Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Sanchez
Jessica, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. Usually, when I tell people this, they are very surprised, and their first comment always falls along the lines of…”people of color live there?!” I am a biracial, Mexican American Latina. My father is Mexican, and my mother is white. My father is second generation and his family migrated to Nebraska by way of Tejas for better farming opportunities. As a result of their success, my father’s parents opened a Mexican restaurant, El Ranchito, right outside of Lincoln. On Sunday’s, my abuelita would make menudo and all of the white folks would make their way to the restaurant for her incredible food. My mother’s family was one of their consistent customers. Their families grew close, and my mother started waitressing at the ranch. After my father returned from serving in the Marines, he reconnected with my mother (her glow up was real!). They got married shortly after and then I was born. I never leave out their love story because one, I am a direct reflection of them and two, it wasn’t easy for them as an interracial couple in the Midwest. Their ability to persevere through uncomfortable life situations due to their race is in my DNA. Code switching is my own survival skill that allows me to navigate almost any space with ease and confidence. It wasn’t always like that though. I grew up not feeling Mexican enough for the Mexicans and not white enough for the whites. I remember when I heard this line distinctly in the movie, Selena, and I started crying because it resonated with my life experiences so much. We don’t talk about the experiences of biracial Latinas enough, so I take pride in sharing my own identity to normalize the conversation for others and for other Latinas to not feel so alone.
After I was born, my parents were blessed to have twin girls. Our bond as a family is very strong and falls in line with the Mexican cultural value of familismo. When I have difficult decisions to make, those are the four humans I turn to because their words hold the most value in my life. Having only daughters as children, my father was overly protective and strict. We had two rules growing up: 1. Do not get pregnant out of wedlock and, 2. Everyone (myself and my sisters) becomes a doctor. His rules, plus the lack of sex positive, affirming, and consent-driven, K-12 sex education in Nebraska, ignited my curiosity with sex education overall. I remember becoming the unofficial sex educator amongst my girlfriends in high school because I volunteered at Planned Parenthood. I made sure that everyone knew how to use condoms and/or got on the pill because I didn’t want any of my girlfriends getting pregnant.
After high school, I enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). This is where I remember coming fully into my Latina identity as I joined a national Latina sorority, Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Inc. Since I was the first born in my family and the first to go to college, I was always taking care of others and more specifically, my younger sisters. When I joined the sorority, it was the first time I had women who looked like me guiding me through the college process. My interest in human sexuality continued to grow throughout undergrad as I majored in International Studies and examined policy related to human sex trafficking. Once I graduated, I started working in full time at UNL. Working at UNL allowed me to oversee one of my younger sisters and ensure both graduated on time. Once they graduated, we all started our doctorate journeys at the same time.
In 2015, I moved to Philadelphia, PA to earn my MSW and MEd in Human Sexuality Studies at Widener University. This is where I found my calling in sex therapy and knew my career had officially started. In 2022, I earned my PhD in Human Sexuality. My research interests examine sexuality and pleasure, and my theoretical blessings stem from Chicana and Black Feminist Theory. My doctoral research, Chingonas & Sex: A qualitative study examining how Mexican American women experience sexual subjectivity, is my forever passion project and I am currently converting my research into a sexual wellness book for Chingonas. As you can see in the title of my research, I am a proud Chingona! I never hesitate to embrace this identity because I know what I do, as a sex therapist & pleasure advocate, it is still so taboo in my culture and as a larger society. Especially given the little rights women have in this country, at this time.
In 2018, I moved to Texas so I could be closer to Nebraska and also live in a city where there was a demand for sex therapy. I was afforded the opportunity to join the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) where I served in a director leadership role from 2018-2023. I was very intentional about prioritizing inclusive excellence to ensure that every space my team occupied, human beings were seen, heard, and recognized. During my time in Student Affairs, I was able to create the Student Advocacy Services department that housed the following programs: Relationship Violence & Sexual Assault Prevention (RVSP), LGBTQ+ Program, Maverick Pantry, and Emergency Assistance Program (EAP). In 2021, my dedication and passion to serve streamlined my success with opening the inaugural Maverick Pantry, where we were able to secure a $250,000 grant from Kroger to fight against food insecurity. Additionally, my team and I increased victim reporting by threefold with the implementation of new reporting and sex-positive campaigns and we also launched the first ever Maverick Rainbow Scholarship – raising over $5,000 in 48-hours to fund the scholarship. I absolutely loved serving students in student affairs and knew when I accepted the full-time faculty position fall 2023, it would be an easy transition into the classroom due to my passion for serving and education.
Currently, I am a full-time Assistant Professor of Practice at UTA in the School of Social Work and I am a licensed sex therapist with over 8 years of experience working in the fields of human sexuality, higher education, sexual violence prevention, and advocacy. What fills my heart the most is advocating and empowering women to restore their sexual autonomy and agency and assist with helping them write their own pleasure narratives. My specializations include the healing of sexual trauma, sexual pain, prenatal, pregnancy, and the postpartum journey, eldest and only born daughters, life transitions, sexual exploration, and imposter syndrome. I am passionate about decolonizing mental health through holistic and ancestorial healing practices to better serve historically oppressed communities. More importantly, I will forever be committed to rewriting the pleasure narrative of women of color within the field of academia.
