Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erika Sanchez . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erika , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I grew up in an English speaking household and really wasn’t exposed to Spanish until I took Spanish 1 as a freshman in high school. I quickly realized that learning a 2nd language would open the door for me to engage with a huge portion of the population that was previously inaccessible to me. I went on to major in Spanish in college, become a certified Spanish teacher, and eventually moved to Mexico. I returned to the US to work as a dual language teacher, but after spending 8 years teaching in public school I decided to leave my full time position and stay home with my growing family. Around that time I became aware of a need in my area for private Spanish classes, so I took the first step in creating what is now known as La Puerta (The Door). For many years, the doors that were opened for me due to being bilingual led to opportunities and relationships with the Spanish speaking community. Now these doors are leading me to opportunities to share my knowledge and love of the Spanish language with English speakers in the DFW area and beyond. So many doors have been opened for me through my ability to speak Spanish, and now my hope is to help others open doors for themselves on their path to bilingualism.

Erika , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At La Puerta (The Door) we teach group Spanish classes to elementary school aged children. Many of our classes meet in person throughout the greater DFW area, and many meet virtually with our teachers around the world. We use games, songs and activities in the context of fun, engaging stories to teach Spanish. All of our classes are live and interactive- even the virtual classes! Our students are speaking Spanish from day 1 and interacting with their teachers in Spanish in a meaningful way. In addition to our popular Spanish for Beginners class, we also offer conversation classes for more advanced students or students who attend dual language elementary schools. We are so proud to be able to meet students where they are in their language learning journeys and help them continue on the path towards bilingualism. We know it will open so many doors for them!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2020 all of our classes were meeting on elementary school campuses. When schools closed so unexpectedly in March 2020, I panicked! However, I chose to make a huge pivot and started offering Spanish classes online. I was able to use the same curriculum and many of the same activities to continue to teach Spanish to my students. This turned out to be a time of huge growth for La Puerta. We previously were only able to reach a small section of our potential target market due to limited space, days in the week, and geographical restrictions. When we started virtual classes, we were able to reach students in other cities, states, and countries! We began to offer small group classes throughout the day and saw a huge influx of students. Once we returned to in-person activities, we simply hired on more teachers to continue the virtual program which allowed our in-person teachers to return to school campuses.

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

I began offering Spanish tutoring after I left my full time job. There was so much interest, I needed to figure out a way to still be a “stay at home mom” while providing Spanish tutoring to all of these interested people. I decided to shift to group classes. The learners are able to interact with one another which is a huge benefit in language learning, and I am able to work a limited number of hours while still providing classes to those who want it. I also found it incredibly helpful to hire a few teachers. I train them to do what I do, and they have taken over some of the teaching. We can service even more students this way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lapuertaspanishcenter.com
• Instagram: lapuertaspanishcenter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaPuertaCentrodeEspanol
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Cr1gdiLnKI-vYP3gXAPWg

Image Credits
Ashley Rothrock Photography Studio Twenty 2, LLC