions,” she explained.
But the people in her Square Squad have become “invaluable” because they are always “there for it all” and can “support” her without judgment.
“When I started rattling off the names of people whose opinion I care about, I was like, this is a really long list,” Mina continued.
The Indianapolis native named her kids, Jack and Charlotte, her husband, Steve Hawk, her sister Kelsy, her older brother, her older brother’s wife, her friend Adrienne, her dad, her stepmom and the kids’ “fake grandma” as the people in her life whose opinions she values most.
Mina did not name her mom, Karen E. Laine, or brother Tad Starsiak on the list. Her relationships with both Karen, 61, and Tad, 30, have been very rocky since filming season 8 of Good Bones after facing tension on the set.
“There were definitely some challenging [moments] because my mom and I were in some of the most challenging places I felt we’ve been,” the TV star told People in September of a fight she had with her mom while filming.
Still, she is on good terms with some of her other family members and sees them regularly. Mina and Kelsy have had a “close relationship” for most of their lives. Kelsy has seen Mina through “so many different stages” in her life. They often get coffee together each week and chat.
“She probably has a pretty good holistic understanding of who I am as a person,” Mina said through tears of her sister’s support.
The Two Chicks and a Hammer owner later explained that it’s normal for a person’s inner circle to change as they age.
“There were times where I had to set boundaries with certain people, even though I thought they might be in my life forever or had been in my life for a long time, who were no longer contributing positively and that’s OK,” Mina reflected. “It’s about putting your mental and emotional health in a good place, and sometimes that means the people you surround yourself with changes.”
