Carla Altomare holds impressive professional credentials. She has a Ph.D. in epidemiology and practices as a cardiovascular perfusionist. On any given day, she could be in surgery at her home hospital and then drive to another hospital for an overnight shift where she is on the cardiogenic shock team in the CVICU. At any moment, she may be fielding a text from a client who needs a mobile veterinarian or getting a call from a new mother who wants to plan a bris party for her newborn. 

Altomare’s instinct to step in and anticipate what people need is at the heart of everything she does. It’s also the idea behind Gioia Concierge, the Bucks County-based home support company she founded, which helps families manage the everyday logistics of their busy lives.

Carla Altomare is a 2026 Bucks County Parent Women of Influence Award Winner

Bucks County Parent’s Women of Influence Awards celebrate exceptional women making significant impacts in our community. Altomare was nominated by a colleague and selected based on her achievements and dedication to creating positive change. Each Women of Influence Award Winner has committed to support Family Focus Media’s core values. Together, we are committed to fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment for all families. All backgrounds, races, genders, and sexual orientations are welcome and safe with us.

Beyond the awards, our Women of Influence Luncheon and Speed Networking Night attendees come together as our Women of Influence Network, a community fostering connections, collaboration, and mutual support.

Building a Career on Knowing What Good Help Actually Looks Like 

As a single mother raising three kids while working a demanding medical career, Altomare relied first on a nanny, then an assistant. For nearly a decade, she also utilized concierge services for her family’s trips to Disney World and New England. “I love to cook, but I don’t want to have to shop for groceries and make my own reservations when I’m away,” she says. Asking for help, and letting a concierge service handle the details, allowed her to truly relax on vacations.

When Altomare moved back to Bucks County (where she grew up) about three years ago, she noticed a local concierge service didn’t exist. So she built it herself. “I wanted to create an all-inclusive concierge service that focused not only on traditional concierge needs, but the everyday tasks the modern family encounters,” she says.

Her business has grown, service by service, into a full roster of offerings, including home assistance, nanny services, senior companionship, transportation, home organization, personal shopping and event planning. Gioia Concierge is staffed by more than 50 background-checked lifestyle professionals. About a year ago, the company added a dynamite catering division, introducing a whole new layer to what the business offers. More recently, they also added a bespoke travel division, which comes at a surprisingly modest price for the perks that are offered.

Altomare’s son, Giancarlo Lombardo, is the owner of Gioia Concierge and serves as Chief Financial Officer. She credits him with a level of steadiness she leans on daily. “I don’t think I can talk about my son without smiling and getting a little choked up,” she says. “He’s my ride or die.”

Family, Faith, and a Name That Means Something

The company’s name traces back to a word Altomare has used for her children since they were small: gioia, Italian for joy. “Choose joy” became a family motto and, eventually, the guiding idea behind her business.

That sense of purpose is rooted in faith, too. Altomare and her family are practicing Catholics, and she often returns to a quote from the late long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine that she has repeated to her now-grown children for years: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

“God gives you so many gifts,” she says. “You have to use them, and give your best, every single day.”

She has lived by that philosophy through some demanding years. Raising three children largely on her own, she says, meant working two to four jobs at a time to keep things stable. The early years were not easy. What kept her moving forward was simple: “I had three little ones looking at me to dust off, keep growing, and thrive.”

Giving Back in Ways That Go Beyond the Business

Altomare is a proud alumnae of Villa Joseph Marie High School, the all-girls Bucks County school she credits with helping shape the woman she is today. She remains deeply connected to the school, generously supporting its annual events and giving back to the community that helped lay her foundation.

Her philanthropic commitments also center on PARCA, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting rhinoceroses from extinction. Altomare has shown up year after year as a sponsor at PARCA fundraisers and community events. Additionally, she and her team support local youth sports teams. “As I have more, I like to give more,” she says.

Opening Doors for Other Women

Mentorship is woven into the way Altomare builds both her team and her community. The COO of Gioia is a dear family friend that she’s known since birth. One of her closest friends runs Gioia’s personal shopping service, a role that grew naturally from the admiration Altomare has long had for her friend’s eye for fashion. Many of the company’s other team members came through personal referrals, too, reflecting the network of trust Altomare has built around her.

She extends that same spirit of connection beyond her own company. In September, Altomare hosted Next Level Reset in conjunction with Networked Up, a women’s wellness retreat designed not only to help attendees recharge, but also to shine a light on other local women-owned businesses. The day featured a stretch class, sound bath, food, and guest speakers, creating space for women to care for themselves while supporting one another.

Altomare’s belief in lifting other women is also at the heart of the advice she gives to anyone who feels stuck, uncertain or planted somewhere difficult. Her message is simple: “Believe in yourself, trust your instinct, and you will succeed. Bravery is taking initiative. Bravery is loving yourself. Bravery is you.”

And if there is one thing she hopes people remember years from now, it is that Gioia Concierge was genuine. “I’d like them to look back and say, ‘these were good people who really cared about my family and made the busy years a lot more manageable.’”

It’s a modest ambition for a woman whose work has consistently centered on making life a little lighter for other people. As her Women of Influence nomination puts it, giving back for Carla isn’t an obligation, it’s a calling.

---

Follow Gioia Concierge on Instagram and Facebook.

Help us honor Carla by sharing what her contributions mean to you in the comments below.