John Pearce owns Assisting Hands Home Care with his wife, Brenda, in Toms River.

When did you decide you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

“I have thought about being an entrepreneur, off and on, for probably two decades. However, like many people who decide not to become entrepreneurs, it was less risky for me tostay within the comfort of a salaried corporate job. It took a series of events that made me take a hard look at what I had been doing for most of my career. While I was considered very successful by corporate standards, I suddenly found myself asking “What am I doing?”, “Am I happy doing this?”, “Am I proud to tell people what I do?” In all my years of working, I had never really taken the time to truly think about and answer those questions. Needless to say, I didn’t like the answers.”