Aideé Zamora Espinola: No formulas, no molds. Just powerful decisions.

My name is Aideé Zamora. I was born in Iztapalapa and raised in my grandparents’ home in Nezahualcóyotl. Like many Mexican girls, I didn’t grow up surrounded by luxury, but I did grow up with love, hard work and dreams that once felt far away.

From a young age, I had a desire: I wanted to do something useful, something that would help the planet. I clearly remember the moment when my geography teacher, Berenice Castillo, first spoke to us about climate change. I was only 17, and I left that class with the certainty that I wanted to do something about it. I didn’t know how or with what tools, but something inside me was awakened.

While I was in high school, I also worked as a receptionist at an engineering firm to help at home. At my boss’s request, I started writing blog posts about renewable energy. That was my first contact with this world. As I wrote about clean energy sources, I unknowingly connected two passions: energy and words.

I searched online for careers related to energy and found one that no one knew about at the time: Renewable Energy Engineering. I didn’t know anyone who had studied it, I didn’t know if it was a “good decision,” but encouraged by my boss, I applied. I was accepted. I left my home in the State of Mexico and moved to Morelos to study at UNAM’s Renewable Energy Institute.

It wasn’t easy, it felt like jumping into the void. Many times, I felt like I didn’t belong. I doubted myself, my intelligence, and my place in such a demanding academic environment. But in the final semesters, I discovered the field of sustainable development, and everything made sense. I realized I didn’t need to fit in, I could build my own way of being an engineer.

During that time, I also took a course on business development and legal aspects of energy. The experience of creating our own company to solve real problems was incredible. But I also remember thinking, “I don’t have the contacts, the capital, or the experience.” I shut down that dream before even trying.

After graduating, it took me a year to land my first job in the energy sector. In the meantime, I worked in another field, never losing sight of my goals: to be independent and work in my profession. One day, while checking my school email, I saw a call for a scholarship abroad. I applied. I got it. I spent three months in Spain studying the socioeconomics of energy at the University of Zaragoza and CIRCE Foundation. It was my first time leaving the country. My world opened up.

Before returning, I promised myself I’d come back with a job. I searched with determination and landed a position at the National Institute of Electricity and Clean Energy, where I worked with Dr. Javier de la Cruz on wind energy projects, market studies, and international workshops. Those two years in research were wonderful, but I confess, something was missing.

That need led me to an unexpected turn: technical sales. Thanks to two women leaders, Katia and Elsa Bernal, I entered the world of solar thermal energy. There, I realized I could combine technical knowledge with my ability to communicate, propose solutions, and transform realities. I was passionate about designing energy efficiency strategies, solar heating systems, and process equipment for the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Every project was a new opportunity to solve, to connect. I was also fortunate to represent the brand at fairs, expos, and connect with many people. Then, the pandemic hit.

That period deeply challenged me. I didn’t want life to pass me by without building something of my own. For the first time, I felt a strong calling: I wanted to bring safe, accessible solar energy to more people. I sat at my kitchen table, grabbed a notebook, and began designing what is now AMERALI, my company.

Five years later, we’ve led over 30 solar photovoltaic and energy efficiency projects for homes and businesses. What makes me proudest isn’t the energy generated it’s the impact we’ve created.

But it hasn’t all been success. Since choosing this career, I’ve faced stigma: “That’s a man’s job,” “You can’t make a living from that,” “You don’t look like an engineer.” These comments reflect a strcuture that has historically limited women´s participation in sector like energy. I’ve also had to work twice as hard to prove I know what I’m doing and while that´s exhausting, it shouldn’t be necessesary. But in a system that still doubts us, to persist is to transform.

And the hardest challenge in my career wasn’t technical it was personal. In 2022, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Like many women, I took on the role of primary caregiver, an invisible yet essential responsibility that is often expected of us. For months, I had to pause my company, my conferences and my dreams.

My mother passed away in 2024. She was fully aware of my journey, my dreams and we were each other’s support system. In our final conversations, she told me:

“When I’m no longer here, I want you to follow your dreams. I know you’ll take your company wherever you choose."

And she was right. Months later, with a broken heart but a new fire, I relaunched AMERALI. I built a new team, recovered projects and renewed the vision. Her faith in me is my driving force.

Today, after 9 years in the field, I can proudly say: I’ve trained over 900 people in energy and sustainability, given more than 40 talks and workshops in Mexico and abroad, led projects that now light up streets, businesses, and homes, built a gender-balanced team, 80% of our clients are women, we have a 90% customer satisfaction rate and most importantly: we do it with purpose, not just metrics.

I’ve also been an active member of networks like REDMEREE, ANES, AMERIC, and CPEF, to promote gender equality, because I know change doesn’t happen alone and I don’t want to be an isolated story. I want more women to rise, stay, and lead in energy sector. Because an energy transition without gender justice is not a real transition.

If this journey has taught me anything, it’s that there are no formulas. We’ve been told how we should be, what we can or can’t do, which dreams are “realistic.” But the decisions that come from the heart, from resilience, from love for who we are and what we do, those are our true compass.

That’s why my mantra is clear: “No formulas, no molds. Just powerful decisions.”

That’s the message I want to leave you with today. Because if I a girl from Iztapalapa who dreamed of protecting the planet could build an impactful company, lead projects, care for my mother until the end, and start over from scratch… then you can too.

It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about doing it with purpose and being yourself. And that is my superpower. What’s yours?