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Iris Rubinfield had intended to become a movie star. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, where she'd studied drama, she made it all the way to Hollywood to pursue her acting career.
But she never quite made it to the silver screen. In summer 1951, after only three months in California, Rubinfield's husband, Don, was practically handed an Ohio business that had made casters during World War II. Iris hailed from Cleveland, and the couple moved back home.
For almost 20 years, the Rubinfields built Master Manufacturing together. Don ran the factory while Iris managed the office. It was a happy partnership until 1979, when Don passed away, leaving Iris in the then-uncommon position of being a woman in charge of a growing business.
Iris had never intended to run her own company, but that's not to say she wasn't equipped for the challenge. She had begun working when she was just 14 in a bridal shop, where she learned about sales. As Don had pursued a master's degree, Iris was there to help him along. When it came time to take over the company, she had plenty of business savvy -- even if it was, as she says, all "self-learned."
It's been nearly 30 years since Iris Rubinfield took the company's reins, and Master Manufacturing is thriving. With almost $7 million in revenue and a growth rate of nearly 36%, Master Manufacturing earned a spot on this year's Inc. 5,000 list.
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The business has changed over the years: It has added a variety of office products, such as doorstops and seat-back cushions, to its original line of casters, but Rubinfield's leadership has been constant. At 80 years old, she still runs everything.
"It's a team effort," Rubinfield says, but the final decisions remain hers.
When she's not traveling, she typically works eight-hour days, from around 11 in the morning to 7 at night. "I like to work after everybody goes home," she says. "That's when I get a lot accomplished."
And she still has time to visit her children, who live in Boston and Portland, Ore. If she couldn't make her own schedule -- a draw for so many entrepreneurs -- Rubinfield says she'd probably retire.
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Working after retirementRetiring doesn't mean you have to stop working. NBC reports on Dick Kiefer, who went back to work at The Home Depot, one of many companies excited about hiring older workers.
But she doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. "I'm not tired," she says. "And I love what I do. I'm passionate about it, and I wouldn't be happy with the status quo. I've been in business 57 years, and I haven't scratched the surface of what my company can achieve. It isn't the money -- it's that I have always felt that I had a great business with a lot of wonderful products. We have a lot of problem-solving products that I'm very proud of."
This article was reported and written by Matt Finkelstein for Inc.com.
Published Dec. 20, 2007
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