Home Decor and So Much More (Than a Bong)

Despite growing acceptance of cannabis, there is still a lot of work to be done toward normalization. Many people still have a fear of getting caught or in trouble for consuming. For Doreen Sullivan, a particularly heart-pounding moment was the source of inspiration to create something new, unique, and beautiful.

In 2015, Sullivan founded My Bud Vase® – a company that crafts beautifully feminine home decor vases that double as bongs. Her pieces are crafted with care and creativity, and are intended to be an inconspicuous way for people to enjoy consuming.

More than creating something beautiful, Sullivan’s pieces are a representation of advocacy for normalization. She feels that the more women — and more people in general — who feel comfortable with consuming cannabis and can openly discuss uses, benefits, and how it makes them feel, the safer consumers can feel. 

Sullivan sat with The Green Letter to share the inspiration behind My Bud Vase and her passion for intentionally bringing the cannabis conversation to the forefront for lifestyle and for freedom. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I understand having to hide your bong sparked the idea for My Bud Vase. Can you tell me more about that story?

I call it my final hide-the-bong dance. I definitely want to make a dance out of this because so many of us have been in a place of “oh shit” when we are hiding consumption in whatever form or function. Back in the summer of 2015, I had come home from work and it was a hard day, so I wanted to take a hit and pivot, then there was a knock at my door. It was a guy who had to get on the roof to look at something, but it was one of those loud knocks and my heart jumped. I did this hide-the-bong dance – I took the bong and hid it amongst a bunch of flowers and vases I had on my counter. I sprayed some cover-up and let the guy in, then he went to go on the roof, but I sat there with my heart pounding as so many people across the world can relate to. Paranoia and laws for paraphernalia are outdated, so I finally decided to do something about it.

The very next day I called up a friend who lived in my area who had just told me he needed to make some extra money and I said we needed to figure something out. I started collecting vases and we began drilling everything to see how to make this work. I searched wherever in the world glass was produced – and studied all forms of it from blown, molded, or pressed glass to ceramics and porcelains – then I started making one-of-a-kind, repurposed vintage pieces. I literally made one thousand of those over the course of my first two years in the bong business before I actually came out with the designs that I would use to work with large manufacturers and bring this concept to market in a scalable way. 

As a product developer, are you personally designing each of these and sending them to the manufacturer? What does that process look like?

Yes. I work with factories all over the world. One of my company’s differentiators is that I choose to work with multiple factories which allows me to personify every piece. As a global product developer, I want every design to be completely different from the other, and I achieve that by sourcing from factories all over the world. I’m currently sourcing from nine different countries importing different elements, whether it’s the actual vase, the hardware that turns it into a functional device, or the decorations that bring it to life. 

I come from entertainment marketing, so to me everything is positioned like a movie release. It’s part of what makes My Bud Vase® special and collectible — each piece has its own vibe. The greatest thing is that so many people relate to these pieces. They might like something more floral for their house, but their inner ego might be more of a Stardust or a Vamp. People collect them from that level, and they’re different enough to relate to different people. The biggest honor is when someone not only knows the My Bud Vase® brand, but they also know the individual styles like they know Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe from Friends and that’s crazy to me; it’s so wonderful and it makes me so happy. I want to honor my customer’s journey in the cannabis world with these pieces, and more than a commercial product taking care of a niche in a market, I really want them to identify with the personality of the actual piece that perfectly suits their style.

What are you hoping women are getting by using something like this that goes along with their personality?

It really helps women do something I call “exacting.” We’re really good at creating exactly what we want, which is something that we have an eye for. We naturally combine elements to create exactly what we want. We do this in all areas of our life — our wardrobe, our home decor, our makeup, everything.

I do the same thing when I design my products – I gather very specific materials to convey the uniqueness and the beauty of each piece. Take TocaCabana – it consists of 12 different elements coming together to create the exact tropical vibe I was going for, from the texture, the finish, the toucan poker, and trying out three different bowls because the first two didn’t match exactly right, and I worked with several different florists to find the perfect leaves. That’s why my product relates so well to women and designers and collectors — we do this exacting thing all the time. 

Is this your first line of business specific to cannabis?

I’m a career creative, so cannabis really helped me create and inspired me, and will continue to inspire me to create for the rest of my life. However, as production goes, I didn’t think I would put effort into changing paraphernalia — especially living in a prohibition state — but there was this wave where things really started to open up.

In 2020, we all became essential. It was a wonderful time, and now it's rescinding in so many ways that it breaks my heart because there’s so many phenomenal companies I’m seeing having to step back or deal with things that are not fair regarding legalization. It’s a sad subject because it’s not fair and people don’t understand. One of my goals as an agency is to create visuals to help people see this beneficial plant for what it is. 

I have ads in magazines where there’s a beautiful woman with one of my products. It’s very similar to what you would see in an alcohol ad. Since we’ve gone through prohibition with alcohol, I’m hoping consumers identify with something they’re already used to. Last year, when I was sourcing in Mexico, I drove through beautiful agave fields – that’s a plant that can heal you if you rub it on a burn, and if you ferment it and turn it into tequila you can have fun. It just doesn’t make sense to me that one plant is okay and the other is not. I look forward to somehow bridging this plant gap, and my product can do that because it can show the normalization of ‘this looks really good in my house’ unlike some other paraphernalia that you wouldn’t want to leave out on your coffee table.

