After "poaching" my handyman, my neighbor begged me to spill my secrets in a blog post. She said she never bothers vetting contractors anymore—if I hire them, they must be good. She also couldn’t understand how I manage to find the best people while juggling work, kids, and life chaos. The truth? Years of running high-stakes sourcing operations in my supply chain career have made me a master at sniffing out the best suppliers—whether it's for a multimillion-dollar project or fixing a dishwasher flood in my kitchen. And trust me, last year put my skills to the test. Between a challenging teen, health issues, a flagship product launch, layoffs, and a house that seemed determined to self-destruct (think: water damage, electrical fire, appliance issues, rats, termites, black mold—you name it), I had to streamline my contractor-finding process. The result? I found great contractors, saved about 20%, and stayed (mostly) sane.