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Sarah Francis

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PROBLEM-SOLVER: Rebecca Twitchell launched workplace consulting firm Half Full LLC with two partners 20 years ago. After the Great Recession, Twitchell took over the business and positioned it with a stronger social impact model.  
PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Helping others reach their goals

Business Women Awards 2025 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Rebecca Twitchell, Half Full LLC founder and president FOR THOSE WHO THINK showing vulnerability is an unusual business strategy, Rebecca...
LEARNING ­EXPERIENCE: Britt Riley says it took her two years to develop her business plans for The Haven Collection Inc., a combination day care, shared workspace and fitness center. 
PBN PHOTO/
DAVID HANSEN

Riley built ‘Haven’ where parents could flourish

Of all the talents working parents have to master, juggling tops the list. Then again, that necessity can be the mother of creative life...
EARLY ­LESSON: ­Rebecca Johnson, owner of Sylvan Learning Center in Cumberland and Coventry, says she knew at a young age that she wanted to be a teacher. 
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Johnson’s made it her business to be a classroom ‘coach’

It’s a weekday afternoon at Sylvan Learning Center, and students large and small hover on cushioned chairs around little tables. One group of high school...
THERAPY TAKES ROOT: Behavior analyst Jenn Pohle named her Nettle & Ash Therapeutic Services practice after a strong, versatile, durable herb and a strong, grounded, long-lasting tree.
PBN PHOTO/
MICHAEL SALERNO

Pohle offers therapeutic services for neurodivergent and LGBTQ youths

A phrase can tell a story in just a few words. Consider Nettle & Ash Therapeutic Services, the name of Jenn Pohle’s mental health...
PROBLEM-SOLVER: ­Rebecca Twitchell launched workplace consulting firm Half Full LLC with two partners 20 years ago to help companies achieve long-term goals and support their employees. After the Great Recession, Twitchell took over the business and positioned it with a stronger social impact model.  
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

Twitchell helping companies achieve their goals while supporting their employees

For those who think showing vulnerability is an unusual business strategy, Rebecca Twitchell would like a word. Twitchell launched Half Full LLC, a workplace consulting...
PLAN ­REVIEW: ­Barbara Thornton, left, a partner at Brewster Thornton Group Architects, and Aarti Kathuria, one of the firm’s project managers, go over plans for the Peace Dale Library project.
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

For her, design is only part of the blueprint for success

There’s no obvious career path for an eighth grade math geek and ballroom dancing champ. Then again, consider the one taken by Barbara Thornton...
FLAVORS 
IN DEMAND: Newport Chowder Co. LLC owner Katie Potter offers some of her infamous seafood chowder from one of her two food trucks. 
PBN PHOTO/­DAVID HANSEN

Potter educating customers on her seafood chowders ‘one cup at a...

Katie Potter is the keeper of a closely guarded family secret. It comes in small, artfully designed packets and she’s not giving it up. “My...
HEAD OF THE CLASS: Justin D. Bibee, Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island’s Refugee Resettlement Department assistant director, teaches a class at the Providence nonprofit. 
COURTESY DORCAS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE 
OF RHODE ISLAND

Dorcas International Institute’s Bibee has an open-door policy to aiding the...

PBN Diversity Equity & Inclusion 2024 Awards DIVERSITY CHAMPION: Justin D. Bibee, Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, Justin D. Bibee has advanced...
MEDALS OF HONOR: ChemArt Co. co-owner and President Dave Marquis sits at his desk that displays various medallions his Lincoln-based company produces. Much of those medallions support nonprofits and similar organizations. 
PBN PHOTO / TRACY JENKINS

Marquis helps put ChemArt on the national marquee

PBN Manufacturing Awards 2024 STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP: Dave Marquis, co-owner and president, ChemArt Co. AFTER ALMOSTY 40 YEARS working in manufacturing, Dave Marquis is still in awe...
EMPOWERING YOUTHS: Sarah McNeill, pictured at her North Kingstown location, launched McNeill Children’s Institute in Middletown in July 2020 to help children and young adults with ADHD, dyslexia, autism and other conditions.  
PBN PHOTO/
ELIZABETH GRAHAM

Helping kids with disabilities reach their full potential

The direction of Sarah McNeill’s life emerged like a blueprint early on. “When I was growing up, we didn’t have technology like cellphones. I played...
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