With pompadoured hair accented by a sparkly rose, a floral short-sleeved blouse and high-waisted and wide-legged burgundy slacks held up by black suspenders, Vanesa Estrella looked like a model for her family’s store, El Pachuco Zoot Suits in Fullerton.
She’s been working there for 23 years, ever since she married into the Estrella family, which owns the iconic shop. Business has been bustling lately, as pachuca and pachuco fashion has enjoyed some shine beyond SoCal this year — whether in the costuming at Rauw Alejandro’s “Cosa Nuestra” concerts, or on the runways of Willy Chavarria’s fashion shows.
Yet to Fullerton residents, Estrella is more than just a local business owner. She lives and works in District Five of the Fullerton School District, where its five elementary schools lag behind the city’s other campuses because of historical neglect by school administrators and the legacy of redlining in the southern part of the city.
“There’s always an area in any city that gets the short end of the stick,” said the 43-year-old Estrella, who sat at a table filled with podcast equipment.
She had spent years volunteering at schools and raising funds through her family’s nonprofit to help confront these challenges. But after finding herself frustrated by what she felt was a lack of change at the district, last year Estrella decided to channel the bold spirit of pachucas and run for a position on the board of trustees.
“Pachucos stand tall in who they are, even when society tries to push them to the margins,” she said, firmly. “That same spirit guided me in my campaign. Staying grounded in my roots, unapologetically representing my culture, and making sure my community knew they had a voice.”
Her genesis was both unlikely and a long time coming.
Born in Cocula, Jalisco, Estrella settled in Anaheim with her family as an 8-year-old without legal status. She paid her way through Fullerton College and Cal State Fullerton, graduating in 2007 with honors and a dual bachelor’s degree in business administration and criminal justice.
Estrella planned to attend Chapman University’s law school to become an immigration or family attorney. But after looking at the six-figure tuition, and interning at a law firm that left her disappointed with a judicial system she described as “red tape and bureaucracy [getting] in the way of actually helping people,” she decided not to enroll.
By then, Estrella was five years into her marriage and working full-time at El Pachuco: a shop founded in 1978 by her mother-in-law, Phyllis Estrella. The store takes its name and inspiration from the main character in Luis Valdez’s 1978 play “Zoot Suit,” which Phyllis saw at the Mark Taper Forum during its original run.
Before marrying into the family, Vanesa didn’t know anything about pachuco history; but she wasn’t shocked when she researched it. “It didn’t surprise me to learn that it was another group of people who have gone through the same racism, given the historical context of American history,” she said.
Although her business administration degree prepared her to help run El Pachuco, it was her mother-in-law who taught her how to truly connect with their customers. It would inadvertently help forge the path for her future political career.
“Once I was full-time, I fell in love with our customers, the culture, and hearing their stories,” said Vanesa. “I told my husband, I don’t know if I want to do law school. Maybe my sense of wanting to do more for my community will come later.”
Over time, Vanesa and her husband officially took over the store’s daily operations, with her mother-in-law now semi-retired.
The couple also connected with locals through the Estrella Family Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2021 by Phyllis that raises funds to provide entrepreneur mentorship, school supplies and creative classes to underserved Fullerton residents and surrounding cities. That led Vanesa to become president of the English Learner Advisory Committee at Raymond Elementary, and at the district level.
“There were parents complaining about how they don’t feel heard and have somebody representing them and that’s hurtful,” she said. “I always said I wanted to serve my community in a [meaningful way], so that’s when I decided to run.”
But the task would be tough.
Her District 5 opponent, incumbent Leonel Talavera, had the endorsement of the Fullerton teachers’ union; Estrella had to fortify her connections from the community to earn key endorsements, like Rep. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and former Fullerton mayor and current Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton).
She also connected with volunteers like Jody Agius Vallejo, a USC sociology professor, whose child attends a Fullerton school.
“We would go canvassing with her and she would listen and understand people’s concerns about what was happening at the schools,” said Vallejo. “What really struck me about Vanesa was her leadership. When she was the president of DELAC, I would see her advocating for parents and families there.”
Estrella won by just a 2% margin. But she described her win as bittersweet because Donald Trump was also elected president of the United States. “It was a strange feeling: personal joy mixed with deep concern about the direction our nation was heading,” she said.
When the new trustee was sworn in in December, she immediately wanted to prioritize undocumented parents and their children in Fullerton schools, something supporters like Vallejo fully supported.
“She is in a unique position because she can serve as a bridge between immigrant families and children of immigrants within the district,” Vallejo said.
In February, the Fullerton School District passed a Safe Schools resolution dedicated to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment for all of its students after the Trump administration announced it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools.
The following month, the district partnered with the nonprofit Camino Immigration Services to host free weekly forums to provide legal counsel at Nicolas Community Center.
It has also paid notaries to prepare for undocumented parents a California Caregiver Affidavit, which allows undocumented families to authorize another person to take care of their child, in case they are detained.
“We’re not just saying, ‘We’re gonna do this because we want to,’” Estrella said in a serious tone. “No, we are creating [resolutions] that say our schools are safe and you do not have to worry about having ICE coming into our schools because under California law, you are protected.”
Estrella still attends ELAC and PTA meetings to hear parents’ concerns about the schools she represents. While protecting immigrant families in the district has been a priority, Estrella also plans to close achievement gaps, get more parents involved, and address children’s mental health needs.
But throughout our conversation, she emphasized her passion for both the school board and El Pachuco.
“My business is a part of the community that I represent,” she said with her fingers interlaced. “I’ve never said this is my business and this is when I’m working, because I don’t separate my time with both.”
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