Our Story
The strength and powers of ancient volcanoes a mile high,
Forming lava rocks,
Together,
With the breath of life,
Creating a relationship between nature, love and mankind.
LavHa deeply believes in supporting and empowering our community. We are women-owned and women ran. LavHa employs local stay-at-home moms, single moms and college students to work from home and supplement their incomes. 90% of our jewelry are designed and made in southern California. The other 10% are assembled and made by women globally (Uganda, Tanzania,Thailand, Mexico, Peru, India, etc.). We exist to only do good.
Co-founders - Jessica and Nancy
How Jessica and Nancy introduced diffusing lava rock to the world…
Did you know that before Jessica and Nancy discovered that lava rock diffuses essential oils that there was no such thing on the market? The only thing that existed at the time were necklaces with terra cotta clay pendants or lockets with cotton pads. Nancy was making gemstone yoga bracelets for a local yoga studio for fun when Jessica moved down the street from her. They were instant friends (and maybe started a small stay-at-home-mom support group with each other). Jessica introduced Nancy to 100% pure essential oils and they were both looking for a hobby since becoming stay-at-home moms. After some brainstorming, they decided to pay for a booth at a craft fair and put a kit together with bracelets and oils and tried to figure out how they could go together.
Jessica told Nancy about the necklaces and wondered if there was a way to get terra cotta beads onto a bracelet. After much research and realizing they would have to make the beads (who has time for that?), they experimented with other stones and thought lava would work. They made an all lava bracelet, put oils on it…. and after 3 days it still had the scent! IT WORKED!!! They started making bracelets and giving them to family and friends as gifts that were essential oil users. They were a HIT and everyone wanted to buy them…
and the rest is history!
Want to know more?
Jessica Forest, BSN started her journey for the love of cultures, natural elements and health when she attended Brigham Young University on the beautiful Island of Oahu, Hawaii after high school graduation. She was privileged to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center when she wasn’t studying, exploring the beautiful environment of the island, surfing, or learning to scuba dive. After 2 years of immersing herself in the Hawaiian culture, Jessica realized her passion for helping people and went home to attend The University of New Mexico and earned a double major, Bachelor’s of Science in Community Health and Nursing. It was here, at the UNM hospital, where she worked as a student extern that she learned about alternative methods of healing and knew she wanted to combine western and eastern methods of holistic healing. She moved to Los Angeles where she worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the esteemed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and continued to practice and learn about touch and sound therapies. After meeting her husband and relocating to Orange County, she worked in operating and recovery rooms at outpatient plastic surgery facilities while starting her family.
Jessica began using and studying essential healing oils in 2009 and has become a field expert in how these essential oils help to aid in healing and uses them daily in her own family. Jessica is not only a mother of 3, she is a very active member of the LDS church which gives her many opportunities to teach and serve other women, children and families. Through her husband’s passion for humanitarian work and his extensive travels to Africa and South America to aid the suffering of refugees and building houses, she incorporates her knowledge of those cultures and needs into her bracelets. Part of the proceeds will go to various non-profit organizations. The culmination of her love of cultures, meditation, yoga, nature, health, essential oils and humanitarian aid and her amazing neighbor and friend, Nancy – Lavha was born.
Nancy Lin DeGregori, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of TruthNhealth.com (operating through Truth N Health, LLC) and has spent the last fourteen years studying nutrition and wellness for babies, children, adults, and seniors. She is the author of the book, An Etiological Theory of Chronic Disease: The Paradigm Shift of Modern Medicine, and is a holistic nutrition, health coach, and fitness consultant.
After completing her Bachelors in Sociology and Eastern Asian Languages from the University of Florida, Nancy traveled to Taiwan and China to study Business and Asian Cultures including Eastern Medicine. After two years in Asia, Nancy returned to the University of Florida to complete her Masters in Rehabilitation Therapy and Health Sciences. Nancy worked as a Behavioral Therapist, M.S. in clinical research and hospital settings, including the private and public sectors of physical and psychiatric rehabilitation centers in Florida and California, specializing with children and seniors.
Continuing her passion for healthcare, Nancy’s career path led her to California, where she worked for over five years in clinical hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Feeling strongly against the way medicine was practiced in terms of palliative care, Nancy ventured on to study alternative, Eastern Asian and Holistic medicine. The culmination of these experiences led Nancy to continue her belief in honest and optimum wellness for all, in holistic health and earned a Ph.D. in Holistic Nutrition from Clayton College of Natural Health, adopting a comprehensive and natural approach to wellness, instead of just medications, injections, radiation and surgeries to mitigate chronic illness symptoms and body ailments. Getting to the root and cause of the disease is Nancy’s quest. With a passion for simple and fundamental nutrition, as well as essential oils, healing gems and stones, acupuncture, yoga, meditation and sound healing, Nancy encourages people to use alternative medicine techniques and focus on the whole person to uniquely identify all aspects of health. Nancy is the mother of 3 beautiful children between the ages of 7 years old and 2 years old.