We had the good fortune of connecting with Mo Tregenza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mo, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Something I’m not always eager to admit, but I’m a “retired” lawyer. Most cases end up settling (more on that below). Yet lawyers and clients spend months and often years, wound up in costly, life draining legal process. In the U.S. a half a trillion dollars (that’s 12 zeros!) is spent on litigation each year. None of which goes back to the pockets of the parties. So I’m an unhappy, stressed-out lawyer, making unhappy, stressed-out clients–for no reason?? This was a problem for me. Here’s my background story: my late grandfather, Judge Thomas Duffy, was a Presiding Court Judge for 30 years in California. When he retired he was a mediator and I was his precious grandaughter. As a Judge he was handling thousands of cases each year. He put a lot of time and effort into rendering thoughtful decisions. With such a huge caseload, how could he? Ultimately, he was always the bad guy and a lot of times finding a winner or a loser wasn’t the outcome anybody needed. The truth is: problems are a part of life. The people best suited to solve them are the ones with the skin in the game, the ones who created them. My grandfather had an illustrious and admirable career on the bench and ultimately, he saw how ineffective those adjudicated outcomes were. I followed in his footsteps and I was a lawyer for years. The first thing I told my clients: “There is a 95% chance this case will settle.” Then I would spend months, if not years, preparing for trial and coming up with legal arguments and motions that muddied the waters and kept resolution at bay. On top of that, if you are in the 5% that goes to trial, there’s a 20% chance of collecting if you win. That’s a 1% chance that the legal system is going to give you a result. I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure those are terrible odds and not something worth throwing thousands of dollars and months of your sanity at. I think you’d have more fun taking your money to Vegas. Something became clear: the judicial system was not administering meaningful outcomes, despite well intentioned judges or a very complex legal process. The legal system is broken. We (the people) can fix that.

When I started to practice mediation, I immediately became enamoured with my job because I was actually helping people solve their problems and move on with their lives, without draining their wallets or spending months under massive amounts of stress. I realized what my grandfather experienced: you don’t need court, you need conversation. Judgements in court feel punitive – there’s a winner and a loser. In mediation I think everyone wins to the best degree that a conflict can have a “winner” and a “loser”. Why? Because you move on with your life! You aren’t drained in court battles with Judges who have thousands of cases that look just like yours. Ultimately, I think there is also a great amount of positive psychology and practicing being better humans when you work out an issue with someone you’re adverse to. Most problems don’t need a courtroom or a legal process — they need the people to communicate.

I know firsthand how broken, expensive, and inaccessible traditional legal paths are, and I knew through my grandfather there was a better way. So we set out to build a platform that blends the proven discipline of mediation with the scale and intelligence of AI. At the core, we’re mission-driven to democratize mediation and provide access to resolution at a grand scale!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Levelheaded is rethinking how problems get solved. We combine human-guided conversation with the power of AI to resolve disputes faster, more affordably, and with more empathy than the traditional legal system. It’s not legal — it’s levelheaded — and that’s a good thing.

We’re proud to be creating a new category — building something that didn’t exist before. For too long, resolving issues meant courtrooms, lawyers, and escalating costs. We believe most problems can be solved with a conversation — and the right guide — before they ever turn into lawsuits. That’s what we do.

Getting here wasn’t easy. We had to rethink the system from the ground up — blending technology and human expertise in a way that still feels personal and fair. Along the way, we learned that the hardest part isn’t technology; it’s trust. People don’t just need tools; they need to feel heard and respected. That’s why every solution we build keeps humanity at the center.

What we want the world to know: You don’t have to settle for broken systems. There’s a better, faster, more human way to move forward. That’s the story we’re telling — and the future we’re building.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’d start with a slow morning at Honey Hill Cafe in Park Hill for a coffee and then a stroll through City Park after. This little cafe is movie worthy – it’s got an inside and outside zone that’s filled with friendly plants. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Zoo are right there and always worth a visit, no matter how old you are. The River North district is a fabulous area to select from tons of great foods, awesome shops, peruse cool street art, and get some fun people watching in too.

We’d leave space for a quick trip to the mountains — nothing beats a day in the fresh air, whether it’s a hike, skiing or snowboarding, or just taking it all in up there! I grew up in the mountains of southwest Colorado, so if you can spare a few days, I would suggest going anywhere into the great Rocky Mountains. You will not be disappointed.

I have celiac so I’m limited on my food choices, but for those gluten free readers, Denver is an A+ city for gluten safe spots. For lunch: Snarf’s Sandwiches. It’s a Colorado staple. I also like Postino’s and they have a great GF flatbread. For dinner: you must hit Temaki Den — hands down our favorite sushi in the city. Just amazing. For dessert: Heaven ice cream and all the amazing GF crepes a girl could dream of.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Well, first of all my mother. She an incredible person, who single-handedly gave me the world. She taught me it’s ok to go against the status-quo if you know that is right. She’s one of the most bad ass, brave, and truly incredible women I have the pleasure of calling my “mom”. When she’s not busy saving butterflies and getting bit by rattlesnakes, she’s still rafting rivers or chasing around one of our three kids, or a donkey. There’s nobody living that I respect more.

No surprise, but I have to give credit to my grandfather (my mother’s father), Judge Thomas Graham Duffy too. He showed me that resolution wasn’t about who could argue louder or longer — it was about listening, understanding, and moving people forward. He was an avid listener, reader and awesome adventurer. He raced in the Baja 1000 and traveled the world. His approach to the law wasn’t about conflict, it was about conversation — and that perspective shaped how I see the world, and ultimately, how levelheaded came to be. We’re just carrying forward that belief: that a good conversation can solve just about anything . . . and often it can be really good too!

Website: https://www.belevelheaded.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belevelheaded

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-levelheaded

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