Accessory designer, Katy Reddy, spent several years in the healthcare industry working in Pediatric Hospice as a Child Life Specialist.
“When I was young I wanted to be a Candy Striper—a teenage volunteer, who delivered candy and flowers to patients in the hospital,” she shared. “That desire to be of service turned into a career working with children in hospice—which really means I played with children in the hospital to teach them about their diagnosis and help them cope with the illness. It was an honor to do the work.”
From there she went on to be a Dream Designer for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, working with other child specialists.
Though the job was fulfilling, soon she found herself working as a stay-at-home mom for about five or six years, caring for her kids.
“I love being a mom, loved being home with them—but something was missing,” she said. “I had the need to create—and to be of service again.”
It was synchronicity, she said, that propelled her down the path of creating Prettyhigh, an online shop filled with repurposed vintage and antique smoking accessories, alongside her own creations, with a vintage feel.
“Since starting Prettyhigh I’ve learned two things my soul needs, to be of service to others, and this experience has fulfilled both,” she said. “It’s also been the most beautiful experience—literally and figuratively. Cannabis brings me back to a place of peace and connection to spirit, which, in turn, externalizes into the accessories I create.”
Don’t Mess With Texas
Katy Reddy said she first partook of the plant in high school, where she grew up in Missouri in 1999. Missouri has just recently accepted the plant as medicine.
“In high school I only tried cannabis twice,” she said. “I was really into sports and worked part-time. It wasn’t until college that I realized it was so much more than something to do for recreation.”
Reddy is now based in Fort Worth, Texas. While Texas is still not legal for recreational or medicinal use, a recent survey done by InformedTexas.org, states that 60 percent of Texans currently approve of medical cannabis.
Pretty & High: The Katy Reddy Stash
Reddy’s dosing includes microdosing, with everything in her life in moderation. One cup of coffee in the morning, one glass of wine in the evening, and one hit of flower to medicate at a time.
“The way some people would enjoy the process of a perfectly brewed cup of tea, I delight in the process of consuming flower,” she added. “Breaking down the bud, the texture, the way it feels, its earthy fragrance. I can appreciate the way it gifts us a perspective shift—gifting beauty from the inside out.”
It’s the process that draws Katy Reddy into cannabis and creating. Everything in her life is done with intention, whether it’s medicating, recreating, or expanding her line of artful accessories.
“I consider myself a patient of life and medicate to navigate the physical world, while staying grounded to spirit,” she explained. “Smoking cannabis involves the re-centering of myself. It’s a time when I’m free of the noise, allowing me time to bring the chaos into focus. I recreate, so I can create, so I can feel at peace.”
Reddy’s stash is an eclectic mix of old and new, nestled in a repurposed vintage gold leather briefcase.
The stash includes her own creations from the Prettyhigh cache, including her own rolling papers, hand-written with “prettyhighdeas” on each packet.
All in polished brass, with Reddy adding, “My style leans to the glamorous age of the 1930s and 40s, with a street edge vibe.”
Pieces she’s designed include a brass rolling machine, a brass rolling tray; and a brass bangle charmed with a keyring, whistle and vintage cigarette holder. Also included is a golden one-hit-wonder in medical-grade titanium, with a compact black lucite dugout, aptly named, Doug. Just behind Doug is a rhinestone encrusted holder for the dugout.
A cut-glass pipe she designed is ready for gifting in a Prettyhigh black and gold vintage case, alongside a vintage cut glass ashtray.
“When I serve scotch or a fine wine it’s served using cut crystal, so I thought, why shouldn’t the flower be consumed with just as much elegance?” she said.
The entire affair could come directly from an antique murder mystery… opera glasses, a vintage leather coin purse, and ebony and gold dice. Is this a stash or a collection of clues?
A nod to musician and songstress Sheila E comes in a pair of what Katy Reddy calls, smoking gloves, with a nod to the glamorous life.
Prettyhigh is the externalization of Reddy’s spirit, a dreamworld of manifested accessories, made to prettily elevate the conversation, and destigmatize the art of partaking.
“Each piece tells a story of synchronicity through connection to others, and that’s spiritual. That’s part of the whole experience of enjoying the plant,” she concluded. “Moments reminding me that nothing is by chance and that I’m right where I’m meant to be. Creation is my recreation.”
