In a summer that feels like one heat wave follows another over the east coast and the sun has no clouds to hide behind, it doesn’t seem to bother Yami Ortiz (@thatfadedfairy) that much. Growing up in Puerto Rico and living for a time in San Juan, she told the Leaf that she didn’t own a car and would bike everywhere. Not only did living on the island help her to adjust to and thrive in the land of eternal summers, but riding around and seeing the culture around her — the graffiti art, parties with reggaeton playing, the sense of pride people carried around — inspired her to carry a bit of that with her wherever she went.
“I’m a Boricua in Baltimore,” she proudly exclaimed, adding that while driving around the state she feels nostalgic relating things back to her time on the island, like driving down the eastern shore or seeing crowds of people wearing Orioles jerseys, for example. “With Maryland, I see similarities in the duality — there’s Maryland pride and Puerto Rican pride. If I go to Puerto Rico, I’m going to wear some hibiscus. If I’m in Maryland, I’m going to try to be around some black-eyed Susans.”
Ortiz grew up in a military family in Juana Diaz, in southern Puerto Rico. When she and her brother arrived in the family, they spoke Spanglish, picking up Spanish phrases by assimilation. “I consider English to be my first language, but my mom and dad would speak to us in Spanish, and we’ll respond in English, and it would be a mixture of things,” she said.
After graduating from high school, Ortiz attended college and got a bachelor’s degree in teaching English as a second language. She taught in classrooms for a little while after graduating, but felt that the environment was no longer where she wanted to work. She lived in Puerto Rico until Hurricane Maria hit the island and then relocated to Maryland, which she has called home for over eight years.
“I came out here looking for job opportunities, and I always found jobs that resonated with my bilingualism,” she said. Some jobs included customer service and working as a translator. After a few years of moving around different jobs, she found her way into the Cannabis industry and worked in different roles at a few dispensaries before starting as a brand rep for Story in late 2024.
“I think my military upbringing has made me an adaptable person,” she said, adding that her teaching background and previous customer service work have helped her build habits that keep her organized and prepared for any role she needs to step into. She also said that to make her pop-up experiences more memorable, she’ll visit a dollar store arts-and-crafts section beforehand for small trinkets to throw on her table to catch someone’s attention. “That was a thing my mom would do is just take me to the dollar store,” she said, adding that her mom is also a teacher in Puerto Rico. “I find them to be cool.”
Even though she’s admitted to being a late bloomer to trying Cannabis, Ortiz said it eventually developed into a passion of hers once she started consuming it more and learning about the potential of the plant itself. “I know it’s hard to steer people away from calling it weed, but it’s not a weed. It’s a beautiful flower, and you gotta stop and smell the flowers,” she said.
Outside of her work in the industry, a lot of Ortiz’s interests naturally intersect with Cannabis, like music and tattoo culture. She said with a few of them going hand in hand, it feels much easier for her to represent both the company she works for and herself out in the wild. Having the opportunity to travel for work, she said, also affords her time to keep up with things she’s done since she was a kid, like roller skating.
“I’d road trip to the skate parks, and that’s how I view (work) now, like I’m road tripping to these dispensaries,” she said, adding that she still makes time before her pop-ups to do some skating. “I’m getting to learn Maryland more as I go. The driving can be a little physically demanding, but I push through knowing I make someone’s day.”
When she wants to consume, Ortiz said she likes to roll “magic wands,” a combination of flower with some concentrate infused throughout. She said she prefers anything with Jack or Haze in terms of strains, particularly those that keep her creative and on the go. The “magic wands,” she said, are meant to be an extension of her “Faded Fairy” nickname, which symbolizes her love of art and whimsy and celebrates the diverse culture of the company she works for.
“I see (rolling a joint) as a craft. Taking the time to roll your own joint is an artisanal, mindful practice that creates a deeper appreciation for the plant. Calling them ‘magic wands’ reflects that intention,” she said. “For me, it’s less about fantasy and more about bringing intention, artistry and a little wonder into the Cannabis experience.”
Even though she still has goals to achieve here, Ortiz said she hopes to retire back to the island at some point and buy a good portion of land there to host parties and guests while growing Cannabis and coffee on the property, among other things. She hopes to pass what she learned here in Maryland about Cannabis, combined with her natural sense of hospitality and bilingual abilities, to people on the island when she returns, continuing to open new doors for herself and others to follow.
“I want people to come to my sanctuary, have the Puerto Rican experience and be able to, like, mesh it with Cannabis too,” she said. “I want to work with local people who want to show that this is our island, this is what we can do. We’ve gone through so much, and we’re resilient.”
