For more than 20 years, Andrea Tomba worked in managed care, spending much of that time deep in the complexities of Medicare and Medicaid. Along the way, she saw firsthand how a single fall could upend a senior's life entirely. That perspective, built over decades in corporate health care operations, is embedded into the passion she brings to her TruBlue Home Service Ally franchise in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Tomba's path to franchise ownership wasn't a straight line. After a significant layoff in 2023 from a managed long-term care company, she started thinking about she wanted to do next. Through her research, she understood that her probability of success would be meaningfully higher with a franchise, thanks to proven operations, a peer network, and access to tools she wouldn't have building alone. So she started working with a broker.
When that broker first suggested TruBlue, Tomba admits she hesitated.
"What am I going to do with a handyman company?" she remembers thinking. What changed her mind was realizing TruBlue isn't a standard handyman business. It's a business that puts senior safety at the center, backed by infrastructure to manage rather than just labor to perform.
That focus lines up directly with her background. As a certified Aging In Place Home Safety Specialist, Tomba evaluates homes through a fall-prevention lens. She was especially drawn to TruBlue's Home Ally Maintenance & VIP Subscription Services, which gives busy adults in the "sandwich generation" peace of mind: regular seasonal or monthly visits to catch hazards before they become emergencies, with open communication back to family members who can't always be there themselves.
Tomba's growth plans reach beyond her own territory. She's working toward contracting with New Jersey Medicaid, having already secured her state Home Improvement Contractor license, and hopes to build a team model where the same technician serves the same client every visit, much like a case manager in health care.
Her motivation is personal. Tomba often thinks of a neighbor who fell at home, went to the hospital, and never returned. Like many older adults, she carried a quiet reluctance to accept help.
"I want to provide a service that feels like a partnership, not pity," Tomba said. That's the philosophy she's building her business on: a home maintenance assessment that says, "the place is generally good, but here are the things you need to look at to stay safe."
As a growing franchisee, Tomba says the thing potential franchisees need to know is that they aren’t buying into a company that hands them a hammer. "I'm not the one doing the repairs," Tomba said. "I'm doing the financial management, the marketing and the audits."
