The Founder’s Story
A Heart Attack, a Conversation With God, and a Movement to Protect Homeowners
People often see The Good Contractors List and assume it started as a marketing idea. But the truth is—this entire mission was born in a hospital room, in a moment where my life was slipping away, and God stepped in with a question that changed everything.
The Day Everything Stopped
On a frozen day in February of 2011, I had a massive heart attack. As I lay there, I genuinely believed I was at the end. For two months leading up to that life-changing event, I had been praying for God to remove me from the planet. I felt like an absolute failure, a disappointment: No money. No education. No career. No direction. No hope for the future.
Then, in that quiet moment as I was being wheeled to the ICU,
I heard God speak:
“Well, John… do you want to stay or do you want to go?”
It wasn’t an imagination. It wasn’t a feeling. It was a clear, unmistakable voice that resonated through me.
Before I could even respond, an even louder voice rose up inside me—deep, powerful, undeniable:
“If you decide to stay, I will be with you… and I will give you a purpose.”
Those words shook me to my core.
Over the next hour, as the cardiologist made his way through the icy streets, I thought deeply on those words and presented my requests:
“Okay, Lord… I would like to stay, if that’s alright with You. But I don’t want to be the same man. I want to be remembered for doing something GOOD. I want to LIVE every day—not just be alive. And I want to touch as many lives as possible with whatever time I have left.”
Immediately, I heard a response that felt like it echoed through my entire being:
“SO BE IT.”
If you decide to stay, I will be with you… and I will give you a purpose.
A Heart Attack, a Conversation With God, and a Movement to Protect Homeowners
In that moment, everything changed—not on the outside, but on the inside. I left the hospital physically worse than when I went in; nothing had changed about my past or my current situation, but I was spiritually, emotionally, and purposefully renewed.
I only knew two things when I walked out of that room:
- God would be with me.
- God would give me a purpose.
I just didn’t know what that purpose was yet.
The Spark of a Calling
Six months later, as I was out doing my job selling coupons—barely scraping by—God was working behind the scenes in a way I couldn’t yet see.
One day, I spoke with a plumber who wanted to share an ad with an electrician he trusted, and a roofer he trusted. That simple conversation—three good contractors wanting to stand together—hit me like a bolt of electricity.
The idea wouldn’t leave me.
It felt like God was whispering:
“This is yours… DO IT.”
So, with no money, no experience, and nothing but obedience and faith, I quit my job. I had one last paycheck coming, and no safety net. But I had a calling. I sat down with a yellow legal pad and started drawing out the vision God gave me—an idea that no one had ever tried before:
Separate the good contractors from the bad.
Stand behind the good ones… And protect homeowners at all costs.
Birthing The Good Contractors List
I hit the streets and started asking people, “Who are the good guys in town?” Then I went and met them one by one and said: “I’m building a website that will separate the good contractors from the bad.”
I began sharing the vision, sketching out what the website would do on that yellow legal pad: “Someday we’ll be on the radio and TV. And we will guarantee the work of every contractor on the list and take responsibility if we pick someone that doesn’t perform.”
I didn’t have money.
I didn’t have a team.
I didn’t even have a website yet.
They believed in what I was trying to build because it was real. It had purpose. It had integrity. It was for the good of homeowners and for the good of honest tradespeople.
And that is how The Good Contractors List was born.
Since 2011, we’ve vetted contractors, protected homeowners, and backed every job with a $25,000 guarantee—a promise we’ve honored with an unmatched track record.
But the story didn’t stop there.
The Purpose Becomes a Movement
Over the years, I saw the deeper problem: Homeowners were unprotected, and good contractors were stuck in a broken system.
Then God revealed something bigger: TGCL wasn’t just a directory. It was a blueprint for a movement.
A movement where:
- The good guys stand together under a third-party authority.
- Homeowners are protected by real accountability.
- Contractors use their collective influence to drive leads to each other.
- Entire communities become “Safe Contractor Communities”—built on integrity, responsibility, and trust.
This is what I now call The Good Contractors Movement.
A movement that is spreading city by city, contractor by contractor, homeowner by homeowner.
From Hopelessness to Purpose
What began with a heart attack, a conversation with God, and a desperate prayer to end my life has become a mission that protects families, restores trust, elevates good contractors, and is transforming an entire industry.
I shouldn’t be here.
But God said, “If you stay, I will be with you… and I will give you a purpose.”
This—protecting homeowners and empowering good contractors—is my purpose.
And we’re just getting started.
John Hill,
Founder
The Good Contractors List
