Meet Jackleen Rodriguez | Co-Founder & Creative Director for Spanish Sin Pena

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jackleen Rodriguez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jackleen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My business partner, Wendy Ramirez and I are both inspired by our own struggles with Spanish and desire to serve our comunidad.

We have grown our Spanish Sin Pena program with the goal to create a safe space for the Latine/x community and allies to learn and practice Spanish with others who face similar struggles but ultimately use Spanish to connect with their elders, open up professional opportunities, be a resource to our community and to pass it on to future generations.

We want to uplift the voices in our community. Our students consist of teachers, nurses, immigration lawyers, parents, social workers, liberians, biologists etc. They’re doing powerful work! Helping them reach their Spanish goals gives them the confidence to be a resource to nuestra gente! It’s so beautiful to see all the seeds being planted blossoming. It’s such a powerful reminder que juntos somos más fuertes!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Spanish Sin Pena is more then just learning a language, its a program that connects you with others that share your path and understand the pain points of not “feeling latine/x enough” or being self-conscious speaking out loud. We don’t dive into teaching you how to ask “¿Dónde está el baño?” before we unpack our relationship with the language. We have a lot to unlearn & heal from together.

We recognize that a lot of the judgement and criticism comes from the people closest to us, cousins, co-workers & close friends that can create a lot of the self conscious feelings that come up when wanting to practice. Our program focuses on shifting our mind-set and being reminded that we are enough right where we are, a language doesn’t make us any more or less then. Especially when Spanish is the colonizers language, but it does also allows us to connect with our elders today and connect with our Spanish speaking community, so let’s talk about that.

Our intention is to create a safe space to have those conversations. Let’s talk about the colonization, identity, assimilation, racisim and more, We don’t shy away from these topics & invite community leader to join us as guest speakers to educate and share their perspective with our students as well.

We’re all here to learn, ask questions, grow and make mistakes together.

Something that makes me proud is seeing all the beautiful things our students are doing with the language. We have teachers connecting with students and parents, nurses supporting their patients, fully grown adults getting to have conversations with their grandparents for. the first time, new parents teaching their children, all walks of life with such powerful reasons for wanting to learn, That’s what keeps us going, hearing all those stories.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love this question! I already know its going to make my hungry bc my mind instantly just goes to all the places to eat!

So during the pandemic I fell in love with my beach cruiser, any chance to get my friends to go on a little cruise with me I get so excited. So i’d have to start there!

We’d take our beach cruisers down the Santa Ana river bed, go down 4th street to see some of the murals by local artist and hit up Cafe Cultura to share some chilaquiles, a churro waffle and an abuelita latte. After we’d walk over to the Frida Cinema to catch an afternoon movie, they always have throw back movies and awesome foreign films. After the movie we cross the street to La Michoacana for paleta for the ride home!

We’ve had some fun Spanish Sin Pena meet-up’s down there too, we took dancing in the streets salsa and bachata classes with our friends and students.

I also love cooking, breakfast is my favorite so if anyone’s coming to town to visit were going to have a welcome brunch with all the papas con chorizo, conchas, chisme and belly laughs for sure! After brunch, we can hop back on the beach cruisers to the orange circle, it’s mostly window shopping and grabbing something sweet or a beer while we catch up.

And for out last day i’d say we pack up the bikes this time and take a little drive down to the beach, ride our bikes from pier to pier soaking up the sun and salty water enjoying a nice little sunset ending with a fresh roll from Orange Sushi!

Thanks for cruising around and eating with me this weekend! haha

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Claro que si! Spanish SIn Pena Founder Wendy Ramirez!

We actually met when we were both living in Washington D.C. The network of Latinas from Southern California isn’t that big so when we were introduced we connected right away! Our love for CA, serving our community & passion for art & cultura brought us together quickly.

Her mission has always been to connect through culture with ceremony, clothes, language, travel & dance, it’s so inspiring! She pushes me to get comfortable being uncomfortable and always reminds me to shine my light. People say don’t mix friends and business but we always say they must not being doing it right because it’s been 5 years and it’s been the best experience.

Website: https://www.spanishsinpena.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spanishsinpena/ and personal: https://www.instagram.com/jacki_ee/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spanishsinpena

Other: Our Spanish Sin Pena Spring Enrollment opens up in March! Visit for more info: www.spanishsinpena.com/programs Scholarships applications open up in Feb for the Spring semester, learn more info here: https://www.spanishsinpena.com/scholarships