Alongside the challenges that come with adversity, we often encounter unexpected yet fruitful outcomes. This is the case with Analleli Venegas Rios, a 2025 English Advance (formerly English at Work) graduate from The Pinery, LLC. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, Analleli has lived in the United States for 18 years. Analleli’s life experiences, including her time in the English course, deepened her commitment to learning and adaptability.
Analleli immigrated to California with her husband in search of work. She describes how, at the time, she was unsure of what she would do in the United States. She was following her husband’s lead, but remained optimistic about finding a job, a good place to live, and the opportunity to learn English. As time went on, however, she divorced from her husband and went off on her own with her only son. These new circumstances forced her to work long hours in many jobs to provide for her child and other expenses. Unfortunately, this meant she had to put her dream of learning English on hold for a while.
Luckily for Analleli, she would soon come upon the opportunity she had yearned for while working at The Pinery, LLC. Analleli has worked at The Pinery for 13 years and currently serves as the propagation and decor leader, where she is in charge of pricing and coding plants. She has a strong passion for working with plants and gets great satisfaction from making them look nice. She also enjoys how most of the people on the field, including her supervisor, speak Spanish. However, she notes the importance of being able to speak English when going to the office, where not everyone speaks Spanish.
This is where English Advance comes in. She noted that the class’s flexibility allowed her to get fully involved and start learning the language. Even though she might return home exhausted from work, the online, flexible format, intuitive practice drills on Moodle, and approachable Help Desk staff helped keep her motivated. Despite initially feeling lost and unprepared, she was able to adapt and learn little by little. She credits The Pinery for helping her rediscover her spark to learn English.
While she has already completed the course, Analleli says she is still motivated to learn English and encourages her coworkers to do the same: “Even though it is hard and a little advanced, do not let go of an opportunity like this.” She mentions how she would love for other companies to give their workers similar access to education. Indeed, Analleli lives under a philosophy of “Es mejor aprender algo que aprender nada,” or “It’s better to learn something than to learn nothing.” Learning new things and excelling in everything she does highly motivates Analleli. Whether it’s learning a new language or growing plants, she says the effort is worth it, even if it isn’t easy.
Ultimately, she hopes to pass on this hardworking and curious mindset to her son, to whom she dedicates all her efforts. Analleli works to be a role model her son can look up to and be inspired by how far she has come. She always tells him, “If even I can climb the ranks, you have so many more opportunities since you know English.” Analleli’s story serves as a shining example of perseverance and hard work. By taking advantage of any opportunity to learn the English language, many doors can open for you, which has certainly been the case for Analleli.
The Forum would like to thank Santiago Villasenor-Martinez, Workforce Advance Intern, for capturing this story.