About Fora Viv

Founder Story

Why I Started Fora Viv

For most of my life, I thought I was doing everything right.

I worked out. I ate well. I took care of myself. For nearly 15 years, health and fitness were simply part of who I was.

And then, suddenly, my body stopped feeling like my own.

I was exhausted all the time. I started gaining weight even though nothing about my routine had changed. My stomach hurt so badly that some days I would curl up in a ball for hours. My hair started falling out — eventually, I lost nearly two-thirds of it.

I knew something was wrong.

The problem was, I didn't know where to turn.

I went to doctors. I had tests done. I tried treatments. I kept looking for answers while feeling like I was getting further and further away from the person I used to be.

Eventually, I learned that I was dealing with an autoimmune blood disorder that was causing severe inflammation and affecting my body's ability to absorb the nutrients it needed.

At one point, I was spending four days a week receiving mineral infusions.

But the hardest part wasn't sitting in a treatment center.

It was everything I was missing outside of it.

I'm a mom. I wanted to be playing with my kids, taking them places, running around with them and being present for their lives. Instead, my mom was having to step in because I physically couldn't be the mom I was used to being.

I remember thinking:

There has to be another way.

I Wasn't Looking for a Business Idea. I Was Looking for Answers.

That's eventually what led me to peptides.

I started researching and quickly realized there was an entirely different problem.

There was information everywhere — but very little clarity.

Which peptide was right for me?

Where should I start?

How much should I take?

And how was I supposed to know who I could actually trust?

I didn't want to experiment with my health based on something I had read online.

I wanted someone who understood my history.

Someone who could look at me, not just a list of symptoms.

Through one of my husband Rene's connections, I was eventually introduced to someone with experience who took the time to understand my history, my weight, my goals, and what my body had been through.

Instead of trying everything at once, we started with one thing and paid attention to how my body responded.

For the first time, I felt like I had a direction.

And that feeling — having someone help me understand where to begin — changed the way I thought about the entire experience.

Slowly, I Started Getting Pieces of Myself Back.

My journey didn't change overnight.

And I would never tell someone that one thing magically fixed everything for me.

But over time, peptides became part of a broader wellness journey that helped me feel more like myself again.

My hair started growing back. Eventually, I stopped needing the extensions I had worn after losing so much of it.

I started feeling more present.

More active.

More like Lauren again.

There was a time when I was spending four days a week receiving infusions and couldn't do the things I wanted to do with my children.

Today, I'm playing soccer with them.

I'm doing cartwheels.

I'm running around and being the active mom I missed being.

I'm still on my journey, but when I look at the difference between where I was and where I am today, it's incredibly emotional.

And through all of it, Rene was there watching me go through the same frustration:

Why is this so hard to navigate?

That Question Eventually Became Fora Viv.

Rene has always had an entrepreneurial mind.

While I was looking at everything through the eyes of someone who had personally lived it, he could see that the problem I experienced was bigger than just me.

There had to be other people asking the same questions.

People who wanted to take a more proactive role in their wellness but didn't know where to begin.

People researching late at night, reading conflicting information and wondering:

What actually makes sense for me?

That's when our conversations started changing.

Instead of asking, “Why wasn't there something like this when I needed it?”

We started asking:

“What if we created it?”

And that's where Fora Viv began.

We wanted to take what had been one of the most confusing parts of my own journey and create an experience that felt completely different.

A place where you don't have to become an expert before asking for help.

Where you're not expected to figure everything out alone.

Where you can connect with qualified medical providers who can look at your individual history and goals and help you understand which options may be appropriate for you.

Because that's what I wish I had from the beginning.

This Is Personal to Us.

Fora Viv may have become a business, but for me, it will always be connected to something deeply personal.

It's connected to the woman sitting in a treatment center wishing she were home with her kids.

It's connected to the nights I spent searching for answers and wondering who I could trust.

And it's connected to the moment Rene and I realized that maybe everything we had learned through my experience could become something that helped someone else feel a little less lost.

That's what we want Fora Viv to be.

A place to start.

A place where asking questions is encouraged.

A place where your story matters.

And a place where you have professional guidance to help you understand your options instead of navigating them alone.

Because I know what it's like to not know where to begin.

Fora Viv is the experience Rene and I wish had existed when I was searching for answers.

And now, we've built it for you

— Lauren Mirani
Co-Founder, Fora Viv