Today we’d like to introduce you to Katherine Gyolai.
Hi Katherine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I founded Find Love Safely after seeing a major gap in services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: while there are many supports focused on employment, housing, and daily living, very few address something equally human and deeply important—love, friendship, and meaningful connection.
Like many families, I saw firsthand that adults with disabilities want the same things all of us do: companionship, belonging, intimacy, and partnership. But too often, they are either excluded from conversations about dating altogether or left to navigate it without the support, education, and safeguards they need. In many cases, families and systems focus so heavily on protection that they unintentionally limit opportunities for connection, despite the reality that withholding healthy options often pushes people toward riskier, unsupported ones.
I started Find Love Safely to change that.
What began as a matchmaking service has grown into a broader relationship support platform focused on helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities build safe, meaningful relationships through matchmaking, virtual education, coaching, and community events. We take a safety-first, human-led approach that combines structured support with autonomy, because we believe people deserve both independence and protection.
Since launching in 2025, Find Love Safely has expanded to multiple cities across the country, served hundreds of families, facilitated meaningful relationships and friendships, and become a trusted resource for caregivers, providers, and disability organizations looking for safer, more thoughtful ways to support adults in this area of life.
Today, we’re continuing to grow nationally while building technology to expand our impact even further. But our mission stays the same: helping adults with disabilities access the love, connection, and belonging they deserve in a way that is safe, supportive, and empowering.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, and I think that’s true for most founders building something new, especially in a space that requires both market education and behavior change.
One of the biggest challenges has been that Find Love Safely sits at the intersection of disability services, dating, safety, and social stigma. We’re solving a real problem, but in many ways we’re also creating a new category. That means a significant part of the work has been educating families, providers, and systems that adults with disabilities not only want relationships, but deserve support in pursuing them safely.
We’ve also had to navigate concerns from funders and service systems around liability and appropriateness. There can be a lot of fear around supporting dating for this population, even though the reality is that avoiding the topic doesn’t eliminate risk—it often increases it. Helping stakeholders understand that safety comes through education, structure, and support—not restriction—has been a major part of our journey.
Operationally, scaling a human-led service across multiple cities while maintaining quality and consistency has also been challenging. We’ve had to build systems, processes, training, and infrastructure largely from scratch because there wasn’t really a blueprint for this kind of model.
And like many early-stage businesses, we’ve done all of this while being extremely resource-conscious—growing organically, testing carefully, and building thoughtfully without significant outside funding.
That said, every challenge has reinforced how needed this work is. The demand, the stories from families, and the impact we’re seeing continue to validate that we’re building something important.
We’ve been impressed with Find Love Safely, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Find Love Safely is a relationship support company for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We help individuals build safe, meaningful friendships and romantic relationships through a combination of personalized matchmaking, virtual education, coaching, and structured social opportunities.
What sets us apart is that we are not a dating app or passive platform. We take a human-led, safety-first approach to relationships. Every introduction is thoughtfully made by a real matchmaker, and we pair that with education and support around boundaries, consent, communication, online safety, and healthy relationship skills—because connection without preparation is not enough.
We specialize in serving a population that has historically been overlooked in conversations about dating and relationships, despite having the same desire for love and belonging as anyone else. Many families and systems don’t know where to turn for support in this area, and that’s where we come in.
What I’m most proud of brand-wise is that we’ve built a company that challenges the false choice between autonomy and safety. Too often, people assume you have to pick one or the other—that supporting adults with disabilities in dating means sacrificing safety, or that protecting them means limiting their opportunities. Our brand is built on the belief that people deserve both.
We’re known for bringing structure, thoughtfulness, and professionalism to an area that has historically lacked all three. Families trust us because we understand the nuances of this work and take the responsibility seriously.
At the end of the day, I want people to know that Find Love Safely is about much more than dating. It’s about dignity, inclusion, and helping people access one of the most fundamental parts of the human experience: meaningful connection.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Absolutely! Find Love Safely would not be where it is today without the people who believed in this mission early and helped bring it to life.
First and foremost, Mary Tousignant, our very first matchmaker, deserves enormous credit. She has given her heart and soul to this work from the beginning. Mary cares deeply about every member and every family we serve, and her compassion, commitment, and belief in our mission have helped shape the culture and heart of Find Love Safely in countless ways.
My husband, Kevin Gyolai, has also been an incredible source of support throughout this journey. Building a company from the ground up requires enormous emotional and financial sacrifice, and his belief in me and in this mission has given me the stability and encouragement to keep pursuing it through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
I’m also deeply grateful to Mary Kemp, co-owner of a highly successful — and recently purchased — branding and design agency, who has generously volunteered her time, expertise, and strategic insight to help us grow. Her guidance has been instrumental in helping us build a brand that truly reflects the quality, professionalism, and heart behind our work.
Entrepreneurship can often feel lonely, and I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have people around me who not only believed in the vision, but actively helped build it alongside me.
Pricing:
- Core Membership: $349/year; Includes personalized matchmaking and free admission to local Find Love Safely events when available
- Essentials Membership:$1,299/year; Includes matchmaking plus live virtual relationship and safety workshops
- Concierge Membership: $2,799/year; Includes everything in Essentials plus one 1:1 coaching session per month
- Virtual Workshops Membership: $89/month; Includes access to live virtual workshops only (no matchmaking)
- 1:1 Coaching Add-On: $150/session; Available for members seeking additional individualized support
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.findlovesafely.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findlovesafely/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/findlovesafely
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/find-love-safely/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FindLoveSafely
- Other: https://www.threads.net/@findlovesafely
