Fill your life with purpose, your heart with love, and your relationships with depth and authenticity.

My name is Jonathan Forney, and I provide individual and group coaching focused on living life fully through deep self-inquiry. I want to help you live a life of joy, inspiration, and deep connection. 

This site introduces my coaching philosophy and provides a guide to the coaching services that I offer. 

I believe that playful curiosity about who we truly are is at the heart of our journey into deeper healing, more authentic connection, and joyful living. 

Normally the term 'self-centered' has a negative connotation, but I have come to understand that this is simply an accurate description of our reality. Our sense of self-hood colors every experience, and every experience is a mirror that invites us to reflect on who we are.

When we love ourselves more, we become more capable of loving others. 

When we find compassion for the imperfections of others, we can find new compassion for ourselves.

Curious about what it's like to work with me? Scroll down for testimonials.

In-tune, genuine, love. 

Jon has the strength of 1000 horses in his presence. He holds his full attention on whatever you bring to the table like you are the only and last person on this Earth. His ability to hold this strength in presence has made me feel so seen in so many ways, from the greatest of joy…to the deepest of pain. Jon listens so well to his own guidance his presence is felt on a very high frequency.

I am a therapist myself, and I know how to BS my way through a lot, but with Jon I know I can try but I will get called out, in the most gentle of way of course. His intuition is strong, there is much more present than just the words spoken. If you are ready and willing he is ready to meet you wherever you are. He is one that will take you where you are willing to go, he has a strong skill set and a strong understanding in his field. He holds the masculine and feminine so well. He has come into my life to help me heal the wounding I have received in the masculine and re-write the stories around men.  

I know I don’t need to put this into the most perfect of words because his presence speaks for itself. He has the ability to take people he works with to the next level of their existence. He has done his own work and it shows, he knows his own medicine so well the reflection is clear.  

--Crystal H. (Therapist and Coach)

Attentive, dynamic, and valuable.

Very simply, Jon is the best fit for me and I couldn't have picked a better pairing to have as a coach. Jon from day 1 has been there to hear me out on my good days and bad days. He has always made sure to put my needs first and truly get to know me and my dynamic as a person to help guide me in conversation to become a better man every day. I chose Jon after he was referred to me by my girlfriend and after speaking with two other coaches before deciding who to pick, I knew after the call we had that Jon was the best person for me.

 

I am now in a position where I can understand intrapersonal dynamics (friends, family, loved ones) more than ever and have some grasp on my own self and self-awareness. I leave every call learning something new about myself that helps me just understand life and not feel overwhelmed.

 

I tell people all the time who ask about my life coaching that it's the single greatest investment you could ever do for yourself and Jon is the person who has helped me realize that.

--Dalton S. (Personal Trainer, CSCS CNC )

Life-changing and a journey worth pursuing.

Jon has a unique ability to navigate both through logic and the ethereal, which makes him a very unique and versatile coach. Jon helped me integrate and think through some of the toughest personal challenges I've experienced. I have seen huge progress in the way I approach my day with more peace and less anxiety. Jon has helped shed light on areas of my life I wouldn't have found on my own (similar to turning on a flashlight in a dark room). During our sessions, I felt seen, supported, and understood. Jon provides a safe container and a beacon of trust to do hard and deep personal work. 

Through my coaching with Jon I realized that it is not important for me to be perfect, it is important for me to show up to the world exactly where I am. Most importantly, I've come to terms with my humanity and accepted myself through my beauty and flaws. 

Jon is the real deal - knowledgeable, inspiring, empathic, and whip-smart. 

--Jennifer O. (Product Design and Marketing Consultant)

Energy and presence. Powerful sensitivity and humor.

I’ve gained more awareness around triggers and more avenues of possibility. I already have a clearer vision for my own creative and professional endeavors. 

I have found Jon to be a fantastic coach. … He listens intently, and reflects deeply and compassionately and is willing to challenge in service of growth. As someone who identifies as a sensitive man, Jon has been such an inspiration for clarity, groundedness, and sensitivity.  

--Rodney U. (Individual and Group Coach)

A coach that the world's #1 coach-hater could find a way to love and appreciate.

I've thought about writing this testimonial for Jon before we even had our first official session.  It's a bit long-winded but I hope my personal story and background will be useful for anyone skeptical about the cost/benefit calculus of investing in a coaching relationship with Jon.    [...]

Full disclosure, I'd known Jon 20 years prior when we were both teenagers bursting forth upon the world. Our hearts, minds and souls were both being molded by the camaraderie of college fraternity.  In these formative years, we witnessed each other navigate the power of collaborative relationships - sometimes creative & supportive,  and other times with the potential for incredible toxicity. I always admired Jon as an extremely talented, accountable, high-minded individual who helped guide the ship around potential pitfalls and made everyone around him better. A fun tidbit here to really bring the point home...within the rambunctiousness of fraternity life, Jon created a singing choir of complete novices which he musically directed and we ended up winning multiple national choral competitions under his helm - while simultaneously our chapter was being placed on probation due to a myriad of violations.

