How One Entrepreneur Followed In His Brother’s Footsteps to Open a TruBlue Total House Care Franchise

Nathan Kear has always been a problem solver and a do-it-yourselfer. The former led him to a 23-year career as a mechanical engineer with Cooper Tires, the latter to taking the lead on projects such as building his family’s home in San Antonio, Texas, hiring subcontractors and doing much of the work himself. 

So early in 2021, when he decided he was tired of sitting in meetings all day and he was ready for something different, Kear solved his problem by identifying an opportunity that put his engineering background and DIY, handyman mindset to good use: TruBlue Total House Care.

“It just made a lot of sense,” said Kear. “I knew going into it that there’s just not a lot of reliable premium services in the handyman service industry. So I knew there was an opportunity there, and that if I could deliver high-quality service, people would respond.”

TruBlue is the only franchise system focused on home maintenance and handyman services for busy families and seniors who are aging in place. And while TruBlue provides an array of services for all its clients, it was the senior-services aspect that appealed most to Kear.

“As an engineer, I always look at the numbers,” he said. “And the one stat that really got me was that every year about one in four seniors falls, and many of those falls result in serious injury — sometimes even death. The ability to help seniors by providing TruBlue’s services is what really pushed me over the edge and made me think, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to do this.’”

TruBlue’s senior services begin with an extensive home-safety assessment through which it identifies potential dangers both inside and outside the home. This is followed by a list of specific recommendations to make the home safer, such as installing grab handles in bathrooms, eliminating clutter to make the home more easily navigable and even addressing overgrown exterior walkways where weeds and grass can pose a tripping hazard. 

TruBlue also provides everyday handyman services, allowing seniors to stay on top of routine maintenance with recurring appointments. This includes around-the-house tasks ranging from regularly changing air filters, light bulbs and smoke detector batteries to draining the water heater — anything around the house that seniors cannot easily do themselves or that could put them at risk.

While still working his full-time engineering job, Kear launched his TruBlue franchise in Northwest San Antonio in June 2021. That same summer, Kear, his wife and his two children traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee, to celebrate his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. His parents drove down from the family’s native Ohio and his older brother, Jason, hosted the family at his house on Fort Loudoun Lake. The brothers spent the weekend wake surfing, tubing, paddle boarding and just spending time on the water and catching up. Living more than 1,000 miles away from each other means the brothers don’t get to connect as often as they’d like.

Nathan talked about his new business venture and his excitement about the opportunity with TruBlue. Jason didn’t think much of it at the time aside from being happy for his brother. But in the weeks and months after that visit, the gears started turning in Jason’s head.

“I had always had an entrepreneurial itch,” said Jason, who, like his brother, comes from an engineering background. He has worked his entire career in the medical field and has spent the last 10 years building, renovating and maintaining radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities across the United States. “I hadn’t heard of TruBlue until my brother mentioned it that day. I thought it blended well with my background, and over time, I thought about it more and more. Eventually, that September, I reached out to TruBlue to do my own due diligence. Then I called my brother and asked how it was going for him.”

At the time, Nathan had two trained handymen and had no trouble keeping them busy. He could feel the demand for TruBlue’s services early on. Jason saw the potential demand in Knoxville, too, a metropolitan area that as recently as 2017 was named the No. 1 place in the U.S. to retire early.

For the next few months, Jason called his brother about once every couple of weeks, picking his brain about his business and how it was progressing.

Then, in March 2022, Jason officially launched his own TruBlue franchise in West Knoxville.

“I've been extremely happy with the franchise,” said Jason. “They've done everything I could have expected and more in helping me get set up, and I’ve been impressed with the leadership team from a vision standpoint. I can see them building partnerships and putting in work for us. So I’ve been very, very happy with everything.”

While Jason gets his TruBlue franchise off the ground, Nathan is making moves in San Antonio. He hired a third employee in February and recently hired a fourth. And now he has taken perhaps the biggest step in the life of his young business by leaving his full-time engineering job to focus solely on growing his TruBlue franchise.

“I have a vision of expanding beyond just Northwest San Antonio,” said Nathan. “There are TruBlues all around the country, and in bigger cities, there's usually more than one. Right now, I'm the only one in San Antonio. I would love to be successful enough to continue to expand and own the entire San Antonio territory. That’s my long-term goal.”

Both Nathan and Jason have been a part of a record stretch of growth for TruBlue. The brand doubled its year-over-year revenue in 2021 for the second straight year, and that momentum has continued early in 2022, as TruBlue is on pace early to reach its year-end goal of opening 40 new locations for a total of 100 units in operation.

“There is such a high demand for a quality experience when it comes to home services,” said Sean Fitzgerald, TruBlue’s president. “And it’s exciting to see what we’ve been able to do, especially for seniors, with the handyman services we offer. I believe that TruBlue is the missing piece in the equation that will allow seniors to successfully and safely age in place, and it’s Nathan, Jason and our incredible franchisees across the country who are helping us fill those gaps.”

As Nathan focuses on growing his business and Jason gets his going, the brothers talk more now than they have in years, they admit. Jason calls at least every few weeks with a question, tapping into Nathan’s experience to help grow his business. Nathan is just happy to be there for his brother.

“We touch base more now, for sure,” said Nathan. “There's always something to talk about, so it just gives us an opportunity to connect more because now we have something else in common.”

“It definitely gives us something to talk about,” said Jason. “It's a reason to pick up the phone or drop an email and just check in, which is something we didn't do as often as we should have before. So that's been a real positive for us. I’m just happy for him and his success and excited for what’s ahead for both of us with TruBlue.”

For more information, visit https://trubluefranchise.com/.