Hi, I’m Jen. I live in Kansas City with my husband and two young sons. The story behind Start with Soap began in March 2020, when my younger son began experiencing complicated health challenges. As part of navigating those challenges, I have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours researching all kinds of topics related to health, and I have closely examined everything we use in and around our home—food, cookware, utensils, personal care products, cleaning products, lawn and garden products, and many others. A few years in, people began reaching out to me for help in their own homes. And now, the purpose of Start with Soap is to share the knowledge and experience I have gained on a larger scale.

The “home health” space is a crowded one, so it’s worth mentioning why I feel I have something new or different to contribute. First, I am a chemical engineer and an intellectual property attorney, which means that I have an exceptionally high aptitude for technical research and that I genuinely enjoy it. When I delve into a particular topic, I don’t just read the top search results on Google (although I read those, too); I read technical papers, textbooks, government regulations and publications, court cases, and anything else that piques my interest. Then, I test things out in my own home, as well as in the homes of a few consenting guinea pigs (i.e. my parents and siblings). After all of that, I share the information on this website. Second, I believe that creating a healthy home is actually easier with less “stuff,” rather than more. Seeking simplicity and reducing our consumption is good for us and good for our earth. My intention is not to encourage people to go out and buy a bunch of new things, but to reduce overall consumption to a handful of products that are made responsibly and with good ingredients. Third, my ultimate goal, although perhaps a bit lofty, is to help people discover (or rediscover) the interconnectedness of the world around us. What is good for us is generally good for the earth, and vice versa.

So, after all of that, why the emphasis on soap?

Personally, soap is the very first thing that I overhauled in our home. Some of my son’s health challenges manifested as skin reactions (eczema, hives, blisters, etc.), so examining the products we put on our skin was a natural starting point. When I began the process, I was appalled by the ingredients in our existing products, and I was overwhelmed by the prospect of finding different, healthier products. I thought I needed a new hand soap, a new dish soap, a new dishwater detergent, a new laundry detergent, a new body wash, a new shampoo, a new lotion . . . the list went on and on. But as the solution emerged, it was shockingly simple: We now use a single soap product (a true soap—not a detergent) for all applications in our home. When we eliminated detergents (and all the junk that often goes with them), our entire family experienced benefits. We didn’t need lotion or lip balm in the winter, because our skin wasn’t dry. We didn’t need extra laundry products, because our clothes didn’t smell. There is this interesting “products beget more products” pattern that emerges when you begin eliminating extraneous items from your routine. With the right guidance, it is so easy to transition to a true soap with ingredients you can feel good about, and eliminate dozens of products with ingredients that do not belong on your body or in your home.

Additionally, for me, soap was a surprisingly powerful gateway to rediscovering the interconnectedness of our world. Ingredients matter, because the products we use on our bodies and in our homes directly impact the ecosystem around us—our water, soil, and air—and that directly impacts our well being. When you become aware of the ingredients in something as seemingly simple as soap, and you realize that those ingredients matter not just because they are going to touch your body, but because they are going to touch the ecosystem all around you, you naturally become more discerning in other areas of decision making, as well.

Making intentional choices about the products we use in our homes need not be overwhelming or expensive. Small changes can have a big impact. So, why not make your first step a simple one? Start with soap.