Our Story
Hey, we’re Tom and Donnie, the co-founders of PROACH.
We met while working at Australia Zoo, gathering food for the animals. We hit it off instantly, bonding over a shared love of animals, humour, and very similar political and social views. Tom’s a surfer, Donnie’s a skateboarder. Donnie loves punk rock, and Tom is Britney Spears’ number one fan... somehow, it works.
Tom
Mission
Tom is originally from the UK and brings extensive experience in camera work, including projects with the BBC, spent time in Costa Rica working in conservation, as well as website development and marketing. Donnie has spent over 15 years working in the zoo and animal industry, including overseas animal work, tiger handling, and more than a decade as a snake catcher. Donnie has also volunteered his time as a mentor; Mentoring people around the world, offering advice and listening to peoples trauma and life challenges. Between us, we share a deep love of travel, adventure, and exploring unique places around the world.
We’ve both faced our own mental health challenges and spent years searching for positive, practical ways to navigate them. That journey shaped a shared passion for helping others and creating something that feels easy, accessible, and non-taboo. We wanted Proach to feel light-hearted and fun, because we don’t believe the coaching space needs to be heavy, intimidating, or overly serious to be effective. We really think that humour and the ability to laugh at ourselves is essential in a world that can be extremely harsh and challenging.
Vision
The idea for Proach originally came to Donnie in 2020, just before COVID. He was frustrated by how difficult it was to find trustworthy, genuine coaches across different areas of life, so he began building the app and conducting extensive customer and market research.
A few years later, Donnie pitched the concept to Tom, who immediately loved it. With our different backgrounds and perspectives, we got to work quickly. We explored whether to launch as an app or a professional website, but after speaking with developers, coaches, and users, we felt that starting with an Apple app made the most sense, with plans to expand to Android and web in the future.
From there, we officially onboarded the original app developer, Duleep. He responded straight away and was keen to jump back in. Since then, we’ve built an amazing working relationship, and the app is now close to where we want it, with plenty of plans for the future.
We’re driven by a genuine desire to build something that’s beneficial, ethical, and community-focused. We love talking with people, sharing ideas, and learning from others. Whether you’re a coach or a client, we’re incredibly grateful to anyone who gives Proach a go, and we’re always happy to chat.
Donnie
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