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 firm, 20 years ago with an emphasis on a simple, optimistic approach. She and two partners recognized that companies needed help with their long-range goals, supporting their employees and overcoming obstacles in a positive way. It was a reality that also resonated with Twitchell personally.
“As partners, we understood that we’re people before professionals and we’ll prioritize each other that way,” she said. “I lost my mom as we were discussing opening the business and we all supported each other as we were facing challenges.”
After the 2009 recession, Twitchell took over the business and positioned it with an even stronger social impact model.
Working with consultants and facilitators, the staff of six runs sessions that range from team building and leadership to culture, organizational development and overseeing retreats. Corporate service days help businesses organize volunteer initiatives.
The ultimate goal? Coaching employees to achieve their goals while their company thrives.
“We’ve always been a ‘people-before-professional’ company, helping individuals understand their unique talents and strengths so they can move forward,” Twitchell said.
Twitchell attributes this ethos to her family and growing up on Smith Hill in Providence. Her father, a pastor, moved the family there to continue his work with the United Presbyterian Church on Chalkstone Avenue. Her mother was a watercolor artist who sold her work across the country. She proved to be an entrepreneurial model for Twitchell.
“It was a very creative family, and very values driven,” Twitchell said.
But Twitchell was also shaped by symbrachydactyly syndrome, a rare congenital condition in which some or all the fingers may be underdeveloped or not developed at all, resulting in short fingers that may be webbed or joined. Twitchell only has two fully developed fingers on her left hand. Throughout her childhood and early career, she hid it so no one would see.
“It was a huge insecurity of mine, and I had body image challenges for years,” she said. “At home, I felt beautiful, empowered, but when I was in school, I was made fun of and teased. Hiding it was the best solution so people could meet me before they met my hand. It also started making me anxiety driven.”
While not wanting to be judged by the other kids on a retreat when she was a teenager, Twitchell had an aha moment when she realized she wasn’t the only one feeling insecure.
“It started my journey toward dealing with my disability,” she said, “but it took being around others my age and adults to show we all have challenges. It’s why no judgment is one of our core values.”
After high school, Twitchell went to Syracuse University to get a Bachelor of Science degree.
“My parents went there,” she said.
Twitchell studied public policy, which appealed to her because it focused on problem-solving and the social impact that can have.
From there, she made her way to Washington, D.C., where she worked for a health care coalition before heading west to San Diego, spending five years in marketing and event planning for 3E, an environmental health and safety company.
A year later, Twitchell and her husband returned to Rhode Island to be closer to family. Not long after, she and two colleagues recognized local companies had a need for workplace consultants and facilitators and could benefit from their experience. Half Full debuted in January 2005.
In each of the last five years, the company has achieved 25% growth, Twitchell says. Today, Half Full has more than 70 local, national and international clients, including Amica Mutual Insurance Co. and International Game Technology PLC, spanning technology, health care, insurance, nonprofits and social service agencies.
“When I tell my story about my disability, and also how I lost my parents [when they were] in their 60s when we were in the early growth stages at Half Full, people stop and listen,” Twitchell said. “They relate. They start to let go of their assumptions of others.”
One of the post-pandemic challenges that companies wrestle with is how workplace culture has changed. Twitchell says hybrid work schedules hurt employees’ socialization and how they communicate with each other.
“It may be a cliché, but with water cooler talk, you can get a lot done in 10 minutes,” Twitchell said.
And the most challenging part of her business is reckoning with the grander things she and her clients can’t control, such as national and global economic pressures or the new presidential administration changes in Washington, D.C., as well as the reality that clients’ funding streams for workplace training may be cut off.
“I love helping individuals find answers and find themselves during the journey,” Twitchell said. “This is my ultimate joy in working with teams because the better we are as individuals, the better we are as teammates.”
