How House of Puff is uplifting artists and elevating the weed witch lifestyle
Kristina Lopez Adduci on building an equity brand at the cultural intersection of cannabis, art and fashion
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Greetings from New York, where we just celebrated two years of cannabis legalization on March 31. Can you believe it? Only a few weeks away from the day we all know and love (ahem), we’re finally living in a brave new weed world filled with cool dispensaries, stoned yoga, and puff ‘n’ paint studios, where you can wander through upstate hemp farms, take a weed cruise or live your best unemployment life. What a time to be alive.
In case you missed the news, the first woman-owned dispensary Good Grades opened in Jamaica, Queens, and Gotham dispensary opening downtown this spring; William Jane joined the round of new dispensaries in upstate in Ithaca, New York; six dispensaries are coming to Staten Island (still not convinced it’s reason enough to shlep to Staten Island, but good for them); plus the grand opening of The House of Cannabis THC NYC, a permanent multi-story museum in SoHo. That’s not even touching the countless THC-laced festivals, events, brands, and other experiences popping up everywhere.
There’s so much going on, in fact, that it’s time to check in with another local who has their finger on the pulse of East Coast cannabis.
Joining the Pipe Dreams podcast this week: entrepreneur, art collector, and speaker Kristina Lopez Adduci, founder and CEO of House of Puff, a female-led, Latine-owned cannabis lifestyle company based in New York. She is also the host of At Home with House of Puff, a YouTube channel where she breezily walks viewers through tips on everything from how to decarb flower to distinguishing legitimate dispensaries in New York City. Think: Giada at Home, but with weed—the lifestyle show we always wanted, but never got from Food Network.
Best known for their sleek hitters, stylish papers, and other artist-inspired designs, House of Puff was among the East Coast pioneers that saw an opportunity to elevate the accessories space during the Green Rush of 2018. After all, cannabis is not a fleeting trend; it’s a way of life and it’s never too late to upgrade your lifestyle. Since the company’s launch, House of Puff is going strong with over 60 successful SKUs sold across all 50 states and abroad in Canada, Europe, Thailand, Switzerland, and Australia.
For anyone who dreamed of gracing their coffee table with something a little nicer and more mature than a cheesy bong blazed out with marijuana leaf decals, House of Puff is truly a form-meets-function brand. Their line of elegant, individually hand-crafted stoneware is eye-catching, durable, and worthy of any collectors’ stash—but not without purpose. “Art touches everything we do,” she says. “We like to say that we sit at the nexus of art, cannabis, and social justice.”
Before founding House of Puff, Kristina kickstarted her career working for The Michael J. Fox Foundation, where she raised over $25M and co-chaired their Young Professionals group. Her first venture, a media company called Art Zealous, helped make art collecting more accessible for her generation. And her lengthy list of impressive extracurriculars include serving on the Whitney Museum Contemporary Board, the Guggenheim Acquisitions Council, and helping to form the Young Patrons group for the American Folk Art Museum.
An active member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, she puts her money where her mouth is about addressing operational equity in the industry, uplifting BIPOC artists like Chris Wilson and Paula Flores through House of Puff artist collaborations that support causes they care about.
“Once an artist sells a painting, they can never make royalties for that painting again. And we know how difficult it is for some artists to have steady income,” she says. “So, with our rolling papers artist series, we license the image from them, we put the artwork on the rolling papers, and every time we sell a pack obviously the artist gets a portion, but one level up from that—because social justice is so important to us—we have a giveback component.”
For Paula Flores, House of Puff has been working with the Pachamama Alliance to support sustainability in the Amazon, while their most recent collaboration with Chris Wilson—a formerly incarcerated artist who spent some time in solitary confinement—supports Solitary Watch, an organization trying to eradicate solitary confinement in the U.S.
As a mom and a Latina woman, Kristina is also passionate about destigmatizing cannabis usage for women by holding space for the canna-curious and canna-nervous.
“There are definitely moms at the playground where I wear my House of Puff hat and Buy Weed From Women sweatshirt, and do I get eye rolls? Yeah, for sure. But the only thing I can do is educate them on what weed has done for me as a woman, as a mom, as an entrepreneur, what it’s done for my family, and especially those suffering from either mental illness or physical,” she says.
“I see myself as a voice, even if one other person is listening. I believe that if enough people hear my story, your story, other stories of women, that this stigma…that’s really a huge part. I’m a mom, I’m Latina—it’s like a triple whammy—and the stigma is very much real. So, destigmation then normalization is my theory.”
On the latest Pipe Dreams podcast, Kristina discusses the cultural intersection of cannabis, art, and fashion and how that inspires House of Puff’s product designs, finding her speed as a mom and Latine leader in cannabis, business advice on building an equity cannabis brand, skirting around restrictions on social media, her two cents on the rollout in New York, and tips on how to live your best cannabis life.
Listen, like and share the episode. Follow House of Puff on Instagram and subscribe to At Home with House of Puff on YouTube. Have someone in mind that you think should be on the show? Drop a line at itstheweedwitch@gmail.com.
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