We were lucky to catch up with Holly Hager recently and have shared our conversation below.

Holly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve always been a pretty adventurous spirit. In my personal life, that manifests in off-the-beaten-track travel. I trekked Mongolia—before there was cell service—and I explored Côte d’Ivoire on my own within three weeks of a military coup. One of my favorite trips included flying directly over a brand new volcano erupting in Iceland. As superheated updrafts from skyhigh bursts of lava tossed the plane around like a toy, I laughed aloud in delight like I was just on a rollercoaster. And now, this year, I’m about to trek the Himalayas for the third time.

Big shock, I’m also adventurous in my career. I’ve always jumped at opportunities that interest me—even when that has meant getting way out of my comfort zone. Multiple times, I’ve transitioned into completely new industries that nobody else saw coming for me. For instance, while running ops at a broker-dealer, I sold my first romance novel. My risk-taking mindset is why I eventually became an entrepreneur. It’s also why I got into the wild world of cannabis. Each time I leap into a completely foreign situation, I discover untapped parts of myself as well as new heights of fulfillment.

Holly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got into the cannabis industry four years ago as the co-founder and COO of House of Puff, a cannabis lifestyle brand. Like most people, I tried cannabis in my 20s. But I only started consuming it regularly to treat sarcoidosis, a multisystemic inflammatory disease. As debilitating as sarcoid can be, I refused to let the chronic pain keep me from living life to the fullest. So, for years, I explored alternative treatments including Chinese herbs, meditation, and loads of other, much more hocus-pocus healing. They all had their good points. But nothing worked for me like cannabis.

Obviously, I live my life rather unconventionally. Instead of being constrained by what other people think, I make the choices that are right for me. So, when I want to do something that others might be afraid of, I can keep things really close to the vest. And that’s exactly what I did with cannabis. I was on the New York medical program, taking it daily, and feeling better than I ever had. Regardless, for years, I didn’t talk about it with anyone other than my husband.

But, when I discovered that one of my colleagues had dreamt up House of Puff, I suddenly had the opportunity to start a new adventure that truly spoke to me. At House of Puff, we’re all about enabling people to unapologetically experience cannabis. We leverage high culture to help them reimagine what a lifestyle that includes cannabis can be. Of course, most people are more risk-averse than I am. So, I understand how hard it can be to get over the old cannabis stereotypes. But that makes my role in destigmatizing the plant even more satisfying to me.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my business partner, Kristina Lopez Adduci, at Art Basel. We were both on a panel there about feminist art. Meanwhile, the best part was that we were seated at the foot of a giant neon sculpture of a female orgasm. I never would’ve guessed that that speaking engagement would lead me to the cannabis industry. But it did.

Kristina and I quickly discovered that we shared the same drivers, ambitions, and work ethic. Within weeks of meeting, we launched a successful content marketing campaign to promote important but unrepresented womxm and BIPOC artists for the fine art businesses that each of us owned at the time. But, when I learned that she was looking to scale House of Puff up from a side hustle into her primary business, I had the nerve to ask her if she was interested in taking on a partner to do it. At first, she was taken aback that I was game to jump industries and join her. Even though we’d had drinks plenty of times, we had never even talked about cannabis. But, we work so well together that she said yes, and we’ve never looked back.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Before House of Puff, the closest I had been to a manufacturing business was working in fashion. But I had never worked on the development end. I’m a writer by trade and have authored books in multiple genres. So, I’m creative. I didn’t, however, have experience sourcing or manufacturing anything physical. Nonetheless, I jumped right in. Since then, I’ve discovered that I don’t actually feel like I’m accomplishing anything unless my work results in something tangible. In fact, I find the journey of birthing a product that I can hold in my hands more satisfying than anything else.

My initial lack of experience might be what allowed us to develop House of Puff’s hybrid manufacturing model for cannabis accessories. All the consumption devices that we make start out in the artist’s studio. When we come up with a new product idea, like the Manhattan Match Strikers that we just launched, I work closely with our artists to come up with something that’s unique in the space. But I also give them a lot of room to be as creative as possible with the design. Then, we test market each one with small-batch, handmade production. In that process, we incorporate everything we learn from our customers to refine and reiterate the product. Only once we know that we have a great market fit do we transition anything to commercial production.

And now we’re on to a really exciting new adventure. We’re working with a New York licensee to bring our first House of Puff THC product to market. From the very beginning, we always hoped to take our lifestyle brand full circle into the flower-touching side of business. But, until we met our current partner, none of the opportunities felt right. Then, this past summer, we met one of the principals of Lunulata. Right away, we realized that their ethos dovetailed with ours. No drama. Just collaborate with great people to make products with such integrity that everybody wins. Within weeks, we were off to the races.

Of course, developing a THC product is a completely different animal. And I don’t just mean the product testing phase—although, it is fun to occasionally have to get high for work. ;) But I’m really enjoying our new leap into the art of creating an ingestible product that appeals to all five senses. It’s a totally new challenge, and one that I’m fully embracing. I can’t wait to bring our newest products to market so that everyone can try them! If you want to be one of the first, sign up for our newsletter, The Puff Post, or follow us on Insta.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://houseofpuff.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehouseofpuff/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-hager-10695636/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HouseofPuffNY
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAf_5fsvF5N_5oadAWo1LMw

Image Credits
Rosalind O’Connor