Know Your Story
Recognize how your experience, beliefs, triggers, and unfinished areas affect the way you hear another person.
Mentor enrollment is open
Create your account, complete The Somebody Standard course, and move through each required verification step online.
Become a mentor
Could you be somebody another person has been looking for?
Somebody Like Me mentors bring lived experience, but they also bring self-awareness, boundaries, listening, reliability, and a willingness to keep learning. A degree is not what makes somebody ready. Passion alone does not make somebody ready either.
The responsibility
Lived experience is the beginning. Readiness is the responsibility.
Being an adoptee, former foster youth, or person raised under guardianship may help you understand something from the inside. Mentorship requires more.
A mentor must listen without taking over, hold a story that differs from their own, share personal experience with purpose, protect the relationship, and return choice to the person in front of them.
Who can be considered
Accessible does not mean easy.
- 01
At least 25 years old
- 02
An adoptee, former foster youth, or person raised under guardianship with relevant lived experience
- 03
Available for a minimum six-month pilot commitment
- 04
Able to offer at least four sessions per month
- 05
Comfortable managing a public profile, virtual meetings, scheduling, and marketplace communication tools
- 06
Willing to complete the full application, interview, training, and supervised-practice process
- 07
Willing to receive direct feedback and attend a monthly mentor circle
- 08
Willing to follow privacy, communication, and youth-safety policies
- 09
Willing to complete government-ID verification and an approved background check before becoming active
The Somebody Standard
Five commitments that keep the conversation centered where it belongs.
Hold Their Story
Make room for feelings and choices that may differ from your own without correcting, persuading, or seeking agreement.
Share With Purpose
Use your lived experience to support the mentee without turning the session into your own processing space.
Protect the Space
Maintain clear boundaries around privacy, time, communication, role, and safety.
Return Agency
Help the mentee hear themselves more clearly and choose their own next step.
The pilot commitment
Show up prepared. Keep showing up.
Start the course online now. Later verification steps unlock only after the required training is passed.
- Six-month initial commitment
- At least four available sessions each month
- Approximately 18 hours of formal training
- Three supervised practice conversations
- A 90-day provisional mentor period
- Monthly mentor circle and quarterly review
- Continuing feedback and immediate reporting of safety or boundary concerns
What mentors receive
Structure, feedback, and a team around the work.
↗ The required Somebody Standard course at no charge
↗ A public, shareable marketplace profile after passing and activation
↗ Supervised practice
↗ A small cohort of lived-experience mentors
↗ Monthly mentor support
↗ Limited qualified professional consultation once active
↗ Direct feedback and continued development
↗ Control over published session lengths, rates, and availability within marketplace standards
↗ Discovery based on experience, identity, interests, comfort, and limits
Mentors set their own published rates. For each completed booking, the mentor dashboard shows the session amount, the $1.00 Somebody Like Me booking fee, the actual Stripe processing fee, any refund or dispute adjustment, and the mentor’s net earnings before payout.
Free until you pass
You do not pay for the chance to prove you are ready.
Our methodology is required. Every applicant must demonstrate it in practice before they can mentor through Somebody Like Me.
Create an account and train
Complete the required course modules, knowledge checks, and final assessment at no charge.
$0Pass the methodology
Complete the course, assessments, role plays, supervised practice, and final readiness evaluation.
Earned—not boughtVerify and screen
After passing, complete embedded government-ID verification and authorize the approved third-party background report.
Exact provider fee shown before the check is orderedActivate your profile
After screening is cleared, complete embedded payout onboarding. Founding mentors can pay at activation or recover the fee gradually from completed bookings.
$99 founding feeIf you do not pass the course and readiness evaluation, you pay nothing. The screening fee covers a third-party report; it never changes a readiness or safety decision.
The mentor path
Readiness is demonstrated throughout the process.
- 01
Create a mentor training account
- 02
Complete The Somebody Standard course and assessments at no charge
- 03
Pass the final methodology assessment; the course gate updates automatically
- 04
After passing, complete embedded government-ID verification
- 05
Review the stand-alone disclosure, authorize the background report, and pay the disclosed provider fee
- 06
Complete required scenario practice and any readiness follow-up
- 07
Clear screening, complete embedded Stripe Connect payout onboarding, and begin the 90-day provisional period
The training score is automated. A public profile remains locked until identity, background screening, practice, and payout requirements are also complete.
Three possible decisions
Advance
The applicant continues to the next stage.
Prepare and Reapply
The applicant may have strong potential but needs additional growth, stability, experience, or boundary development before continuing. When appropriate, we will identify specific areas and a possible return path.
Not a Fit
The role is not currently a responsible fit, or a safety, honesty, reliability, or boundary concern prevents advancement.
Start now
Your first step is the standard.
Create your training account and complete each module in order. Passing the final assessment automatically completes the course gate and opens the next verification stage.
Do I need a degree?+
No. A bachelor’s or master’s degree is not required. Lived experience, self-awareness, judgment, boundaries, listening, reliability, and coachability matter here.
Do I need previous mentoring experience?+
Not necessarily. Relevant experience may help, but applicants will be evaluated through written responses, interviews, role plays, training, and supervised practice.
How does the process begin?+
Create a mentor training account and complete The Somebody Standard course. The platform saves your progress, scores each check, and automatically advances the training gate when you pass. Identity, background screening, practice, and payout onboarding remain separate requirements.
Can I earn money as a mentor?+
Mentors set their own published rates. For each completed booking, the mentor dashboard shows the session amount, the $1.00 Somebody Like Me booking fee, the actual Stripe processing fee, any refund or dispute adjustment, and the mentor’s net earnings before payout.
What does Somebody Like Me charge per booking?+
The platform fee is $1.00 for each completed booking. Actual Stripe processing fees are shown separately. The mentor dashboard will display the gross session amount, both fees, any refund or dispute adjustment, and the resulting net earnings. This is not a percentage commission.
How much time does training require?+
The current pilot plan includes approximately 18 hours of formal training, three supervised practice conversations, and a final readiness review. Scheduling details are pending.
You do not need to have a perfect story.