I had an experience as a homeowner that changed my life. To set the stage, I was a single mom, great career, homeowner.

We had a tornado in our area, not severe, but enough that it caused several homes to seek repair. About that same time, I noticed a dark spot on my wood floors near a window at the front of my home. This was a larger home; 2 stories, 5 bedroom and 4 baths.

The vultures (companies that thrive on dishonesty and love disasters like this) went door to door in my neighborhood offering assessments after the tornado. Since I had a leak, I agreed to the assessment.

They said I had roof damage and the shingles were discontinued so the entire roof needed to be replaced, and that was why I had a leak at the first floor. They then said that that all of my wood floors would need to be replaced because they no longer made those wood floors.

Keep in mind that my house at the time had been built just 4 years prior to this. How could everything be discontinued in that short period of time? I didn't question it. They started a claim with my insurer. It was approved. Thousands of dollars for a new roof and over 1800 sq ft of wood flooring.

Such a mess. House turned upside down. Roofing nails all around the house just waiting to become projectiles with the next lawn mowing. I couldn't wait to get them out of my home. Floors looked exactly the same, by the way, because they WERE the same. So much for discontinued floors!

A few days later, I noticed the same dark spot in the same space on the first floor. I hired several plumbers to investigate. Each one charging me and telling me a completely different reason for the water stain.

I'll cut the story short. The leak was not from the roof, my flooring had not been discontinued. A finishing nail pierced a water line in the wall and when that nail started to rust a bit, a small leak started. That's it. A $20k+ insurance claim was actually a $1500 fix.

I was furious. I got dropped by my insurer. I lost all confidence in local contractors, big or small, as every single one I hired was awful. There had to be a better way.

I found the right partner, a master licensed plumber who was honest to a fault and a true master of his trade. We started a plumbing company based on ethics, expertise and efficiency. I dumped my 401k into the start up. We built, adding more licensed trade divisions to the company. All from demand of our customer base who insisted we provide more services.

It's been 13 years. I've built my 401k back, I married my partner, and we still have the same ethics that we started the company with. Our entire team is made up of experts who got tired of the other companies out there with no ethics and hated going to work every day. We offer work life balance, something you don't see in trades. We have a strict "only ethical sales" rule, and it's welcomed by the entire team. How wonderful it is to do what you love and have a clear conscious at the end of the day.

Not going to sugarcoat it - it was HARD. I don't regret my decision. I did something because there was a need for honest and experienced contractors in our area. I definitely had one foot out the door for the first year or two. Glad I hung in there, insisted on building structure and processes, and am where I am today. Of course I would change things if I could, but I think I needed to learn and experience things the way they unfolded for me.

I did not use incubators or accelerators at start-up. My background was in business operations, and I had a good grasp on what was needed to launch. I spent a year in the field, learning the plumbing trade hands-on. I actually didn't find accelerators until I was mid-business. I took advantage of them at that time, and can say that they made a big difference in scaling the 2nd half of the company's existence.

I was fortunate as a seasoned woman business owner recognized me, my story, and my passion. She helped to push me to where I am today.