Business Women Awards 2025
ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE:
Jenn Pohle, Nettle & Ash Therapeutic Services owner
A PHRASE can tell a story in just a few words. Nettle & Ash Therapeutic Services, the name of Jenn Pohle’s mental health and support services practice, is an example of that and encapsulates Pohle’s behavioral and mental health mission.
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“When I launched the business, I knew it was going to be many different things,” she said. “Nettle is a versatile herb, strong and durable; it spoke to what I wanted the practice to be. As a tree, an ash is strong, grounded and lives a long time.”
Pohle’s clients primarily range from age 11 to young adult, are usually part of the LGBTQ community and always neurodivergent – those with obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia or autism spectrum disorder.
Weekly group or one-on-one sessions and workshops help young people navigate social situations, stay organized and make friends. They learn to handle a change in routine and how to express thoughts and emotions effectively.
Pohle’s goal is to develop confidence and feel heard and understood. Most people who Pohle and her staff treat have experienced some form of trauma, may have post-traumatic stress disorder and are looking for informed care. Some are panicked by the current political environment.
Pohle wasn’t always drawn to mental health as a calling. Previously, she was a baker at Whole Foods Market. After earning her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis, she “had to take a break from baking,” Pohle said.
That break became permanent in 2014, when she co-founded a standard behavioral health practice using traditional approaches. Pohle oversaw more than 45 employees, managing billing, helping her staff develop professionally and fostering a sense of workplace inclusion.
As time went on, however, she began to feel disconnected from the population she was serving. Many were in the queer community, which she felt the practice wasn’t adequately supporting.
Pohle debuted Nettle & Ash in Providence in 2023 with an emphasis on young clients. She also coaches therapists to start their own counseling practices and has helped 50 practitioners, mostly female.
“Nothing empowers me more than helping women create a space where they feel confident as entrepreneurs,” she said. “They have doubts that hold them back. The big thing I hear is ‘I can’t do this because of X, Y or Z reasons,’ but as I work with them over a few months while they launch their practices, there’s a shift in their sense of empowerment.”
