We recently connected with Bex Paz and have shared our conversation below.

Bex, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I first learned Spanish as a teenager in the 90s because I wanted to live abroad and do non-profit work. Ok, fine… it was absolutely, 100% churchy, religious-driven “missionary work” that turned out to be uncomfortably awkward and often dangerously misguided. I turned to teaching Spanish in K-12 schools, which I found incredibly fulfilling. Eventually, I had my first child and found my $40,000 salary wildly insufficient to maintain my career while affording childcare in San Diego, so my little family moved to Denver and I became a stay at home mom. Four months later, I started what is known today as Spanish Learning Network. While we aren’t the non-profit I thought I would start one day, I have limitless, amazing opportunities to provide zero- to low-profit services to my favorite non-profit organizations. Linguistic diversity is one of the best ways that we can fight xenophobia and racism in our communities, and being the #1 language school fin Denver means my reach is even larger than I’ll ever know. Hundreds of our students have used their Spanish skills to volunteer and work in the areas of food and housing insecurity and have come alongside our new Spanish speaking neighbors in a variety of meaningful ways. I am proud that my company’s mission to empower and unite our communities through linguistic diversity has continued to make Denver a safer, more welcoming place to live.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My company provides Spanish learning services for adults and children, including 160+ online and 4-5 in-person Spanish learning classes, conversation groups and workshops every month. Our immersive, conversational Spanish experiences range from summer camps for kids and after school enrichment programs to adult sip-and-paint and Latin cooking classes where students are always learning new vocabulary and practicing new conversations. Our subscribers can choose their own schedule and budget from the available classes and receive a complimentary re-assessments and one-on-one coaching session every 12 weeks to make sure they are getting the progress they want. Our biggest clients include Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools, FEMA, local food banks and local government agencies, where we provide workshops that are specific to the linguistic needs of our clients.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started teaching private Spanish classes as a stay-at-home mom with a 1 year old daughter in April of 2012 to a small group of interested adult students in Lakewood. As we added to our family, the company grew alongside them. When I got divorced in 2019, I was juggling my fledgling business as a full time stay-at-home mom in what little free time I had. Five years later, the gross revenue of my business has grown 30x without any loan or outside investment

Awards / Recognitions
“Best Language School” 2022, 2023, 2024 (Denver Awards Program)
“Best Language School” 2024 (Consumer Choice Awards)
Bex Paz – “40 under 40” (Colorado LGBTQ chamber of commerce)
Channel 9 news: 2020 – recognized for our work during the pandemic to provide equitable educational services to Spanish speaking families

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The best advice I ever received in business was to “hire the best people and get out of their way.” All of our teachers have a minimum of five years experience teaching Spanish, and half of our team boasts 15 years or more of experience. Our competitive teacher pay per class hour starts at $40/hour, and we provide mileage compensation, lesson plans and open budgets for our teachers to purchase the tools they want to teach the ways they love. Even our teachers who live internationally in cities with a much lower cost of living are still paid at the same rate. As such, our teacher retention rate is near 100%, which is unheard of in our industry. We are able to provide bonuses and perks that most schools can’t, and I strive to generously share our profits with our staff when we have a big win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spanishlearningnetwork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spanishlearningnetwork
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spanishlearningnetwork
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spanish-learning-network-denver?osq=spanish+classes
• Other: 100%. 5 star reviews across Google, Facebook, and Yelp