St. Luke’s Sophomore Launches the RestVest to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Sam Young is a sophomore at St. Luke’s School. He is an honors student, a member of the debate team, and a teammate on the St. Luke’s football and ski teams. But Sam isn’t your typical high school student. He is also the Founder & CEO of RestVest, a unique, high-quality calming weighted vest that discreetly relieves stress and anxiety. 

When Sam was in sixth grade, he participated in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) at Western Connecticut State University. He was tasked with finding a solution to an oppressive issue and chose to focus on mental health. Inspired by his weighted blanket at home, Sam set off to create a wearable weight that, through deep pressure therapy on the sympathetic nerves in the chest and upper body, would help reduce stress and anxiety and improve focus.

Testing different vests and fillings, such as sand and glass beads, Sam created a prototype out of a puffy vest, pitched his idea, and hasn’t turned back since.

Following the YEA program, Sam’s drive and determination to make this vest a reality continued. He found a manufacturer that would help construct the vest, established an official LLC, and received a patent in 2021 for the acoustics of the beads within the vest, keeping them quiet and allowing for discretion. 

“I hope I can use this product to help people,” Sam said. “I know a lot of people who struggle with mental health issues and never see a doctor, never take the first step. I want to create a tool to help people in school and life while spreading awareness for adolescent mental health.”

The RestVest comes in men's, women's, and children's sizes and is available to pre-order at www.rest-vest.com. But Sam is less focused on sales and more concerned about the research. He aims to discover how, when, and for whom the RestVest will work best.

To dig deeper into this research, Sam plans to participate in a two-year independent study project at St. Luke’s during his junior and senior years, guided by St. Luke’s Director of Counseling & Well-Being, Kari Olsen — his independent study advisor. He hopes to determine if the RestVest works best before you are stressed out, while you are anxious, or during the “cool-down phase.” Through our relationship with YALE Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI), Olsen connected Sam to research professionals to help him consider his study's day-to-day operations. Dr. Jessica Hoffmann and Dr. Kalee De France from YCEI offered guidance and recommendations for this process. With the vests in the study phase, Sam has also connected with occupational therapists and school counselors to get 100 vests into classrooms for testing.

“Next year, I will be working to conduct a study with focus groups who will test the product,” Sam said. “There will be control variables, people will use the vest, and we can test people’s reactions.” 

This spring, YCEI’s Virtual RULER Conference invited Sam to present on social-emotional learning (SEL). The conference drew over 1,500 educators, academic leaders, health professionals, and parents interested in learning the importance of SEL in schools. Sam was on a panel with two other students, and he spoke about how RULER is relevant to RestVest and how the vest is helping kids cope with stress and anxiety without medication. 

 “I liked answering people's questions about the importance of mental health and why it's so important to me,” Sam said. “I’m good at presenting, creating slides, and such; I’ve done it before. But it was exciting to answer on the fly, not knowing what people would ask. I’m grateful that YCEI invited me to participate in the conference; I was able to represent myself and St. Luke’s positively. It was a huge success.” 

Following the conference, Sam received a lot of emails from people sending positive notes of support and looking to purchase the RestVest. 

“If you want to start a business, take the first step,” he said.“Tell a friend, ask a teacher, talk to someone. After taking a mini-course with Ms. Olsen, I learned about YCEI. She made the connection; I wouldn’t have had the study or the RULER conference without her. I’m so thankful to have Ms. Olsen as a great mentor. I started this journey outside of SLS, brought it here, and now the RestVest has grown and flourished.”