Have you had any challenges in your business because it’s paraphernalia?

Every corner of America is selling paraphernalia, and I’ve been in that world. I’ve bought paraphernalia in many different states at many different times legally. However, today, with so much confusion and outdated laws, it’s difficult to navigate what is legal and what isn’t, between state and federal regulations. When it comes to my company, I’ve been careful to make sure I was just importing vases and repurposing vintage pieces. Because of the legal confusion, I lost some of my inventory, and it really hurt my business. I wasn’t seen as an entrepreneur trying to normalize home consumption or as teaching people how to be creative or healthy through cannabis. 

As an agency, I’ve always fought for creative responsibility in the industry, like packaging that children wouldn’t identify with and making sure people aren’t stealing brands and names. I’ve come from licensed merchandising in my career so I understand licensing rights; it’s just unclear in the category of consumption items what you can get away with. Why are rolling papers and pipes okay to sell on certain online platforms, but not bongs? Why can’t you even say the word ‘bong’ in half of the smoke shops in America?

I hope I’m able to make a difference in some of the future of the ancillary product category. I already feel I’ve done a great job of opening the category of consumption home decor and inspiring people to be more artistic in their creations with items that are part of the consumption experience. I love to say it’s home decor and so much more!

Is it more important to advocate for consumption normalcy around women than men?

Good question. Especially in manufacturing paraphernalia, the industry is very male-dominant. Men are designing most of the products out there. On that note, it’s really important to ask the woman what she likes and what her preferences are, and that’s where my focus lies. I feel like women are underrepresented in their preferences and styles, but not in the choice of using cannabis. Women are now the official majority new consumer – we’ve actually passed the 50% mark, so let’s speak to a woman as a woman wants to be spoken to. Women want something that is safe, beautiful, and something that speaks to them and feels good in their home, in their hands, around their face, and as part of their life. 

As more women are supported and have more options, do you think this will normalize women and weed and help further the industry altogether?

Yes — 1,000%! Elevating women as advocates and leaders in any industry can improve those sectors. My product is geared towards anybody who wants to consume; I’m just filling the gap for female consumption because it’s what I can see most clearly, I’m passionate about that, and it needs to happen. You can find inspiration in all avenues of this industry, especially if you look at women leaders – they are doing such a beautiful job at joining together in advocating for this plant.

Unfortunately, a lot of these decisions are politically motivated and we’re not exactly sure what’s happening because we don’t know what the intention is. Are we stalling some legalization because of understanding more about cannabis, but then why aren’t we reaching out to the people who understand it? Or are we stalling because we’re looking to give the rights to people that can profit more and restrict more? It’s a deep subject.

What can people, especially women, do to advocate for further normalization in the cannabis space?

Well, in different states there are different answers, which is part of the problem. There are many amazing groups of women in cannabis – Blunt Brunch, Tokeativity, WEIC, and The International Women’s Cannabis Conference – a conference featuring many amazing expert women speakers in all sorts of industry areas. Letting people know there are resources out there that people can connect with, and finding your own flower power can be a big help. The more we can normalize cannabis and approach it like there’s nothing wrong with the plant and we have the right to use it, the better off we’re going to be.

It seems like that is eminent because as things pivot, we might see more opportunities, and we need to be ready for them. Speaking. of that, I don’t know exactly what my next road is. In fact, I’m sort of confused as a product developer. I’ve got all sorts of tariffs and things that need to change right now, so I’m just going to trust that I’m in a good place for this plant and that I can find another road to liberate its benefits and support the overall process. Yeah, it’s kind of tough, but I look for it in a creative way. If you were a lawyer, maybe you can help legally. If you’re a writer, maybe you're going to help share stories. I think it’s taking your own gifts and bringing them into the cannabis space and sharing with the larger group that will make a difference.

Where do you see My Bud Vase® going as you continue along its journey?

The name and the brand is just so dear to me because it’s literal. It’s a vase for your bud, but it really personalizes it for the customer. What might be your choice is different from my choice or some other choice. From a brand perspective, I love that I have a product and a company that honors business in a different way — a way that is passionate about making sure I’m there for my customers if they need me. My phone number is on the website. When people get me, they’re like, “Wait – is that Doreen? How am I talking to you?” I say, “Because if you have an issue or if something is great, I want to hear it.”

Already in my career, I’ve worked my agency for four decades and done things I’m very proud of. With My Bud Vase®, I really want it to be special — not just a product, but following a different set of guidelines and really being inspired to continue this journey. I’m doing this because I love the plant and I feel the calling. It’s almost like we’re ganja warriors and we have to help the ganja plant. I want to make sure people know that my decisions are made from a creative heart, and that I hope they register with people to follow their authenticity and create something that matters to them. I welcome any conversations like this as a cannabis advocate and creator that helps move the needle forward and free the plant.