Our Story
LetsConnect Project was born from a simple idea: finding mental health support should be easy, not overwhelming. Our founder, Sophie Athena, knows this struggle firsthand.
Sophie’s personal struggle was the catalyst for the development of LetsConnect. Her firsthand experience with the challenges of finding mental health support shaped our mission to make care more accessible, affordable, and compassionate for post-secondary students across Canada.
In 2010, Sophie faced the profound loss of her grandmother, who had raised her, marking the beginning of a challenging period in her life. This grief was compounded by another significant event in early 2013, leading her into a deep depression by 2014. Despite recognizing her need for help and reaching out to a general practitioner, her concerns were dismissed, leaving her feeling isolated and misunderstood. Her condition worsened, leading to a profound sense of hopelessness.
Determined to find the right support, Sophie sought help from multiple professionals. Her persistence led her to a psychiatrist and a counsellor who worked collaboratively with her to find an effective treatment plan. Through this journey, she was accurately diagnosed with mixed-type ADHD. With appropriate treatment, Sophie's mental health improved, and she regained her cognitive functions over time.
Motivated by her experiences, Sophie became a mental health and recovery advocate. She recognized the systemic challenges in accessing mental health care, particularly for post-secondary students facing academic pressures and life transitions. This insight led to the creation of LetsConnect, a platform designed to simplify the process of finding mental health support. By combining technology with compassionate care, LetsConnect aims to ensure that no one has to navigate their mental health journey alone.
Sophie's story is a testament to resilience and the transformative power of accessible mental health support. At LetsConnect, we are inspired by her journey and are dedicated to building a community where everyone can find the help they need.
Team
Sophia (Sophie) Athena
Founder
Sophia has navigated her own challenges with depression and learning disabilities, including an early struggle that led to failing fourth grade. With the guidance of her grandmother, an expert in pedagogy, she not only overcame these difficulties but excelled to become a top student. Later, she earned a full scholarship to Capilano University's graduate program in international business. Motivated by her own experiences, Sophia is committed to making mental health support more accessible. Sophia’s journey with LetsConnect began with a simple but powerful idea—mental health support should be accessible, affordable, and tailored to individual needs. Through conversations with members of her mental health-focused Facebook page, which quickly grew to over 58,000 followers across North America and Europe, she gained deep insights into the challenges people faced in finding the right support. From these discussions, the seed of an idea took root: an AI companion that’s always available and easy to access, offering compassion and validation for your thoughts, feelings, and experiences—just like a best friend—and a platform that makes it easier for people to connect with the right mental health professionals.
With self-taught skills in UI/UX design and the help of a skilled programming team, Sophia transformed that vision into reality, bringing LetsConnect to life.
Andrea Rutherford Preissl
Co-Founder
Andrea is deeply passionate about facilitating accessible mental health support. With over 15 years of experience in play-based outdoor education, she has seen how parental well-being can directly impact children's emotional development. From an early age, children absorb and mirror the emotional environment around them, often manifesting in their own mental health challenges later in life. She believes that by empowering everyone to prioritize their mental health and access support, we can break the cycle of intergenerational mental health issues and foster healthier futures for everyone.
Duncan O'Mahony MA, CMPC, RCC
Clinical Advisor
Duncan is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) who has been in practice for 10 years in British Columbia. He is currently completing his PsyD in Counselling Psychology and will register as a psychologist upon graduation. He has worked at all levels of care, starting off as a crisis clinician with inpatient youth at a regional hospital. He has worked in the community at a provincial youth mental health office, the local school board and even a forensic psychiatric youth facility. In private practice Duncan specializes in couples and the welfare of high-performance athletes. He is excited about this opportunity with LetsConnect and the development of this platform for individuals to access the right care provider. As a therapist Duncan has been in the virtual and telehealth realm for 7 years now and is aware of the benefits it provides for consumers.
