Matt Kalina — Founder and CEO of TandemStride

Matt Kalina is the Founder and CEO of TandemStride, a healthcare marketplace that connects trauma survivors with peers, care partners, and providers to support long-term recovery. Inspired by his family’s firsthand experience with traumatic injury, Matt is dedicated to building solutions that close the gap between emergency care and ongoing support. With his leadership, TandemStride is advancing a more connected and compassionate model of recovery.

In our conversation, Matt and I explore the often-overlooked realities of life after traumatic injury, why peer support is such a powerful layer of care, how his family adapted to his brother’s traumatic loss of his both his legs in 2012 and have come together through TandemStride to building the support platform they wish had existed by meeting people in moments of real crisis, not months later. We also talk about Matt’s evolution as a leadership, his Ohio go-to-market strategy, the power of incentives, the business of trauma, working with his family in the company, empathy, and coming into your life’s work.

Matt is an inspiring entrepreneur and this was a really special conversation – please enjoy.

00:00 Introduction to Tandem Stride
02:46 Introduction and Personal Connection
04:42 The Journey to Tandem Stride
07:15 Identifying Gaps in Injury Care
09:47 Understanding Patient Needs
12:21 Building the Tandem Stride Platform
15:13 Engagement and Outreach Strategies
17:57 Navigating Healthcare Partnerships
20:30 The Business Model and Future Vision
33:39 Engaging in Healthcare Innovation
34:42 Defining the Vision for TandemStride
37:37 Creating a New Category in Injury Care
40:09 Changing Incentives in Healthcare
44:07 Long-Term Policy Initiatives
45:05 Personal Growth as a Leader
48:59 Family Dynamics in Business
51:46 Exciting Developments Ahead
54:53 Embracing Uncertainty in Entrepreneurship
59:21 Outro

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LINKS:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalinamatt/
https://www.tandemstride.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Cut-Through-Shortcut-That-Everything/dp/0960083766

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