Meet our women in engineering (part 2)

Guadalupe Mijares

Marketing and Sales Operations Manager + Regional Sales Manager

My name is Guadalupe, I currently hold a dual position at Hitachi Energy Mexico, and among my responsibilities are ensuring that M&S ​​processes are efficient, planning the go-to-market in collaboration with sales and marketing, planning strategies that will allow us to expand our market footprint, as well as achieving our annual target always focusing on customer satisfaction and achieving customer objectives.

I studied Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Management, from which I graduated with honors and I also hold an MBA. I currently have 12 years of professional experience.

I am passionate about how things work, and once I understand that, I want to be creative and identify parts or mechanisms that can be improved. I like knowing that the work I do every day has a real impact not only on the country’s energy sector, but also on people’s lives, the conservation of the ecosystem, and the evolution of technology.

I think leading the consolidation of the Hitachi-ABB joint venture from 2019 to 2021 was one of my greatest challenges, but also one of my greatest professional satisfactions. Coordinating experts from 15 different functional areas meant accelerated learning, openness to new ideas and trust in the team’s expertise. I was the only woman in North America and the youngest person to hold the position of JV Build Up Manager.

Some of the things I am proud of in my journey include being selected for the Young Talents program and graduating from the Sales Operational Excellence program, where I was the only woman in the group and the first to get endorsement from the global team. In 2022, I was selected for the company’s first Global Emerging Talents group, which was an unparalleled experience of learning and interacting with the company’s global leaders. I was also part of the Women Talent Development Program, where we built a sisterhood with other talented leaders within Hitachi Energy.

Engineering has always had a huge deficit of female talent that, if filled, could mean an accelerated advancement for society and technology. Often, because of the same education, we hear voices that discourage us from pursuing a career in engineering and fill us with unfounded fears: “it’s very difficult”, “they won’t respect you”, “it’s very physically demanding”, “this kind of work is not suitable for a woman”… but I would like to ask students not to be intimidated by traditionalisms and expectations that no longer belong to this century.

And to those who are already studying engineering, I would say not to “marry” yourself with a single preconceived career path. It is important to be open to experimenting in very diverse roles and sectors, only in this way will we grow professionally, broaden our experience and find the role and sector in which we project ourselves in the long term. Don’t get discouraged and be ready to take on challenges!

Finally, to all women, I invite you to stop thinking about male and female leadership as if they were two different things. Leadership has no gender, but has to do with passion, courage and empathy above all else.