Barbara Jude Frerichs knows what it’s like to turn pain into profit. The idea for her business, High Heel Hero, started because of an injury.
“After being run over in 2000 and in a leg cast on and off for over five years, I couldn’t wear my heels,” says Frerichs.
Her feet would swell and throb after wearing them. So when CBD exploded as a popular product for pain management, Frerichs started rubbing the oil on her aching feet.
CBD soothed her pain, but it wasn’t a perfect solution.
“I used it and it worked, but it was oily, not too good for your shoes or walking,” Frerichs says. “I thought, There’s got to be a way…”
A year and a half later, High Heel Hero, an all-natural, CBD-infused cream made with organic ingredients, was born. It’s designed to reduce inflammation and pain associated with wearing high heels, even before someone slips on their shoes. Customers can rub High Heel Hero into their soles before a night on the town, and wake up the next morning pain-free.
Frerichs says that the best business lesson she ever learned was when she started her first business in 1989, selling books online. (Frerichs even turned down Jeff Bezos’ offer to join a fledgling Amazon in the early ‘90s — but that’s another story). She thought to herself, “I can’t be the only one who would want an easy way to order books and get them quickly — there’s got to be a million other people who need this also.”
That’s been Frerichs’s litmus test question ever since: Do one million other people also need this?
With High Heel Hero, she believes the answer is yes.
CBD is now in everything from oils and lotions to coffee and gummies, but Frerichs stresses that High Heel Hero isn’t just another CBD product. For anyone who’s ever had foot pain from walking around in less-than-comfortable shoes, her product meets a real need.
“High Heel Hero isn’t a general CBD product or another beauty line,” Frerichs says. “I want women to be good to their feet — we’re going to need them for a long time!”