Laine Too founder and head designer Melaine Rubin was featured in the Northbrook Star’s shout out weekly feature! Thank you Irv Leavitt from the Chicago Tribune for spending some time getting to know Melaine.
“Melaine Rubin is a married Northbrook mom and owner of Laine Too, a busy company offering custom stenciled temporary tattoos in matte and glitter finishes. The necklace in her photo is one of her tattoos (photo credit: Irv Leavitt). She works parties and festivals, and does pro-bono jobs, too.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: West Rogers Park, near Pratt and California.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked in a chocolate store in Old Orchard. I was 16. My next job, for the next 17 years, I worked in the family business, Specialty Store Services. When I was 17, I was doing my dad’s taxes. If you want to go further back (to about age 10), I was going with my dad (Malcolm Finke) to Maxwell Street, sleeping in vans overnight so we had a good spot.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: I have three dogs. All rescues, all mutts, all sizes. They range from 15 pounds to 70.
Q: What’s your favorite restaurant?
A: I cook. When I don’t, I never like to go to the same place twice.
Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: Indonesia. That’s my next trip. It’s kind of like the melting pot of Asia, and I just find it interesting.
Q: What’s your favorite charity?
A: I guess I would have to say Hadassah, because I’ve been involved with it a lot. They help people all over the world, and they don’t turn anybody away.
Q: Any pet peeves?
A: Eating with your mouth open. One of the things that gets to me.
Q: If you could be on any reality show, which one would it be?
A: Everybody says I need to be on “Shark Tank,” but I’m not going to. I would like to do it all on my own, so I can say that I’ve achieved it.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that most people don’t know.
A: I had a pony in a dog run. We were at a pet show and I trained my hamster to go through some kind of maze. A lot of people didn’t want to vote, so my two sisters and brother picked up all the ballots that fell on the ground and made them out to me. I won a pony, but we didn’t know what to do with it. My father had to pay a farm to pick it up and take it. I was about 6.
Q: Words of wisdom?
A: If you have something you want too achieve, there’s always a way, but you have to work hard to get there.”
Shout Out is a weekly feature where we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut.
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