We recently connected with Santiago Rodriguez Tarditi and have shared our conversation below.
Santiago, appreciate you joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?
In 2020, I launched High on Design: The New Cannabis Culture, a book published by gestalten (Germany) that showcased the novel aesthetics behind this growing industry. Suddenly, my Instagram account (@srtarditi) began to grow with people interested in learning more about the plant—some were newbies, others were cultivators, and a few were consumers.
The more information I shared online, the more audience I gained and in a matter of months, I surpassed the 10K followers mark and got verified. Instagram has become a great platform to share the latest scientific reports, legal changes, and cultural discoveries. But most importantly, connect with the community in Florida, the USA, and Latin America, where the plant is becoming less stigmatized and legalized.
Santiago, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a Colombian-born, Italian passport holder who studied Political Science but I’ve always worked in media and the creative industries. I’ve lived in Milan, Bogotá, London, NYC, Miami, LA, and Berlin, working for companies such as Monocle, Faena, Univision, and Gestalten. I’m the co-founder of Intū, a CBD company using sun-grown, pesticide-free hemp to elevate the plant through conscious rituals and the co-host of Casa Earth, a podcast about living more consciously, covering a range of topics that include how we make compost to the best plant-based recipes to exploring consciousness through natural psychedelics.
As an environmental activist, I’ve contributed to endeavors such as Parley for the Oceans and The Oxygen Project. I’m a founding member of the Blue Lab Preservation Society (a non-profit focusing on creative projects at the intersection of culture and marine ecosystems) and Dear Wise Earth (a Regenerative Agency developing interdisciplinary solutions for climate-based issues).I served as a member of the Miami Beach Sustainability Committee before moving to Mexico, where I currently live in a small town in the mountains of Morelos.
I’ve edited and published several books—including The Monocle Guide to Better Living; The Essence: Discovering the world of Scent; High on Design: The New Cannabis Culture—and developed brand identities, as well as cultural programming for different media outlets and institutions. My articles have appeared in Architectural Digest, Suitcase, Boat Mag, Departures, Surface, Leafly, and El Pais of Spain, to name a few. I won a Webby Award The Artisans of Italy, a web-series focusing on food traditions.
Besides my full-time gig as a content creator, I find time to make good use of my 200HR Yoga Teacher Training certificate in Hatha Yoga and Meditation, as well as my certificate in plant-based nutrition, and a culinary diploma.
Some of my past clients include:
Design Hotels — Berlin
Scorpios — Mykonos
House of Somos — Santa Teresa
Gestalten — Berlin
Savvy Studio — NYC
CALM – San Francisco
Architectural Digest — NYC
Herb — Toronto
Leafly — LA
Parley for the Oceans — NYC
Intū Rituals — Miami
Strange Invisible — LA
The Savoy Beach Club — Miami
Remezcla — LA
Paloma&Angostura — Bogotá
DRIFT — NYC
Cole Sternberg — LA
ONR App — Miami
Inteligencia — NYC
HoneyLab — Miami
Departures — NYC
The Oxygen Project — Atlanta
Suitcase Magazine — London
OBMI Architecture — Miami
Agence Française de Développement — Paris
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
By sharing some of my personal experiences as a journalist and globe-trotter (I’ve visited 54 countries thus far), I’d like to invite people to consider other realities different from their own, with the objective of developing empathy and compassion that drives each of our daily actions. My main focus is twofold: legalizing cannabis and liberating all those in jail for it, and leaving the planet in a better condition than I found it. Social and environmental justice are closely related, and my purpose is to shine a light on the inequality to increase the interest in resolving the issues causing it. We do this through www.inturituals.com (our CBD company, founded by two Latinx entrepreneurs) and @casa.earth, our podcast.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Man on Wire is a beautiful documentary that tells the story of dedication, resilience, passion, and humility through the eyes of what appears to be a madman (but is ultimately a very sweet person). I enjoy Stoicism and Cynicism as philosophical branches, and some points from Eastern religions. I enjoy listening to old lectures by Terence McKenna and Alan Watts; their words ring more true these days.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.inturituals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/srtarditi/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiagorodrigueztarditi/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/4StHXMSpLpZHnsBndvcGee?si=hyqPb3ABQ7GlWzrpGoSCOw
Image Credits
All photos have been taken by myself or my wife, Valeria Hinojosa