Design Changemakers 2021: Missleidy the Plant Lady’s Creative Energy Just Keeps Growing

Who: Missleidy the Plant Lady, New York City-based drag queen, plant Instagrammer and YouTuber
Nominated by: Samantha O’Brochta, Apartment Therapy social media editor
Where to follow her: On YouTube and Instagram

Why Missleidy is part of the class of 2021: “Missleidy the Plant Lady is a Cuban, NYC-based drag queen who spills all the tea on plants on her Instagram and YouTube. During Pride month, Missleidy teamed up with Pass the Pride and other LGBTQ+ plant businesses to raise money for the Trans Justice Funding Project and Marsha P. Johnson Institute. I nominate Missleidy as a 2021 Design Changemaker for her social media platform that not only shares plant secrets but also spotlights social justice issues and awareness for trans lives.” —Samantha O’Brochta, Apartment Therapy social media editor

Jimi Urquiaga, the creative director and fashion stylist behind greenery-loving drag queen Missleidy, was raised by his Cuban grandparents in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a home with a backyard filled with plants and the exotic birds his grandfather kept. As an homage to those fond memories, years later Urquiaga started collecting plants, plants, and more plants in his New York City apartment. And when he combined that love with another for dressing in drag, Missleidy burst onto the Instagram grid. 

Now Missleidy lives in an apartment in Brooklyn with massive windows and a backyard. She describes her home’s vibe as a high-fashion version of the Rainforest Cafe — minimal and refined with white walls, but with an explosion of plants. “Everything [has] its place, but there’s this wild-chaotic element of these plants growing and taking over the space,” she says. 

Through her YouTube channel and Instagram page, Missleidy shares plant care tips and impeccably styled vignettes that showcase her favorite exotic plants.

We spoke with Missleidy about what inspires her, what makes her feel at home, and the very real power of houseplants.

Apartment Therapy: What were your design inspirations growing up? What is your inspiration now?

Missleidy the Plant Lady: Honestly, it just comes down to my grandmother. She always kept the house very clean. We had white tile, we had white pillars in the house, white walls. There was a living room we weren’t allowed to go in that was [filled with] white sofas, a white dining table. This was classy, this is rich shit, you know? And that kind of stuck with me, just like, okay, always keep the house clean, make sure it’s not a mess. If people come over, you want to make sure your house looks nice and everything [is] put in its place. 

But then I also had that big influence from my grandfather who collected exotic birds. It was this conglomerate of my grandmother being very “everything in its place,” white, pristine, clean, and then having this rambunctious, outrageous, nature, exotic feel and putting those two together. So it’s this very minimal chaos. It came from my grandparents; it didn’t really come from a high-end place. 

It’s kind of the same thing now. I love my family so much and they’ve had such an impression on me and everything I’ve done in my life from fashion, from design, fashion styling, creative direction, to my drag, to the way I put my house together. So yeah, I say it’s very heavily influenced by my grandparents and very, very heavily influenced by the Latin culture — how we put things together and what makes us feel comfortable and how we maneuver in our houses and decorate and our [cultural] practices.

AT: What’s your favorite project you worked on in 2020, and why?

M: It was my first editorial as Missleidy for Paper. Due to quarantine I finally had the time to dig deep into Missleidy and pay attention to her. I got to work on a lot of content, focus on my plants and the YouTube channel. This was a dream fashion story [for Paper Magazine]. I never would’ve thought people would want to see me in drag talking about plants and sharing my knowledge about plants on such a huge platform. I got to style myself and bring all my different passions together in one project. It’s been a crazy year, it was very uncertain, scary, and depressing, but it just goes to show that no matter how dark, how negative it gets, if you stick to your guns and you keep pursuing your dreams and putting love out there — whether it’s relationships, plants, whatever — at the end of the day, that stuff trumps all the negative and you will make it through. And that’s what that whole shoot symbolized to me.

AT: What three words would you use to describe your work or style?

M: Minimal but impactful. 

