Business View - February 2015 57
by Jefferson’s sheepish chuckles. “There’s a guy com-
ing straight at me, and I think if the picture had audio
you could probably hear a ‘Look out!’
“He’s pretty adamant about it even now, but it is defi-
nitely under review.”
Regardless of the ultimate verdict, though, the two
have managed to find life after sacks.
Fotheringham and Jefferson pursued business de-
grees while attending school together, and the friend-
ship and mutual entrepreneurial spirit they cultivated
there while pondering post-graduation career paths
ultimately led to those paths intersecting again years
later at Amada Senior Care.
Jefferson is the company’s chief executive officer,
while Fotheringham is its president.
“My father has always been an entrepreneur and I nev-
er knew any different,” Jefferson said.
“That had a big impact on me as a young boy. He al-
ways carved out and created a niche for himself. He
was always able to figure out a way to make it happen.
I learned from a very early age to be very industrious.
My father really focused in on teaching us the impor-
tance and value of education. When I arrived at the
Eberhardt School of Business on campus at University
of Pacific, I knew I wanted to be like my father. I knew I
wanted to blaze my own path in business.”
His mother’s background as a nurse steered him to-
ward a healthcare-related discipline, and, after a
would-be NFL career was snuffed out by injuries and a
first start-up business showed significant promise, Jef-
ferson sought to reconnect with Fotheringham – who’d
been laid off from a national account management po-
sition with a major pharmaceutical company and was
open to possibilities.
They kick-started Amada out of a 300-square-foot of-
fice in 2007, and have since watched the in-home se-
nior care enterprise grow to three corporate and four
franchise facilities in Southern California. Together
they have accumulated 38 franchise operations com-
prising footprints in 17 U.S. states.
Amada’s in-home caregivers offer a menu of activities
of daily living that include bathing, light housekeeping,
dressing, errands/shopping, meal preparation/feed-
ing, toileting, medication reminders and walking/am-
bulating/exercise assistance. Also available is a free
senior housing placement service, in which Amada
personnel assist in narrowing options and referring
families to assisted and independent living communi-
ties, board and care homes, adult family homes and
senior care homes, as well as skilled nursing facilities
and Alzheimer’s/dementia communities.
FRANCHISE
