Let’s start with a confession. Most of us treat our hard hats like trusty old trucks. If it still starts, we keep driving it. If it still fits, we keep wearing it. And if it’s covered in stickers from jobs we’re proud of? Even better. But here’s the thing nobody tells you early enough in the trades: Hard hats expire. And no, that’s not a suggestion.

At the end of 2025, both my shrimp and I were on the edge of disaster. Now, at the beginning of 2026, I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel (and hopefully it's not a train.) There is hope. Clearer, warmer waters are ahead. Sometimes those of us who have been in business a long time get complacent. We think we’ve seen it all. We think nothing can take us down. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

As Pete started reading the building (his superpower, truly), she leaned in with: “Why would you do that?” “Are you 100% sure?” “How would that work?” Perfectly reasonable questions… unless you’re a contractor who’s been burned by know-it-all homeowners armed with Google and YouTube. I saw it instantly. She asked a question → Pete interpreted it as a challenge → he drifted as far away from us as possible to go inspect the other side of the building.

He (and sometimes she) shows up on the jobsite, in your inbox, or even in your comment section with one goal: to make you look and feel inferior. He’ll try to paint you as the “crazy emotional woman” who doesn’t belong on the crew. He’ll try to drag you into arguments online so he can twist your words and make you look like the problem. You’re not alone — and you’re not powerless. The key is learning how to recognize a narcissist’s tricks and quietly pop that ego bubble witho

The quote above sits with me, maybe because I’ve lived it so many times. We often think of courage as something loud and dramatic....

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As a woman in the trades for over 30 years and a mentor to other women in male-dominated industries, I understand that most of these groups

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Are Contractors and sub-contractors required to show expenses? The short answer is no. most of the time. A Homeowner cannot usually ask...

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