Laura Eisman, Her Highness

Ellen Scanlon (00:00):

This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over. Welcome back to How to Do the Pot, a podcast de-mystifying cannabis for women. I’m Ellen Scanlon. On these short episodes, we share women’s stories about the first time they bought legal weed. I hope they bring a little fun and a new perspective into your week. Laura Eisman is the New York-based co-founder of Her Highness, a women-centric cannabis lifestyle brand.

Laura Eisman (00:31):

My first time purchasing legal weed happens about five years ago in California. Right before my trip, my friends showed me these gummies that she had purchased in California in a fabulous, beautiful tin. They were delicious tasting. She also had these low dose mints, which I didn’t even know what made up a low dose mints at that time, but I was curious enough to run to California and go to a dispensary the minute that I arrived. The first dispensary that I went to was exactly that it was something, a random selection. I don’t remember which one. It was probably just closest to where I was at the time, and I remember getting there and being completely underwhelmed by the presentation. It was this nondescript building, high security. I was buzzed into a room and then another room.

Laura Eisman (01:30):

And I thought by the time that I reached the retail part of it, it was going to open up to be this really amazing retail fun experience, but what I encountered was a remnant of medical dispensaries and things were behind a counter. All the products seem really far away. I had this intermediate bartender that I needed to communicate with, and I didn’t know any of the language. I didn’t know what I was asking for. I just found it really far in. It wasn’t comfortable, and I remember just not purchasing. I don’t think I purchased anything and I certainly didn’t stay long. The next dispenser I went to after that was MedMen, and that was a completely different experience. It was felt de-stigmatized. I was able to walk around the store. I could look at the packaging. I could see all the fun labels, all the fun branding.

Laura Eisman (02:36):

At the center of the store was a display with a glass top, and I could see the weed. I couldn’t touch it, but it was right there, and next to it was an iPad with a lot of information that if I had the patience at the time, I could have learned a lot about strains and other things, but it was really overwhelming, all the product that was at the store. And so I remember buying up a ton of different things, from edibles to smokeables and everything in between, all these brands, Lowell and Henry’s, and I can’t remember, but a bag full of stuff. I really wanted to see all the different types of dispensaries that existed, the retail experience. I went to The Pottery and that was very interesting. I think that that was probably most closely resembled what my expectation was. It was hip looking. It kind of felt like a shop that would be in Brooklyn and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, concrete floors, high ceilings, beautiful natural light. The minute I walked in there, I saw the Jonathan Adler collection and I just felt at home.

Laura Eisman (03:58):

So I spent a lot of time in that store, just kind of walking around, looking at all the fabulous accessories. The product was behind the counter, but it was more of a friendly environment. There were girls working there. It was kind of more chill, relaxed, interesting. To me, that was the closest to something that was emerging and cool and about to change the world. From that experience, I learned so much. Although I obviously went crazy on this retail shopping experience and purchased a lot of stuff, I felt that there was a huge hole in the women’s market, and there was nothing that spoke to me as a woman. There were no women brands that were really highlighted, and the shopping experience, although it got closer as I went along, was really not what women are used to. Wasn’t a boutique experience, but it was inspiring, and it did inspire some of our Her Highness products because we really did see what was lacking in the market at that time.

Ellen Scanlon (05:15):

Thanks for listening to this episode of How to Do the Pot. If you’d like to share your story about the first time you bought legal weed, please send us a voice memo to hi@dothepot.com or DM us, @dothepot. Please also follow along on all our socials and visit dothepot.com for lots more information about women and cannabis. Thanks to Madi Fair, our brand manager, and our producer, Nick Patri. I’m Ellen Scanlon, and we’ll be back soon with more of How to Do the Pot.