AT: What makes you feel at home in your own space?

M: Honestly, it has to be the people that I share my living space with. At the end of the day, these are just four walls, and all of this stuff is very material. I’m so lucky to have the roommates that I do — they’re honestly like family to me. Even if I didn’t have all these plants and I didn’t have the couch, the TV, all of these things that we view as material, I would be over the moon and content with just having the people that I live with. You can buy style, you can buy another plant, you can buy another desk, you can buy another couch, but you can’t buy the people you surround yourself with, especially if they genuinely and truly make you happy. And at the end of the day it’s the exchange of how we love each other that makes a place home. 

AT: How do you think the past year will impact the design world moving forward?

M: Greatly, honestly. A lot of people are experiencing this [pandemic] differently, but I think it’s going to impact a big majority of us in a way where we have to get creative. It’s not like everybody has the expendable money to just be like, “I’m going to go buy this new piece or this new piece of artwork,” or whatever it may be. I feel like we are in the times — or at least I can say for myself — where you have to appreciate what you do have and you’re like, “How can I accentuate this better?” I feel like that’s how it’s going to change. People are going to become more creative and more selective about how they maneuver these spaces. We are spending so much time at home, so how do we make it more homey and how do we make it more livable? 

AT: How has 2020 changed your perspective on or approach to your work?

M: It just comes down to being adaptable. This has been a year of a lot of nos. Like, no, you can’t go outside without a mask. No, you can’t meet up with your friends. No, you can’t meet up with your family. No, this business isn’t in business anymore. No, you’re not going to be receiving a check every Friday. You know? And it’s like, if you allow the nos to define you, you’re going to be stunted, you’re not going to be able to go anywhere. It’s when you take the no and you say, “Okay, how do I find the yes in this no?” And that’s kind of how I’m viewing this moving forward in regard to work and in regard to life and everything else.

AT: Any big plans for 2021 or beyond you can share with us?

M: Girl, well, I’m speaking it into existence. This fucking corona shit is over, it’s going to be done, we’re going to be able to get back to normal. I don’t have any hardcore plans just because if this year has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t plan like that because you will just be disappointed. What I do plan for is just to work on myself, to work on my mental health, to keep working on my drag and just taking care of my plants. I’m leaving it open-ended [so that I can] be excited about whatever those avenues bring me, whether it’s in fashion, whether it’s this new growth with my plants, just seeing the development of Missleidy and where she takes the drag career next and what avenue she’s about to touch. I just want to be excited about what the universe is going to give me.

AT: What, in your mind, is the power of good design?

M: Vulnerability and truth, you know? The way somebody creates a dress or creates a work of art or a space, when you’re able to relate to it on a vulnerable level and you see that person’s truth and the love and stuff they put into it, I feel like that’s when you truly connect to the work. When you see a piece in commercial fashion, you’re like, “This is whatever,” but then you see a couture piece somebody spent hours working on that has this deep inspiration that is instilled in their love and life and all that — that really has the impact. You look at it and you’re like, “Wow, this is beautiful, thought has been put into this,” rather than something that has been mass-produced and done quickly. 

AT: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to pull off that plant-filled, controlled chaos look in their home? Can the plants ever get too out of control?

M: The first piece of advice I would give somebody is just do your research on the plants you want to bring into your space. Know what kind of watering, what kind of light, what kind of humidity the plant needs — you don’t want it to die on you. But once you get all of those components in place, these plants, they want to grow. They’re not going to stay small, they’re going to want to shoot out leaves and get huge and do their thing. So of course plants can get humongous and become a big part of your space. Work with the space and ask yourself, like, is the plant obstructing the way? How about I make it a focal point on this wall and have it be its own thing here? It just comes down to learning how to work with them. If it gets too big, can you propagate it, cut it back a bit? Can you move it? There’s a bunch of different components that can go down into controlling the chaos but still trying to grow the biggest, green, lush, healthy plant you can. 

Interview has been edited and condensed.