You’re In Good Company
FOR MODERN
TIMES
MINDFUL
CONNECTIONS
want better, not more
date in alignment of the partnership you say you want.
Rachel Joy Barehl
Dating doula. Superconnector. Photographer. Anthropologist of modern dating.
Rachel Barehl is surrounded by vibrant, curious, big-hearted people—and over time she noticed something: she has a knack for getting the right humans into the same room.
Rooms where guards come down. Where conversations deepen. Where people remember that love is still possible.
She embodies open-hearted optimism and sees the world with fierce hope. The people around her tend to share the same instinct: they want to love well.
Rachel asks the questions that matter.
She plans gatherings that feel alive.
And somewhere along the way, her clients begin to notice something surprising happening in their lives.
Fuller calendars.
Stronger friendships.
More meaningful conversations with neighbors, collaborators, and strangers who don’t stay strangers for long.
And sometimes—when people are brave enough to really show up for the work of connection—they meet someone extraordinary.
Rachel knows many of the best relationships begin with a slightly clunky start. A misstep. A moment of awkwardness. A leap that felt uncertain.
That’s where she comes in.
Helping thoughtful daters navigate modern love with creativity, grit, and a little bit of what she likes to call a Trustfall.
Because the truth is: none of us know how love will unfold.
The best we can do is prepare well, stay curious, and keep saying a few bold yeses.
Sometimes the person who feels like home is waiting just on the other side of one of them.
Welcome to a place where we practice connection differently.
Welcome to In Good Company.
Here, we grow better—together.
some portal people (graduates of the immersive dating experiences) say this is like, “a good cult for daters” and that the secret ingredient
to what makes this magic is “kindness and open hearts and minds” that we want better, not more and that if it takes a little longer to find the right people, we’re willing to wait. we know good things take time and that we will be working on our own health, wealth & happiness so that when the right relationship shows up, you will be able to wholeheartedly say you gave it a good shot, you dated in alignment with the partnership you say you want. love is a risk, but we feel deeply that we’re made to live in connection with others and whether that’s platonic or romantic love, we want everyone to know what we know in our co-created family. (once upon a time they were ‘baransi’ and ‘proehl’ and they combined ‘em to lay the foundation for a new future. a choosen family one that looks a little out of the box (over the last decade together, we’ve lived with housemates, we’ve fostered 11 kids, adopted one & hosted the world’s best polish exchange student, ola! basically, our life and love and vows lead us to live a life in service of human connection, in a world that desperately needs another version of the 90s before technology filled our lives.
Our Story
Rachel met Adam at a game night on February 14, 2013.
A room full of curious, slightly weird, wonderful humans gathered together to play games and talk to strangers.
Exactly one week later, Rachel was scheduled to give a talk at Pecha Kucha about matchmaking.
At that point she had made exactly one match.
Still, she had a growing sense that something important happened when people spent time in the same rooms together long enough for their guards to drop.
She knew many of the people from game night—including Adam—were planning to attend the talk.
So she did what she tends to do.
She made another room.
The next morning she hosted a brunch and invited everyone back, giving the group a chance to spend a little more time together.
Adam came, but he was shy.
The house was full of big personalities and unusual characters, and he mostly stayed quiet.
Communication afterward was a little slow.
A little clunky.
The kind of early interaction that modern dating culture often teaches people to abandon quickly.
Rachel almost did.
But when she showed the messages to her family, they offered a piece of advice she never forgot:
“Some people are fast food.
Some people are a gourmet meal.
This one looks like a gourmet meal.
Be patient.”
They were right.
Rachel is grateful she didn’t listen to the voices that wanted to build walls before walls were necessary.
That early patience turned into a partnership, a shared life, and eventually a shared mission.
Today Rachel brings that same social generosity, curiosity, and patience to the rooms she creates.
Because she’s learned something important:
Most people can’t reveal who they truly are in a single meeting.
It often takes five, six, sometimes seven encounters before someone begins to relax enough to show their real self.
That’s why Rachel designs spaces where people can keep showing up.
Rooms where strangers become familiar.
Where conversations deepen.
Where connection has enough time to unfold.
Because sometimes the person who will change your life is just someone you haven’t had enough time with yet.
So the invitation is simple:
Keep showing up.
You never know what might grow when you do.
What began as a passion project has evolved into something more. We’re proud of where we’ve been and even more excited for what’s ahead.
In Good Company is re-humanizing modern dating.
I’m building my rolodex of cool, connection-ready humans. Imagine stepping away from dating apps and all the relational weirdness that comes along with them and INTO a space where we actually teach humans best practices of how to approach the work of knowing and being known in ways that have the possibility to transform all your interactions into ones that offer connection. We want you to find your person, your people, and we want to help you do this with more grace, intentionality, fun, joy, and success.
Join The Rolodex
Add yourself to the list so I can keep you in mind.
It’s free to join—though invitations or matches aren’t guaranteed.
In Good Company is a home base for daters.
A soft place to land for the big-hearted and curious.
A playground for the brave, tender parts of you.
A pit crew for people putting real effort into love.
And sometimes, a co-pilot and wing woman when the path forward isn’t obvious.
Here, we practice connection differently.
Together, we’re prototyping a new relational culture—
one built on curiosity, courage, and kindness.
Because love was never meant to be navigated alone.