Benedictine Junior Starts Business to Help Type-1 Diabetics

Benedictine College junior Anthony Dominick needed a job and realized “the job market sucks.”

He decided to start a business devoted to providing resources and support for Type-1 diabetics.

The diabetic community holds a special place for Anthony because he himself is a Type-1 diabetic. Anthony modeled his business through what he calls the “Diabetes Monster,” an affectionate name for a drawing of a fluffy blue creature that his sister gave him when he was first diagnosed and hospitalized in 2016.

Anthony’s business strives to help close the informational and financial gaps within the diabetic community by providing different services. Taking from his own personal experiences living as a diabetic, he saw an opportunity to improve the medical and financial needs of those within the diabetic community, noting that “some resources exist, but most resources are hard to find more directly.”

He lamented that insulin is very expensive ($27,000 a year even without insurance) despite insulin not being very difficult to make. Anthony has also experienced struggles even with medical professionals about how to properly support diabetics and following the right procedures.

Anthony wants to create a “Diabetes Monster” plushie which works threefold as a personal companion, as an informational resource that contains all the proper medical terminology and procedures, and as a source of charity. With each purchase of a plushie, 15% of the revenue is automatically donated. People can also purchase plushies and return them to the business so they can donate it to hospitals, which Anthony calls “an adoption.” With the revenue he collects, he will funnel the profit into the creation of a financial aid program to support their medical needs and pay for their resources.

With the help of the Student International Business Council here at Benedictine, Anthony’s business has been expanding on campus. Currently, he is working on receiving donations and fundraising as well as building his own staff.

If you would like to know more about Anthony’s story or learn out more about the Diabetes Monster, you can find him on Instagram @diabetes_monster_1 or the company’s website diabetes-monster.com.