She moved from Belarus, got a computer science degree in her second language, and watched doctors get crushed by insurance chaos from the inside. So she built an AI company to fix it.

Stefaniya Barabanava is the co-founder of Sphere — a startup rebuilding how healthcare providers handle insurance communication.

"Many of the times they really don't know whether they're getting paid for the work they do."

00:00 Introduction to Financial Literacy and AI in Healthcare02:45 Stefaniya's Journey from Belarus to Healthcare Innovation05:45 The Challenges of the US Healthcare System09:02 Founding Sphere: Addressing Pain Points in Healthcare12:02 Navigating the Startup Landscape: Lessons Learned15:01 The Weight of Responsibility in Healthcare18:06 The Importance of Mentorship and Collaboration21:12 Finding Purpose Beyond Profit24:00 Future Aspirations for Sphere26:51 Fundraising Insights and Storytelling for Startups

Follow The Friday Sponge for more stories like this.thefridaysponge.com

Connect with StefaniyaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefaniyab/Sphere: https://sphereint.net/

What started as a dinner party conversation is now one of Canada’s fastest-growing butter brands.

Akshay, co-founder of Whipdd Butter out of Toronto, joins us this week to share how a single evening with his co-founder and their spouses sparked a business that would go from zero to over 100 retail locations in under two years — including a landmark deal with Whole Foods Toronto and nearly $500K in annual revenue.

Born and raised in India, Akshay didn’t come from the food industry — he came from the school of knocking on doors and hearing “no.” And it turns out, that’s exactly the skill set you need when you’re trying to break into one of the most competitive shelves in grocery retail.
In this episode, we get into the gritty origin story behind Whipdd — the hustle, the rejections, the wins, and why Costco and Walmart should probably start paying attention.

This week we talk about:
• Navigating rejection and turning “no” into momentum
• Breaking into major retailers from scratch
• Pursuing a bold vision in an oversaturated market

 Tune in and soak it all up — it’s Friday, and this one’s worth your time.

Company: https://www.whipdd.com/

Instagram: @whipdd.to

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaykalekar

Most arts organizations with their funding model would have closed by year five. Mile Square Theater just hit year 23.
This week, we sit down with Elizabeth DiCandillo and Chris Cragin-Day — two leaders who could have taken the corporate path and didn’t. Instead, they built something Hoboken didn’t know it needed: an award-winning theater running on operational brilliance, deep community roots, and a stubborn refusal to quit.

But this conversation goes beyond the stage. Elizabeth makes a case that the loneliness epidemic and the collapse of real relationships didn’t start with social media — it accelerated the moment we convinced ourselves a Zoom call was a substitute for showing up. She argues that the antidote isn’t an app. It’s a room full of people watching something they can’t rewind.

If you’ve ever wondered what 23 years in the trenches of live performance teaches you about leadership, community, and human connection — this one’s for you.
 Real stories. Real business. Every Friday.

Company Websites: https://www.milesquaretheatre.org/

Instagram: @milesquaretheaterTikTok: @milesquaretheater

John Maguire didn’t pick an easy time to start a business. Launching the day before 9/11, he built International Voyager from a basement in Montclair, NJ — credit cards maxed, employees sleeping under his roof, and a travel industry in freefall.

What followed was 25 years of surviving things that shouldn’t be survivable. A terrorist attack. A global recession. A pandemic that wiped out the entire travel sector overnight.
In this episode, John gets brutally honest about what it actually takes to keep going when every signal is telling you to quit - and how a company born in the Y2K era is now using AI to outmaneuver competitors half its age.

This one hits different.

Company Websites:

 internationalvoyager.comCruiseDirector.com

Socials:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmaguireceo/

From Oracle and Microsoft to building a thriving services company - Khurram Khalimi’s journey is anything but ordinary.
In this episode, we sit down with Khurram, co-founder and COO of Vinn Corp, a full-service digital agency doing everything from app development and UI/UX design to video and social media creation. What started as a bold leap of faith in Pakistan has evolved into a multi-million dollar operation that just landed in the US.

We dive deep into Khurram’s story — including how he left his corporate job without telling his family and bootstrapped his way to success. He shares the philosophy behind his book “Soldiers,” which reframes sales as the art of storytelling and problem-solving rather than pushing products. We also explore his vision to scale Vinncorp from 2 million to 10 million in annual recurring revenue over the next five years.

Key takeaways: the power of personal branding, mastering storytelling, and why flexibility and agility are non-negotiable as a founder.

Learn more about Khurram and Vinn Corp:
Website: https://vinncorp.com

LinkedIn: Khurram Kalimi 

Instagram: Instagram 

Nick Morgan Jones couldn't find a hearing aid he wasn't embarrassed to wear — so he built Overtone, a designer hearing aid brand doing to audiology what Warby Parker did to glasses. In this week's episode, Nick opens up about the founder journey behind one of the most unexpected product categories getting a complete reinvention. Real stories. Real business.

Alex Jeremijenko grew up in Australia where wellness was a way of life - accessible, communal, and built into the culture. When he moved to New York City, he found the opposite: saunas, cold plunges, and recovery spaces reserved for those who could afford them. So he built Kove Studio to change that. In this episode, Alex shares his journey from college rower at Yale to co-founding one of NYC's fastest-growing wellness studios - and what it really takes to keep going when the city literally shuts your doors. Through the highs, the sellouts, and the shutdowns, his mindset stays the same: so what, now what?

Website: https://kove.studio/

Instagram: @kove_studio

Tiktok: kove.studio