Laura Eisman And Allison Krongard, Cofounders Of Her Highness: Highly Succinct

Her Highness 

• Laura Eisman - Cofounder
• Allison Krongard - Cofounder

I love Her Highness. Why should men have all the fun in gourmet-read:luxury cannabis? Her Highness celebrates her love of her plant! Our plant, if you are overly sensitive, that is true but know that I deeply appreciate the female aspect to this interview for my column at Forbes Vices. It means something. I love that these two brilliant native New York women are both destigmatizing cannabis with their own unique brand of cannabis products, both THC and CBD based, where legal of course. Not the man’s brand or a his/her identity, but their own. Big distinction here. It’s Her Highness, not His Highness, see what I’m saying? It’s theirs! Get it? Good. Be nice, mind your manners and you might share in her pleasure.

Warren Bobrow=WB: Tell me about yourselves? Where are you from? How old were you when you first discovered our plant? Who were you with?

(Laura Eisman) I am a native New Yorker. I remember a “Working Girl” moment on the Staten Island Ferry as a precocious high-schooler interning on Wall Street, I discovered all of the cute young stockbrokers smoking pot on the lower level. However, cannabis wasn’t a big part of my life until I began dating the man I would eventually marry, build a business with (Girlshop.com), have kids with, (and eventually divorce.) He was a wake-and-bake type. I’m not. But I did enjoy it after long days of being completely “on” as the girl-behind-the-brand. It was a de-stressor for me.

(Allison Krongard) I was born and raised in NYC. I was in 9th grade when I first tried pot at Danceteria with a friend from school. I didn’t think it was a big deal as half of my high school was meeting in Central Park for a morning smoke before the bell. (Author’s note: I worked at Danceteria-grew up in NJ- in the video lounge & elevator, Class of 1984 of Danceteria)

WB: Why cannabis?  What did you want to be when you (grew) up? Tell me about your path to where you are now? What about stigmas?

(Laura Eisman) I actually wanted to be an actress when I was growing up. But I didn’t pursue that, although I can say I remained dramatic. I studied design and architecture and became a recognized Art Director in magazine publishing at a young age. I was poached to take on the Creative Director role at iVillage, the earliest women-focused online property, where I quickly realized the potential of the internet. It was at that moment that I became an entrepreneur. In the internet, I saw a male-dominated industry with great untapped potential to serve women. Seeing that white space, and my passion to drive and help form a new industry, led me to create Girlshop.com, a pioneer e-commerce website for fashion. I had a similar aha moment and drive with cannabis. Early efforts to elevate cannabis were fascinating however did not address women specifically. You can’t slap a pink label and glitter on a package and call it marketing to women. Instead, I imagined an elegant gold-plated vape pen and a pre-roll that looks like a Virginia Slim. Plus women don’t necessarily want the same effects as men. A discreet mint that takes the edge off is my go-to. And that leads into stigmas. Many of womens’ pot memories involve situations we happened into, not ones that we curated. Weed is no longer “pizza delivery man” weed. The products created from the plant are now completely nuanced and we aim to educate. Her Highness formulates products that are beneficial to women in their daily lives – as in our Pleasure Oil for enhanced orgasms, CBD Queen’s Elixir for self-care, and an especially happy vape pen called Giggle, that does exactly that.

(Allison Krongard) Cannabis has been an integral part of my life for 30 years in conjunction with my love for design and drive to support women and female causes. My entrepreneurial ventures have involved these passions in some way.  I first created a company that was about making women’s lives easier with innovative home decor and now I'm building a brand that is making women’s lives better through cannabis. My path to Her Highness began after the acquisition of my last venture, WallCandy Arts.  I knew I wanted to do something in cannabis next but after about a year of research, I determined it was still too daunting to be plant-touching on the east coast as a single mom. Then my former colleague and friend from my WallCandy days, Laura Eisman, reached out with an idea for a luxury cannabis accessory line specifically for women. Once we decided to partner on it, our collaboration spurred an even bigger idea, which was Her Highness, a complete lifestyle collection of luxury cannabis goods for women, encompassing THC, CBD and accessories. What about stigmas? We hate them. Part of our mission is to help end all stigmas around female pleasures. Principally, cannabis and sex. We want to help make cannabis and orgasm enhancing pleasure oils mainstream, starting with our launch collection. 

WB: What is your six month and twelve-month plans? Are you inside or outside grown? Why?

LE & AK: Our six-month plan is to heighten the exposure of Her Highness, gain traction for our unique formulations and high quality, and build Her Highness into a trusted brand. Within the next year, we will continue to grow all three Her Highness collections: THC, hemp-CBD, and our elegant smokeware accessory line. Our goal is to expand from one market, (Her Highness is currently only available in California) to one or two more legal states in 2020.

WB: What is your favorite restaurant? Where? What kind of food?

(Laura Eisman) One of my favorite restaurants is Scarpetta. I live in the Hamptons so my current obsession is the one at Gurney’s in Montauk, but I know it well from my days of Girlshop’s retail store in the Meatpacking District. Savoring the yellowtail crudo, creamy polenta, and braised short ribs surrounded by the ocean is breathtaking. Summer is, of course, amazing, but in winter the experience begins in the magical ocean-view igloos.

(Allison Krongard) My all-time favorite restaurant is Sunset Beach on Shelter Island which I identify as French bistro/ Neuvo American cuisine. The setting typically includes a mojito and a joint on a blanket at sunset, watching the boats then a seated dinner the sandbox section facing the water.

WB: What is your passion? 

LE & AK: Our passion as a partnership is to bring cannabis to women everywhere, normalize it, offer an onramp to the canna-curious and delight serious users with super high quality, well designed, female-driven curated product collections.  We want Her Highness to be the first trusted household female cannabis brand, spreading the word nationally with our hemp CBD and accessory line as well as grow the THC line as legalization spreads.