We hadn't stayed very close in the 2 decades that followed, but we were still connected on social media, and in a beautiful twist of fate, he had just started up his coaching business as I began my reluctant search for a coach. I reached out to him to explain all of my aversions [...] and perhaps get some pointers on how I could possibly find the right coach accounting for all of my neuroses.  As an old friend, of course he was happy to help and we jumped on a call. I went into the call with no intention of actually working with Jon. Didn't even slightly think of it as an exploratory consultation for his services. In fact, I had assumed our collective pasts in the fraternal institution would be a hindrance to an open, honest, and vulnerable coaching relationship.

I don't remember any of the specific discussion of that first call, but I remember how it felt. As we chatted, I recognized that I was speaking about 90% of the time - airing all of my laundry - and Jon was the most attentive and inquisitive listener I had ever experienced.  In the moments when I would finally let him get a word across, it was pointed, meaningful and very well-thought out - a master class of communication.  He never once tried to sell me on his coaching business, but rather explained the playing field of the coaching industry in a way that helped me fully understand its value. As we neared the end of the call, I was struck by a moment of subconscious clarity that I was already talking to my coach.  We finished the call discussing potential logistics and I intended to take the next few days to explore a couple different coaching options and compare. 

It took all of maybe 30 minutes after the call to talk to my wife, who laughed her ass off at how giddy and optimistic I was about working with Jon as a coach, to know I didn't need to look anywhere else.

What was it specifically about Jon? If I could break it down to 3 things:

- Extensive breadth of meaningful education and life experiences. Jon's coaching theory is guided by decades of PhD Data Science work, international public service, extensive professional therapy studies, and deep immersion into the wellness world.  Simply put, he is a trusted oracle of useful information, and could probably develop 5-10 different valid approaches to any specific coaching moment, able to tailor the right approach to the client. I have seen him offer guidance based fully upon modern scientific studies, as well as offering more esoteric/energetic concepts that are equally beneficial.

- He is the best listener.  Knows exactly when to stay quiet and let me keep rambling, knows exactly when to carefully interrupt and get me back on track, knows how to prod deeper, knows exactly when to offer guidance & useful recommendations. 

- His professional energy and dedication towards affecting positive growth is contagious. Just opening up the zoom window and seeing his face immediately shifts me into a state of focus towards self-improvement.

Combine all of that and you have an extremely well-rounded coach. A coach that the world's #1 coach-hater could find a way to love and appreciate.

Before our first official session, I put together a detailed list of all of the "challenging" areas in my life where I noticed a struggle. We used this as a loose outline for all of our sessions, which I found helpful.  Sometimes we would deep-dive into one particular area, other times we would see how 3 or 4 overlapped.  Occasionally something of note had taken place in the previous week that would become the focus of the call.  Initially we started with weekly sessions - which Jon was very flexible with on timing - and eventually we started spreading them out to a more optimized schedule. 

Some calls led to developing specific action items to move forwards (i.e. establishing consistent routines/books to read/prompts for conversations with boss & wife). Other calls just talking it out was enough as Jon was able to lead me towards identifying the core of the issue and I'd sort of "figure it out" on my own in a way that had previously been blocked.  Every call was different and the net effect has been a heavy breakthrough in all areas where I felt stuck.  Career balance has improved - especially through some heavy challenges in my startup. Community-wise I feel much more included. Regarding mental health, I have a lot more tools at my disposal when I begin to notice uncertainty, doubt, and existential dread kick in. Most critically, my wife and I have both fully overcome the reservations we had in our relationship.  Rather than reacting strongly out of fear or shame to tricky situations, we both have full trust in one another that we are both regularly seeking out every opportunity to improve and evolve, especially when things get tough or stagnant for one reason or another. Our love, support, communication, kindness, and intimacy has returned to a healthy and easeful state after a long period of heaviness and uncertainty.  

When you break it down financially - which again was one of my biggest hang-ups on coaching -- this was perhaps the greatest investment I could have made for my overall long-term happiness and well-being, which in-turn benefits my family, friends and community around me, which has always been my core goal.  In addition, from the start, there was something incredibly beautiful knowing that I was supporting Jon in his mission to spread his coaching talents to as many people as possible. Looking back now, it's laughable to note how much opposition I had towards the idea of "general coaching," given how working with Jon improved "generally everything" in my life.

Thanks for reading, and I can promise you that considering Jon as your coach for any possible reason will be a worthwhile investment.

--Trevor G. (Data Scientist)

Grounded loving presence.

The way he shows up and can hold a space was nothing I had seen or truly personally experienced before and it opened so many doors for me over time. He brings play, compassion, groundedness, regulation, curiosity, love, harmony, and deep presence to every container I’ve been in with him.

This is hard to put into words! Working with Jon has given me needed, new experiences of being witnessed in my messy humanness and it feeling truly safe - safe to be seen by others or by myself, especially in places I have hid my whole life - and safe to just be. Jon meets me where I am at with simple love, curiosity, or understanding - which has allowed me to meet myself and others with deeper compassion and understanding, improving my relationships. Working with Jon has also allowed me deeper self-awareness, confidence, and embodiment of my own personal work, passions, gifts, inner knowing, etc! It has allowed me to connect deeper with myself and body, helping me to move beyond my complex trauma and step more into my own leadership. After each session, I feel more at home with myself. I am so grateful Jon is my coach!

--Candi E. (Somatic Coach)