James Gogolak

I'm from Los Angeles, and this started for me before Teen Line ever did. I've watched people close to me, family and friends, struggle with their mental health, and I remember how hard it was to know what to say or do. That's the reason any of this exists.

Training to sit with someone in crisis and respond well takes real practice, and at Teen Line, most of that comes through roleplay.

At Teen Line, those roleplays happen in person, back to back with another trainee, texting or talking it out while sitting right next to them. That works, but it's hard to really sink into the role when the person across from you is a friend you're completely comfortable with. It can turn into something closer to joking around than real practice. I wanted a version with actual structure, a scenario you can't shortcut just because you know the person playing it.

That's the problem SupportPrep is built to solve.

SupportPrep is a two person operation. Founder and CEO are the titles on paper, but in practice that means I wrote the code, designed every scenario, and built the AI personas. Maica Monti, our COO, User Experience Analyst, and Beta Tester, tests every conversation before it goes live and helps shape how the whole thing feels to use.

I'm also interested in hospitality, and in service more generally. There's a common thread I keep coming back to between crisis support and hospitality: both are about making someone's experience a little better, even in a small way.

I'm a student at Loyola High School, class of 2027. On campus, I'm a member of the Student Wellness Council, a peer on peer counseling group that Loyola students can reach out to when they need someone to talk to. I'm also a listener at Teen Line, a peer support line for teens outside of school.

Alongside that, I helped run a set of surveys on youth mental health across California through AIM Ideas Lab. Outside of mental health work, I play soccer and golf, and I'm a member of Loyola's Student Investment Fund, a twenty person team that manages and invests $1.4 million.