When students at Napa High signed up for a new business class this fall, they weren’t just filling an elective slot — they were stepping into the school’s first-ever entrepreneurship course that also carries college credit.
The class, a dual enrollment partnership with Napa Valley College, is more than a curriculum experiment. It’s a chance for students — many from immigrant and Spanish-speaking families — to learn how their ideas could become real businesses. And it’s taught by someone who has walked that path herself.
Rosalinda Hurtado, a longtime Napa educator and entrepreneur, has spent 16 years in the classroom — eight at Harvest Middle School, where she taught history in Spanish through the dual immersion program, and the past eight at Napa High. Often, she said, she had to translate entire history lessons herself because Spanish-language resources didn’t exist.
Her students have always gravitated toward her. At Napa High, photos of past and current students cover her wall, and teenagers wander in and out of her classroom all day. Some ask advice, others retrieve forgotten items, but many simply linger.
“She really cares about all her students and tries to make the space as fun and as happy as possible,” said junior Helena Falk, now in her third class with Hurtado.
This fall, 72 juniors and seniors are enrolled in Hurtado’s new entrepreneurship class. They’re learning how to write a business plan, understand stakeholders and weigh different business models. For Napa High — which has one of the largest English learner populations in the county — the course could eventually be offered in Spanish.
For sophomore Daisy Elena Leon, who runs a small sweets business on Instagram, the class has already opened doors. She sells mini donuts and chocolate-covered treats and, with Hurtado’s encouragement, joined Hurtado’s first Latino local vendor fair.
“It was interesting,” Leon said. “I got to see other businesses and how they sell their things and how they price their stuff.”
Even though her plan is to become an immigration lawyer, she said taking this class allows her to “have a backup plan.”
From classroom to coffee cart
Hurtado is uniquely qualified to lead the program. Three years ago, she launched Herencia Coffee, a mobile coffee bar and catering business that serves lattes infused with Mexican spices and flavors. She sources her beans through Proyecto Diaz, an Oakland-based roaster that partners with farms in Oaxaca, Yucatán and Central America.
Herencia began with backyard pop-ups and word-of-mouth events. She believes its success has come from the relationships she’s built within the Napa community.
Her own entrepreneurial spark ignited early. She said she begged her mother at age 16 to let her sell Avon makeup, a first step toward a life of side ventures and creative projects.
Creating opportunities for others
Earlier this year, Hurtado launched Mercadito Collective, a monthly market in the parking lot of Napa’s Masonic Temple. The goal: give small businesses, many owned by people of color, a platform to turn hobbies into viable ventures. Twenty vendors joined the first event in May, including Leon, her student.
“I saw the lack of opportunity, that I saw in the community specifically, small businesses of people of color to be able to showcase their talents,” she said.
She added that for many vendors, it’s just a hobby. To encourage them to see their work as something that could become profitable and sustainable, she said, is a powerful shift.
Mercadito is growing quickly. In November, the collective will team up with Expressions of Hope, a Napa nonprofit supporting foster, adoptive and at-risk families, to host a Día de Muertos-themed fashion show and dinner fundraiser. Models, many of them clients of the nonprofit, will wear traditional attire from regions across Mexico. All proceeds will support local families.
The collective also offers free business literacy classes. Recently, Hurtado distributed city-issued guides explaining Napa’s business permitting process in Spanish. But she said even translated resources can be confusing.
“I want to help them out so that they don’t have to go through some of the struggles that I had to go through and to represent where we’re at and who we are,” she said.
Rooted in family and culture
Hurtado’s work is steeped in her family’s history. Her parents emigrated from Michoacán, Mexico. Her grandfather was part of the Bracero program, which brought Mexican laborers to the U.S. during and after World War II.
Now 42, she balances teaching, running Herencia Coffee, building Mercadito Collective and even playing in a local band. Her sister, Melody Ibarra, helps keep the coffee business running smoothly. Hurtado credits her family for making it all possible.
She doesn’t plan on leaving the classroom. But she isn’t slowing down either.
“We all have our daytime jobs, but we also have our passions and dreams,” Hurtado said. “These are mine.”