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This paper discusses the impact that the status as non-nativeEnglish speakers (NNESs) has had in six Mexican nationalsas teachers of the foreign language. The idea of the nativespeaker as the ideal teacher of English is explored from thenon-native English teachers’ (NNESTs) perspectives andexperiences, based on the way they are perceived by theirstudents. Through interviews in the form of personalnarratives, NNESTs’ life stories were collected in order toanalyse the experiences and challenges that they face in theprofession as non-native speakers. The data shows thatNNESTs are confronted with issues of credibility andacceptance on the part of their students based on factors ofnativeness and ethnicity. This of course has an impact in theNNESTs’ professional and personal lives.