We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sam Pohl a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sam, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My journey to purpose ended up being a full circle, starting when I was under 10 years old. I grew up with a mother who knew the benefit of bodywork, so I was not a stranger to that form of therapeutic touch. When I was 7, I remember giving one of my elementary school buddies a back massage and declaring that I would be a massage therapist when I was older. As I grew, family dynamics and social pressure changed that dream and I went from wanting to be lawyer, to a mental health therapist, to a social worker, but nothing ever felt quite right. I knew I wanted to work with people, but as someone who has struggled with my own mental health in the past, I knew that those avenues would not work out well for me.
I ended up graduating from undergrad with an interdisciplinary degree complements of Fairhaven College of Western Washington University. It was in Somatic Psychology, an emerging area of study that integrated the whole person, talking about trauma being stored in the body, about mindfulness and mental health, and about looking at a multi-modal approach to healing. It still took me 8 years after college to remember massage, and to choose to go back to school for this thing I had been drawn to from such young age. The moment I started learning, I knew this was what I was meant to be doing. I flew through school with high marks, finding out how well my undergraduate degree had set me up to dive in to this new career. From the moment I was licensed, I hit the ground running, and I couldn’t be happier with my choices.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
After moving to Baltimore in 2023, all of my friends directed me toward Metta Integrative Wellness, a well-established bodywork business. I was hired on and immediately fell in love with the atmosphere and location, a small rowhome just off the Avenue in Hampden. Metta had gone worker-owned in 2021, another aspect that drew me to it. I became a worker-owner 6 months after being hired and have been involved in the running of the business ever since.
As a massage therapist, I specialize in working with queer and trans folks, neurodiversity, connective tissue disorders, and high medical needs clients. I love looking at the ways different issues overlap and how they present for that individual. I take a lot of time doing intake interviews, making sure that I can customize the session for their needs. One of the most well-known connective tissue disorders, Ehler’s-Danlos Syndrome, has only entered into the public discourse in the last 10 or so years. Due to this, many bodyworkers and even some medical professionals do not know the myriad ways it can exhibit and so don’t always know how to work with it. In bodywork, it is not uncommon to hear of clients being injured by unknowing, if well-meaning, therapists. Being able to offer EDS-knowledgeable massage to a group who has often found themselves having to educate the people around them has brought me untold joy, and helped fill a needed niche.
Because of the population I work with, many of my clients have mobility issues. As much as I love our beautiful rowhome space, it is not accessible, and it is not disability friendly. Some clients need extra time to climb the stairs, or have to reschedule their appointments on bad days. One of my big goals is to expand the business to a second location, one with accessible treatment rooms and a bigger movement space where we can begin to include yoga, somatic movement, and other large group classes and community events. Though we are still in the early phases of this, it is a goal I am excited to share with my community.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The most important skill I acquired over the years is the act of curiosity. When I worked as a Program Manager for adults with developmental disabilities, I learned about unconditional positive regard, and that curiosity in the face of misunderstanding helps curtail judgement. When working with people with varying individual needs, asking questions is the best way to find out what that person actually requires, even when they may not tell you outright (or may not know). Questions are powerful, especially when genuine and open-ended, and the answers often surprise me.
I am also eternally grateful for my education in somatic psychology; learning from an young age about trauma in the body and how it can exhibit set me up for understanding the art of massage and how it can be therapeutic psychologically, physically, and emotionally. Massage sees the whole person as one integrated body-mind, and treating it as such is the best way to get results. Thinking about massage as a multi-dimensional practice keeps me trauma-informed and open to things not being “by the book”. Sometimes those books are out of date or not comprehensive. Massage fills a gap in care that many other medical professions leave vacant, and can even be a linking factor in helping a client’s medical team understand what’s going on more fully.
I was lucky enough to stumble into my specialty early on in my career, but my drive to never stop learning has helped me steer my work in a way that supports my own personal growth and education, as well as what support I can offer my clients. Being able to know what excites you around your own work is a game changer for longevity. Like the aphorism says, “Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never work a day in your life.”
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
I always feel a little bad when I see my ideal client’s intake form; high medical needs, often with connective tissue disorders with other comorbid diagnoses. Generally, when I see them, I know they are probably struggling with high pain or discomfort, possible mobility issues, and likely some story of having been ignored or dismissed by other medical professionals. This is unfortunately common — and most people don’t usually see that kind of excitement when giving their laundry list. While I am never happy that someone is in pain, these clients bring me joy in their complexity, each one its own individual puzzle with pieces scattered all around. Being able to help ease pain, to bring more movement and balance to their life is my goal, and when I am able to achieve that, I am happy. My ideal clients are looking for relief and understanding and the feeling of being heard, and I always hope to give it to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seenbysamwise.com
- Instagram: @seen.by.samwise
- Other: https://www.metta-wellness.com
Image Credits
Wilson Freeman
Devon Rowland
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