In this article, the author braids storytelling with oral life history interviews, Chicana Feminisms, and portraiture. The piece centers the portrait of Ms. Sotomayor, a veteran elementary teacher, who through her stories shares with us pedagogies of pain, trust, autonomy, and empowerment. These glimpses of her life journey as a Nepantlera offer readers opportunities to see her stories as fuel for her spiritual activism, evident in her teaching. The portrait highlighted in this article comes from a larger study that centers the life stories of Chicana K-12 teachers from Southern California who view their teaching as a political, spiritual, and/or moral commitment. Using oral life history interviews and classroom observations to invite Chicana teachers to tell their stories, I document how this group of teachers explain connections between their lived experiences and their literacy pedagogies and practices in the classroom. Through Muxerista Portraiture and a borderlands analysis, I testify the power of stories from women who struggle for a better tomorrow. Implications include the possibilities of Nepantla as a pedagogical framework in teacher education praxis with homegrown, Teachers of Color.