Today we’d like to introduce you to John Schinnerer.
Hi John, 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?
After decades of working in psychology, coaching, mindfulness, relationship education, and human development, Dr. John Schinnerer and Joree Rose, LMFT, kept witnessing the same painful pattern: people who genuinely wanted to grow — to communicate better, feel less reactive, stop repeating the same cycles in their relationships — but who couldn’t access the consistent, real-time support that kind of growth actually requires.
Quality coaching and emotional support can be genuinely life-changing. But it is often expensive, logistically difficult, or simply unavailable in the moments when it matters most. And most of what passes for emotional support in the digital world feels shallow, generic, or impersonal — it may be built for everyone, which means it’s built for no one.
What people need most is not another app telling them to breathe. They need someone in their corner when conflict flares at 10 PM, when anxiety spikes on a Tuesday morning, when they don’t know what to say next and the silence is getting heavier. They need practical tools for what to actually do, say, and feel — in real time, in the middle of their real lives.
The deeper foundation of Proximity Coaching came not only from professional expertise — it came from Dr. John and Joree’s own lived relational experience together.
Both were previously married to their high school sweethearts, and both experienced divorces that became pivotal turning points in their own healing journeys, though from very different relational dynamics and very different endings.
When they met in 2015 after matching on Tinder, the connection was immediate. A lunch the day after they matched became the beginning of a deeply aligned relationship grounded in growth, emotional curiosity, self-awareness, and shared purpose. Love came easily. Emotional safety did not.
Like many couples, they eventually found themselves repeating painful relational patterns rooted in attachment wounds, nervous system protection, fear, reactivity, avoidance, and emotional conditioning formed long before they ever met each other. Even after years together, an engagement, and decades of combined personal and professional work, they reached a heartbreaking point that led to a temporary separation.
It forced both of them to confront a truth they now teach at the center of everything they do: awareness alone does not heal relational patterns. Together, they committed to the deeper work of building true emotional safety, accountability, vulnerability, repair, nervous system regulation, and secure attachment — not as a concept, but through daily relational practice with each other.
That lived experience became the heartbeat of their work. And eventually, the heartbeat of Proximity.
Today, John and Joree openly share their own humanity, struggles, growth, repair processes, and continued self-reflection throughout their coaching, podcasts, and relationship work — because they believe authenticity creates safety.
Dr. John often tells clients: “May you have the courage to look at your own sh*t.”
Joree’s work is grounded in a belief she returns to again and again: “You can’t change what you’re not aware of.” That is the heart of what Proximity does: it helps you see the blindspots where you keep getting stuck, so you can actually move through them instead of around them.
Both believe that if they are asking others to courageously examine themselves, heal patterns, and take accountability, they must be willing to model that same honesty and humility themselves. That integrity is not incidental to Proximity. It is foundational to it.
People don’t need perfect experts pretending to have life figured out. They need grounded guides willing to practice the same tools they teach — and to keep practicing them, especially through the hard seasons.
That is who Dr. John and Joree are. And that is what Proximity was built to give you access to.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
John and Joree had a brief but painful breakup three years ago. This break up was the motivation to look more deeply at their own part in the difficult dynamics that were creating problems in their relationship. John had to look at his own shame which was fueling stonewalling behaviors during disagreements. This shame was decades old, going all the way back to the age of 5. Joree had to work at becoming more flexible in her thinking, being more open to John’s influence and prioritizing their relationship over her individuality to get the relationship to the next level.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Proximity Coaching?
John and Joree have developed a unique and revolutionary solution to the problem of needing support at 2 am, right after the disagreement with your spouse and what to say during a difficult conversation. Their solution? Biweekly coaching meetings with Dr. John and/or Joree, in combination with 24/7 AI coaching support built on 50+ years of combined clinical and coaching work. This hybrid approach is designed to marry the best of both worlds – real life human experience and training with the voluminous memory and pattern recognition ability of an AI designed specifically for the purpose of furthering users’ connection with themselves and others. The goal is more human connection and greater happiness.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Spending summers at the local pool after swim meets. Total freedom. Hanging with friends.
Pricing:
- $25/mo Proxi He (or She) AI Coach only
- $42/mo Proxi He AI Coach only
- $127/mo Proxi He AI Plus Biweekly Coaching Calls
- $127/mo Proxi She AI Plus Biweekly Coaching
- $167/mo Proxi We AI Plus Biweekly Coaching Calls
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ProximityCoaching.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proximitycoaching
