As the city of Las Cruces continues to grow and evolve so do the people, culture and community within it. Behind it’s growth are some powerful women driving tourism to our city— Sandra Espiritu and Alexandra McKinney.
Sandra Espiritu
Sandra Espiritu moved to Las Cruces when she was nine years old with her family. Years later, she made the decision to start her own family and put down roots.
She attended Las Cruces High School and got her degree at New Mexico State University. Espiritu started her career in real estate in 2005 — this year marks 20 years since she established her own realty company, Enchanted Sun Realty.
Inspired by her realtor mom before her, Espiritu was motivated to follow that same path after witnessing her passion and excitement for the job.
“We help people with one of the biggest investments they ever make,” Espiritu said. “I don’t want to just sell you a house, I want to show you why it’s beautiful to live in Las Cruces.”
After starting in real estate, Espiritu realized there was a gap and a need for certain establishments, which lead her to invest in spaces that could fill those gaps. These investments include spaces such as Collective Co., a place she envisioned as an affordable office space for businesses to utilize in downtown Las Cruces. La Esquina Plaza, another downtown business venture, paid off after Sandra and her family revitalized the beloved retail space.
“All the businesses in there are doing so wonderful, we just love seeing them thrive,” Espiritu said.
Espiritu loves to guide visitors looking to settle in the community by showing them around town for a true Las Cruces experience. She considers her biggest accomplishment to be the relationships she has cultivated within the community through her business and clients. Espiritu isn’t afraid to step outside and collaborate with others such as the film and space industry in the New Mexico region.
Her favorite part of the job is being able to relate to and connect with people and visitors that come to town. She enjoys the interaction and getting to share her passion, knowledge and experience with people.
The Espiritu family opened and continue to operate their café, Grounded, a downtown staple located in La Esquina Plaza. When she and her family opened Grounded three years ago they wanted to establish a community space that, "not only provides just food and coffee, but is really for us. It's a meeting place, a place where you can spend time with family, meet with your clients, just build community,” she said.
Anyone who spends some time in Grounded can tell it is for everyone. The café has done well in appealing to all demographics from studying college students and tired workers, to retirees, big families and couples out on dates. Grounded promotes a friendly and inviting environment, the team there works with other entrepreneurs by bringing in local services such as musical artists, ceramics-making, tattoo artists, screen painting, coffee roasters and more. Even the mural has become an Insta-worthy spot for visitors.
When selling Las Cruces and what it has to offer, Espiritu focuses a lot on the beauty within the local outdoors, the climate and, of course, the people. She speaks of her many customers that stop by and preach of the friendly environment and community that makes them want to return.
Sandra Espiritu is a great trailblazer within the community. Her work in real estate and the relationships and business she has fostered from it help her boast the city of Las Cruces to visitors, guests, travelers and the locals already here. She takes time to get to know her clients and meet their needs here in town as she sells Las Cruces in a beautiful and authentic way. She helps lift those in the community who need a space by providing resources and she builds connections that last and make an impact for those in hospitality.
Alexandra McKinney
Alexandra is the current Instructional Coordinator Supervisor for the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site. Her work with local historical landmarks and public education from these sites is overwhelming in the community.
McKinney was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she grew up as a sixth generation New Mexican. She attended the University of New Mexico where she earned her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education, then went on to earn her master’s degree in public history from the University of West Florida.
She moved to Las Cruces for the job as Instructional Coordinator for both the Fort Selden and the Taylor Mesilla Historic Sites. While her time is mostly spent at the Taylor-Mesilla site these days, McKinney gave her all to Fort Selden when she got there.
“I was very obnoxious when I first got here by putting myself in front of people and talking up for Selden,” McKinney said. “Going places, talking to people, wanting Fort Selden to be a little more recognizable.”
McKinney did just that, she helped tremendously in getting word about Fort Selden out there and she takes great pride in her previous work at the site, even claiming it as the biggest accomplishment in her career.
After J. Paul Taylor passed away in 2023, the state began their work in opening the Taylor-Mesilla property to the public, and McKinney is just one the contributors driving to get the site open by the end of the year.
“It’s been this great opportunity — you don’t get the opportunity to open a museum very often,” McKinney said.
McKinney had the privilege and pleasure of working with J. Paul Taylor and getting to understand his vision for the project. She’s dedicated herself and her time to ensuring that this project is accomplished, “I want to make sure it’s done right,” she said. “I think the town deserves it, that the family deserves it.”
Although McKinney didn’t intend to end up where she is now, she finds delight in her job. A big part of that job is teaching and imparting her knowledge on these sites to the public for others to understand and enjoy.
“I love teaching…I love turning what can be a very boring subject into something interesting for the public,” she said.
When asked what her favorite part of the job is, McKinney stated she enjoyed watching the children’s interactions and reactions the most as she gets to see things from their perspective. Her hope for the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site is that people walk away with a different perspective on New Mexico and that the site can capture and amplify the community and culture for those who visit.
"I always love being in places where the community has a pride in its culture, and I think southern New Mexico has a lot of pride in its culture," McKinney said.
McKinney has done well in assimilating to southern New Mexico, Las Cruces and Mesilla as she speaks of the region quite fondly. Her passion for her work, as well as her virtue and meticulous care for the up-and-coming Taylor-Mesilla site is inspiring as she works hard with her team to get things done.