I currently serve on the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Texas – Women’s Rights Committee & I am a proud member of the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas – Dallas Chapter.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, absolutely. The one I think about immediately as a biracial Latina, is that I do not speak fluent Spanish. I can still feel the judgment when other Latinas meet me and they learn this information about me. However, I am proud of myself for getting to a place of confidence where it doesn’t impact me the way it used to. Up until the age of six, I was bilingual. We don’t talk about it a lot but my father told me that it was the third time I came home crying after school telling him that the kids didn’t like my brown skin, teased me about my hair and Spanish accent. I was the ONLY student of color at an all white K-5 school in Lincoln. He said after the third time, we no longer spoke Spanish in our home and he told his parents to not speak to me either. As a trauma therapist, I know my body is simply protecting me from my childhood experiences but I will immediately freeze when others speak to me in Spanish now. I am slowly getting back into it and I am so thankful for my Latina colleagues who make me feel enough – regardless of my ability to speak fluent Spanish.
Being first born has it’s challenges. There is this added weight of leading the family – especially when your parents cannot guide you. In my case, I was the third parent and still play that role today. My boundaries are a lot healthier and not living in the same city allows for those boundaries to be more respected – but I am not going to act like it’s not exhausting to take on everyone’s feelings and trauma.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have a unique specialization in sex therapy. The purpose of sex therapy is to work with individuals or couples to address issues pertaining to human sexuality. The areas in which I specialize in are: the healing of sexual trauma, sexual pain, prenatal, pregnancy, and the postpartum journey, eldest and only born daughters, life transitions, sexual exploration, and imposter syndrome. More importantly, I show up as my authentic self as your therapist. I am here to support you, challenge you, and celebrate all of your wins as you navigate your healing journey.
What I am Known For:
Being one of the few Latinas who normalize talking about sex and pleasure. Not only is it taboo in the Mexican and Latino culture to talk about this topic, but as a larger society, it is still viewed as taboo for women to embrace their sexuality, much less talk about it. I have quickly built a strong reputation in Dallas for my area of expertise and how I deliver the material in a professional way. If you were to ask others about me, they would tell you I have a great personality, I am high energy, and I am a girls girl!
What Sets Me Apart From Others:
My transparency and my ability to make others feel brave and courageous when it comes to talking about their intimate experiences, their body, and their wants and needs. I never shy away from talking about the hard conversations and as a result, when people attend a workshop or event and hear me speak, I earn their respect quickly. I am also not afraid to admit when I do not know something. There is so much power in being able to say, “I don’t know that answer but let me do some research and if you want, I can follow up with you.” I wish more people understood that it’s okay to not have all of the answers.
Most Proud of Brand Wise:
Officially launching! haha! I launched my business January 1, 2024, and it has been a beautiful journey full of opportunities and really living with a mindset of abundance. My brand reflects my life – neutral colors with splashes of pink represent the soft life I intentionally live. I do my best to deliver educational material in a way that connects with all women but also doesn’t lose my outgoing personality and high vibrations.
What do I want readers to know:
That I am extremely passionate about rewriting the pleasure narrative for all women. That women deserve to live their most sexually fulfilled lives in whatever ways feel best for them. And that sexual health and wellness is just as important as physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, social, and financial wellness. In addition to my therapeutic services, I also offer public speaking through workshop facilitations and events, and consultation for non-profit and higher education sexual and relationship violence programs. I am extremely excited about events that I will be offering this fall in partnership with ARY Retreats. We have something special planned for frontline staff who serve victims and survivors of trauma, survivors, and executive leadership of victim centered organizations.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Being surrounded by love. Whether that is through friends, family, and community, or witnessing love through public affection, laughter, dancing, celebration, etc., it makes me feel so warm. We live in a tough world so I am very intentional about taking in these moments of happiness and really allow for love to consume me in that moment.
I also feel happy when I see other women win. Nothing makes me happier than to see a woman achieve her goal or be recognized for her impact.
Also, food. I am a huge foodie and food truly brings me happiness. I have my “happy dance” when I my favorite dishes are delivered to my table when I am at a restaurant. Food brings me so much happiness that I never offer for anyone to try my food. Haha! If I am allowing you to try my food, then you know that I am not impressed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drjsanchez.com/
- Instagram: latinasexologist
Image Credits
Podcast Photo: with Paloma Diaz Rivas, Content Creator & Influencer, & Producer of La Vida COSIGN Magazine
HWNT Photo: Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas (HWNT) Dallas Chapter – May 2024 Stand Up Event – Imposter No More: Unleashing Your Power
First Event: Dr. Sanchez’s first event, Prioritizing our Pleasure & Pelvic Floor, in March 2024 at The Bloom Space in Dallas, TX
Presenting Photo #1: Presenting to students about healthy relationships, consent & sexual boundaries, at Tarrant Community College – Trinity River
Presenting Photo #2 in Pink: Presenting at the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) conference.
Money Event in long maxi dress: Served as a panelist for the Creating a Relationship with Money event hosted by Riqueza in Dallas, TX
