Meet Sawyer Jeppson Pearce | Co-Founder of Health Inspecta LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sawyer Jeppson Pearce and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sawyer, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My brother, Michael H. Jeppson, and I are both personal trainers and are passionate about fitness, health, and product safety. We were frustrated because we noticed that people everywhere are confronted with a range of health problems that we believe originate from the cosmetics and food products they put on and in their bodies. The statistics are scary—40% of Americans are obese or overweight and 60% of our food is ultra-processed. Ultra-processed foods cause obesity, heart disease, cancer, auto-immune disorders, and so much more. Similar statistics can be found for many ingredients found in cosmetic products like shampoo, sunscreen, and makeup. We do not believe these statistics are coincidental.

However, sometimes it is difficult to know which products contain dangerous ingredients or synthetic chemicals. To solve this problem, we are creating an app that will help people identify food and cosmetic products that are dangerous to their health so they can avoid them. The app will scan any food or cosmetic label and grade the product based on several factors including quality, safety, nutrition, and environmental impact. It will tell you all the information you need to know about the product, including its nutritional makeup (such as calories, carbohydrates, protein, etc).  This app can also be customized so you can choose which diet you are on, and which ingredients you want the app to focus on identifying. For example, you can choose a “keto” diet and the app will identify any products that don’t comply with that diet. The key feature of Health Inspecta is that it grades your food or cosmetic product for you on a scale from A to F.  So once you scan the label of a product, the app will calculate all these factors instantly using artificial intelligence and a letter grade will be given to the product.  We decided to go with an app because an app would be the easiest means for people to access this technology in an affordable and transportable way. We hope our app will improve the quality of life of users everywhere by increasing product transparency. Our slogan is: SEE BEYOND LABELS, LIVE BEYOND LIMITS.

What should our readers know about your business?
The thing I am most excited about with the Health Inspecta app is the fact that we are building something that could potentially change people’s lives for the better. A person’s health is their single greatest gift, and I am furious that the food and cosmetics industry sacrifices the health of consumers to make another buck off of them. My brother, Michael, and I are personal trainers and we have witnessed how so many people work tirelessly to be healthy and have nothing to show for all their sweat and tears. It seems like with every step forward, they take three steps back because avoiding unhealthy products is like walking through a minefield—they are everywhere!

I am also a weight management specialist and this is the vicious cycle I have seen. My client will work out 4 days a week consistently, but then go home and eat what they believe to be a healthy chicken wrap. What they don’t know is that the tortilla is ultra-processed, the chicken is injected with hormones, chlorine-washed, and dyed, and the tomatoes are all genetically engineered. So this client loses five pounds and then gains back more in addition to other diseases because of the food they are deceived into eating. This is a great injustice!

Michael and I got to where we are now because of our frustration with this vicious cycle. One day, Michael came to me with the idea of an app that could identify these harmful substances in food and cosmetics. We immediately began working on the idea and enlisted our father to join our company. We are both students (I am in law school and he is in college), so figuring out how to start a business from scratch at such a young age was difficult. We had no idea what do to first—we had the idea, the vision, but no concrete plan. So we created one together and followed it step by step.

Our app is still under development and is due to launch on the app store soon. Consequently, we are not successful as a company yet. However, at this stage of the journey, I have learned that when you have a vision, a mission, and a plan, there is no better time to start than right now. Don’t wait, just put one foot in front of the other and get started!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love outdoor activities, and fortunately, LA has a million things to do outside. The first thing my friend and I would do is go hiking in Malibu. There are many hikes in Malibu but the Escondido Falls and Santa Ynez Falls are one of my favorites! These hikes are fairly short, adventurous, and so rewarding but you will probably get dirty climbing to them! Climbing to the Hollywood sign would be on the bucket list too. There is also horseback riding in Malibu and Palos Verdes for those who love horses.

Then we would hit up the beaches to cool off and enjoy the sun. Manhattan Beach is gorgeous and a great place to learn how to surf is the beach at El Porto. The Malibu beaches are very scenic but a bit rocky in some places. Palos Verdes has the most gorgeous scenery with its cliff sides and bluffs.

If there is time, we could plan a trip to Catalina Island which is only about an hour or so from Long Beach by boat. At Catalina Island you can go scuba diving through kelp forests, ziplining, touring the buffalo herds, rope course climbing, snorkeling, and much more. On the way there you may even see whales or dolphins swimming by your boat.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I was blessed to be born into an incredibly supportive family and community. My brother and I share many of the same passions and vigor, and I am grateful to him for inspiring me and for taking this leap of faith in starting a business with me. My father and husband have supported our dream and vision 100% and my father has enabled us to pursue this venture because of his unwavering faith in us. When I look at my mother and sisters, I am reminded of why we are trying to promote product transparency, which is to give them the best quality of life possible. I am thankful to all of them.

I also want to dedicate this shoutout to everyone who is just doing their best. I want to help you do your best, be your best, and live your best life. The determination, perseverance, and tenacity of the average human being is what motivates us to build this app. We want to thank and recognize everyone who has decided to never give up. It is for you that we build this app so that you can more fully enjoy this beautiful world and attain the quality of life you deserve.

Website: https://www.heathinspecta.com/

Instagram: soy.bombsauce

Other: tiktok: @healthinspectallc

Image Credits
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law